Going to Bed With Wet Hair and Air Drying: What You Need to Know
- Heather Oliver
- 21 hours ago
- 5 min read
TL;DR
At minimum, let your hair air dry to 85-90% dry before sleeping. For best oil control, blow your roots dry before sleeping and/or when air drying. If you're air drying, use hair care products formulated for the task. Use a VOLO Super Hero Towel to reduce drying time up to 50%. If you must go to bed before your hair's gotten to the 85% mark, put it in a loose braid or sleep on a satin pillowcase to help reduce hair friction while you're sleeping, which is best for your hair regardless. For details, keep reading.
Ever notice that your blowouts last longer and your hair can go longer without a shampoo after a salon visit? Well, that's because you just got an exceptional cleanse, left dry, and the stylist used proper drying techniques.
The simple truth is this:
If you don't dry your hair after shampooing, moisture and heat become trapped on the scalp, which causes sebum production to ramp up. It also makes the hair more prone to breakage. This is because when your hair is wet, the hair cuticles swell, stay closed, and lie flat, which weakens the hair structure.
When you blow your hair dry properly, you're lifting the hair away from the scalp, which does three things:
adds volume
"roughs up" the hair texture
reduces oil buildup
These things are critical to keeping greasy-looking hair at bay longer and keeping your hair healthy.
Going to Bed With Wet Hair
When you go to bed with wet hair, you're also unknowingly contaminating your pillowcase, which creates the perfect environment for bacteria to breed from overnight sweat, oil, and lingering product residue.
And what happens? It all makes its way back into your clean hair! Ugh!
But it doesn't stop there. Going to sleep with your hair wet increases breakage and scalp issues like dandruff and itching and can even cause infections and scalp odor. Sleeping with wet hair for a prolonged period of time can also cause hair thinning.
So, the consensus is going to bed with your hair wet is a big no-no. A good rule of thumb is to get your hair at least 85-90% dry before sleeping. But sometimes that's just not feasible, or you're too exhausted to blow your hair dry if you shower at night. We get it!
Here's a few tips to help cut down the hair friction when your hair's still wet but sleep's calling your name:
Put your hair in a loose braid, which will help reduce friction and tangles.
Use a VOLO Super Hero Towel. It absorbs water far better than traditional towels and cuts drying time by up to 50 percent. I personally love this thing.
Use satin pillowcases, which help reduce the amount of friction and damage to the hair.
Don't pull your hair back tight.
Air Drying Your Hair
If you think you're going to beat the hair grease when air drying, think again. Sebum overproduction also applies to air-dried hair too, as you're leaving your natural oils no choice but to hang out and have a party on top of the hair.
Many people think air drying is healthier for your hair than using heat. The truth is more complicated than that. While it does protect your hair from heat, it makes it more susceptible to split ends, frizz, and other scalp issues because hair is more fragile when it's wet.
A double-edged sword, right?!
Air Drying Tips
If you wash your hair and don't want to do a full-on blow dry, you can dry your roots to help prevent sebum from overproducing and still get the benefits of avoiding heat.
Another thing that will help is using products designed specifically for air drying your hair.
Oribe's Hair Alchemy Heatless Styling Balm is one of the best products for this purpose. This gem actually provides texture without heat and also reduces frizz.
To air dry or not to air dry is a personal decision. It works great for some, not so great for others. A lot of this depends on your hair type, how fast your hair tends to get oily or greasy, and of course, the look you're going for.
Besides using Hair Alchemy Heatless Styling Balm, you can use satin heatless curling sets, like this one by Kitsch. The key to these is to not put them into soaking-wet hair. You'll get the best results with damp to mostly dry hair.
Pro Tip: Kitsch Heatless Curling Sets are also a great way to preserve iron work. Amber Woodall, Alkali's Owner & CEO, recommends using them the day after you dry and curl your hair. Wrap your hair in the set and profit for up to 3 days.
Most people find curls don't hold if the hair is fully wet when using the set, especially if they have really thick hair. Others get better results using them on completely dry hair. You may need to experiment to see what works best for you. But the great thing about heatless curling sets is you can wear them during the day if you're just hanging around the house, or you can sleep in them overnight for gorgeous, near-effortless curls.
Important Note:
I'd be remiss not to mention that heat is NOT a villain if you properly prep and style your hair. Heat damage is almost always the result of improper care, tools, or products. The higher quality your styling tools and products are, the better protected your hair will be. And your styling outcomes will be better as well.
Cheers to gorgeous, healthy hair!
Don't feel like styling your hair today? That's what we're here for!
Meet the Author | Heather Oliver, Brand Director at Alkali
Heather is a writer and editor with 18+ years of professional experience and a B.S. in Professional & Technical Writing. With over a decade in the beauty industry, she combines subject matter expertise with a passion for making complex topics easier to understand and personable. Heather continually expands her knowledge through product training and by attending professional beauty classes, ensuring her content reflects the science of beauty and real‑world practices within salons and spas. She partners with Alkali’s owner and lead stylist, Amber Woodall—an industry veteran with 20+ years of experience—who reviews all content for accuracy. Together, they create content that connects readers to the art and science of hair, skin, and self‑care.
Our artistry doesn't stop at hair. We use firsthand knowledge and experience to craft our content and strive to provide highly custom and valued information for our readers. All of our content is researched, written, and reviewed by humans. No AI is used to generate blogs, web pages, newsletters, or emails.
