Is it Bad to Sleep With Wet Hair Wrapped in a Towel? Don't do it without reading this!

woman prepared to sleep with wet hair wrapped in towel

Sleeping with wet hair wrapped in a COTTON towel is bad for your hair. Because cotton prevents the hair from drying completely, and can lead to fungus. In addition, wet hair breaks from rubbing against the cotton, which causes frizz.
So if you want to sleep with wet hair, make sure you do two things: wrap it in a microfiber towel and make sure your hair is damp, which is entirely different from wet.
As a hairdresser, I recommend you sleep with wet hair wrapped in a microfiber towel when you want to style your hair. Generally, it’s best to sleep with your hair loose and dry.

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“Don’t sleep with wet hair because you’ll get sick.” “You can’t sleep with your hair tied up because it won’t grow.” “Don’t leave oil in your hair to sleep because it makes dandruff.”

You hear so many things regarding what to do with your hair at bedtime!

And most of these sayings are part truth and part myth.

woman lying in bed with wet hair wrapped in towel

For example, if you sleep with your hair tied up, it won’t stop growing. But as it rubs against the pillow, it will likely break. So you’ll lose hair, but it won’t stop growing.

Oil could also cause dandruff if you leave it on your hair when you sleep. But that would only happen if you left it on for more than two days and used a thick oil, such as olive oil.

If you leave coconut oil on your hair overnight and rinse it out the following day, I can assure you it won’t cause dandruff.

And as for whether you’ll get sick if you sleep with wet hair, well, that’s also an exaggeration, unless you sleep outdoors and it’s ten degrees below zero.

But you should remember a few things if you want to sleep with wet hair wrapped in a towel. And that’s what I’ll talk about next.

Choose a microfiber towel to wrap your wet hair in to sleep

woman combing her wet hair before sleeping

Sleeping with wet hair wrapped in a cotton towel will destroy your hair. And I’m not exaggerating.

Do you know why?

Let’s analyze the situation.

First, wet hair is always prone to breakage because it’s weaker. So use a wide-tooth comb when detangling your hair. And detangle your hair gently, starting from the mid-lengths to the ends.

In other words, don’t untangle wet hair from the roots.

Secondly, cotton breaks wet hair because of friction and rubbing. That’s what most towels are made of.

So when you dry your hair, the cotton towel can break your hair by friction. Imagine the damage the cotton towel will do by rubbing wet hair all night long as you sleep, oblivious to what’s happening to your hair!

So if you want to sleep with wet hair, wrap it with a microfiber towel. You can also use a microfiber turban. This won’t break your hair. But it will keep your scalp aerated all night.

Don’t use nylon bags, plastic wrap, wool, or latex caps.

Microfiber turban for sleeping with wet hair

Want some tips for sleeping with wet hair?

If your hair is normally frizzy , wrap it in a microfiber towel to prevent further frizz.
If your hair is curly , wrap it in a silk cloth to protect the shape of your curls.
If your hair is straight , sleep with wet hair wrapped in a microfiber turban.

Now, in addition to the type of towel you should use to wrap your hair, learn how wet your hair should be. Read on.

How to prepare wet hair wrapped in a microfiber towel for sleep

wet hair wrapped in microfiber towel

There’s a world of difference between wet hair and damp hair.

Wet hair will drip from the ends. You should never sleep if your hair is dripping, whether you wrap it in a towel or not.
Damp hair will have some dry parts in the lengths and ends.

Now let’s look at how to prepare to wrap your hair before bedtime.

After washing your hair, remove excess water gently with a towel . If you like, you can use a blow dryer to leave the ends and part of the lengths dry.
While your hair is still damp, you can apply a repairing treatment, such as a few drops of jojoba oil to the scalp, or a leave-in conditioner.
Gently wrap your damp hair in the microfiber towel.
Try to use a silk pillowcase so the towel will slide better over it during the night.
The next morning, unwrap your hair. You’ll notice it’s dry and frizz-free.