Oiling wet hair

[WaitingSoLong]

Ok I have been wondering this for awhile.

Why do you oil wet hair?

I read so often in posts about oiling dry, oiling wet, and I don't get why oiling wet hair is good for it? What is the difference? Wouldn't the oil just sit on top of the hair because of the water? Is the effect different?

I tried oiling wet hair once and when my hair was dry the oil was only on certain parts, like it all collected together or something. I just don't get it.

[Rosethorn]

I've been wondering about this, too. Thanks for asking. :)

[anime_length]

I have pretty course, curly hair and oiling it wet helps the oil to kind of soak in. When I oil it dry, it sort of just sits on top instead of penetrating.

[heidi w.]

You are straight haired, so oiling your hair when dry is entirely possible. If you had curly hair, oiling it dry would mean a whole lot of oil would be used and also likely your hair would end up too heavily oiled, and you'd be confused. Curly haired, wavy haired folks requires a whole lot more moisture than straight haired folks, and to kind of hit it at the right amount and for the oiling to work well, generally, curly haired folks have an easier time oiling while hair is damp or wet. Note the difference between wet and damp. There's a difference in wetness measurement. And I think this difference matters.

Usually curly-haired folks do better spritzing on some oil after a fresh hair wash while the hair is damp and letting it dry in the hair alongside the hair drying from the hair wash, and usually things work out a lot better for them this way.

I hope that makes some sense. The cuticle in wavy-curly haired folks is far more wide open than straight haired folks, like you and me. We got the long straw with the straight hair, our cuticle is a more closed tight most of the time.

heidi w.

[afu]

I think part of the benefit is that it locks moisture in before it has chance to escape. Personally, I can only brush my hair when damp otherwise I destroy my curl pattern and just get frizz, brushing with my TT allows me to ditribute the oil a lot more easily than if I just use my hands to smooth it through so that is also one advantage of wet/damp oiling.

[AlabasterAlice]

I oil my hair when it's wet, because if oil it dry I just have greasy looking hair. When I oil it wet, it soaks in a good bit better, and I can be a bit more heavy handed with the oil. I have some coarse strands, some fine, and some average strands, and curly hair.

[LaFlor]

I was wondering about this too! Thanks for clearing it up heidi w.

[kitschy]

Oiling hair when it is wet seals in the moisture. In fact, we curlies call it 'sealing.' Generally we do it after we apply our leave-in conditioner. You straighties would be appalled at how I can leave in a tablespoon of conditioner, then top it off with a teaspoon of oil and have hair that doesn't look greasy when it dries.

[IvanaGil]

I'm a wavy/curly and yeah, if I oil dry, it looks pretty oily, but if I oil wet, the oil soaks in and by the time it dries, I don't see the oily residue.

[Renate]

I prefer to oil my hair when dry because then I get an idea of how much oil to use. When it's wet I have to be careful because it's easy to oil too much. That is the only difference for me.

[Amanah]

this is what I think from what I have read. Some oils can be absorbed into the hair, some oils coat and seal it, so:

if you oil dry hair with coconut oil or olive oil, your hair absorbs it

if you oil wet hair with jojoba oil or sweet almond oil, it seals the moisture in

[heidi w.]

I think part of the benefit is that it locks moisture in before it has chance to escape. Personally, I can only brush my hair when damp otherwise I destroy my curl pattern and just get frizz, brushing with my TT allows me to ditribute the oil a lot more easily than if I just use my hands to smooth it through so that is also one advantage of wet/damp oiling.

Most curlies are ill-advised to comb or brush hair when dry. The detangling needs to be done while the hair is wet, still. So the use of a good detangler can help a lot. I do not advocate brushing any hair type, only combing.

It took me a while to make the switch from brushing hair. My first problem was realizing that no average sized wide-tooth comb went through my hair. I had to find an extra wide, wide-toothed comb, and even then, I have to detangle in smaller sections of hair.

When I oil my hair dry, which I made a youtube video about, I also Boar Bristle Brush my freshly oiled hair to distribute the oils throughout my hair. Wavy to curly hair types may not be able to do that overaly well with a good outcome.

ETA: Wavies to curly hair types can detangle the hair while they're in the shower, and it apparently works well for many. I've only tried it twice, and it worked well enough for me, even. Coat the hair after washing with conditioner. Leave the conditioner on for a bit, and dip the comb in a vat of shampoo coating the entire wide-toothed comb, and comb the hair out, using the power of the shower water a little bit to help with detangling, and when you're all done detangling, then rinse out the conditioner. A lot of curlies have a far easier time detangling this way, plus it ensures a bit of conditioner gets on just about every strand of hair. END ETA
heidi w.

[AlabasterAlice]

When I oil my hair dry, which I made a youtube video about, I also Boar Bristle Brush my freshly oiled hair to distribute the oils throughout my hair. Wavy to curly hair types may not be able to do that overaly well with a good outcome.
I loved your video, Heidi! I will say that it worked great on a friend's hair (BSL, straight) but made mine a frustrating mat of tangles and clumps (even after detangling first). So I stick with my normal routine, and save the BBB for DH.

[Vanilla]

I use mineral oil on very damp barely towel dried hair. My procedure is 4 drops on the hand, rub hands together and put hair upside down and concentrate oil at the ends, glide my hands over the nape and the rest on the length I can reach upside down. Add 3 more drops in hand, right side up and do the ends on the sides by my shoulders and glide my hands up the length.

Works really well to keep moisture in my hair, and then I can add anything else I like on top (I'm currently trying the different panaceas).

[longhairedwolf]

I use a couple of drops of mineral oil on wet hair. It helps seal in the moisture, and makes my hair soft and less frizzy. I'm a wavy, by the way.

[WaitingSoLong]

When I oil it wet, it soaks in a good bit better
It's exactly statements like this I don't understand, oil and water don't mix, if the hair is wet, the oil will never penetrate?


I prefer to oil my hair when dry because then I get an idea of how much oil to use. When it's wet I have to be careful because it's easy to oil too much. That is the only difference for me.

This is why I never oil my hair wet.


this is what I think from what I have read. Some oils can be absorbed into the hair, some oils coat and seal it, so:

if you oil dry hair with coconut oil or olive oil, your hair absorbs it

if you oil wet hair with jojoba oil or sweet almond oil, it seals the moisture in

This actually made a lot of sense to me. If I recall, there are really only 3, I think, oils that actually penetrate, the rest seal to varying degrees.

I just bought mineral oil after reading so much about it here on TLHC and I have to say, I have tried it wet and dry and am thoroughly confused why people tout this oil. I may as well apply bacon grease to my hair. LOL. I wonder, though, if mineral oil would be appropriate for pre-shampoo. It seems REALLY heavy to me and even the lightest oiling makes my hair wonky. I need to just give up oils. I have tried so many and never loved any of them (well, for my hair, I love lots for my skin).

Heidi, the curly thing makes sense, too. I often forget how different curlies hair routines are.

[lacefrost]

Oiling hair when it is wet seals in the moisture. In fact, we curlies call it 'sealing.' Generally we do it after we apply our leave-in conditioner. You straighties would be appalled at how I can leave in a tablespoon of conditioner, then top it off with a teaspoon of oil and have hair that doesn't look greasy when it dries.
Yup, exactly this

[TheMechaGinger]

Oil soaks in better for me when I put it on wet hair, not sopping wet but just damp. It also helps me distribute it a little better as long as I comb it through. If I put it in dry hair I always run the risk of over oiling, so the only time I ever put oil in dry hair is when I'm doing a pre-wash treatment and actually intend to over oil

[Diamond.Eyes]

It seals in moisture, makes hair less lightly to tangle, and protects the hair from becoming too dry while it is air drying.

[rena]

According to what I've read from different members of this community, oiling benefits many different types of hair because any type can be in need of moisture. Curlies may just be more inclined to oil because our hair won't as readily appear lank and greasy from doing it, or doing it wrong the way hair with less texture would.

For example, my mother's hair is a loose wavy texture and my sister's is a toss-up between wavey and curly. Since my mom's hair is straighter, you would think her's wouldn't be as porous as my sister's, but my sister is actually the one with perfect porosity. You can run your fingers from the bottom to the top of one of her strands and it wouldn't make a sound. One of my mom's though? It would squeak like nothing else, like one of mine, and I'm a definite curly. Her's is straighter, but would defnitely benefit from an oiling more than my sister's. And me? I don't oil. It just doesn't work for me.

As far as why oiling damp hair would work better? Well, if I'm correct, the cuticles of hair are raised when it wet, and lowers back down as it dries. It may be that when oil is applied to the hair while in this state, it can more easily penetrate into the hair this way better than when the hair is dry and the cuticles are closed. Since oil and water do not mix, it makes sense that wouldn't add up as to how the oil actually gets into the strands, but I theorize that as the water in the hair recedes as it dries, the oil kind of "moves in", and the cutlces close after the oil gets inside, "sealing" it in. Of course, this would depend on the type of oil because you've got penetrative oils that go into the strand and sealing oils that just sit on top of it. Just my thoughts about it, which could definitely be wrong, lol.

[Lissandria]

Others have covered it, but simply put, oiling while wet/damp prevents moisture evapourating from the hair. I am a curly and I oil straight out of the shower for best results. Oiling on dry hair does nothing but make my hair greasy.