Have you ever gone to sleep nice and relaxed and woken up with a tangled mop of hair the next day? It can be frustrating trying to keep long hair safe and untangled while you’re sleeping!
Thankfully, learning how to sleep with long hair safely and comfortably isn’t too hard. We’ve found some of the best tips and tricks to keep your hair safe and out of your way while you’re resting!
Whether you have long, straight hair, curly hair, or no hair, a good night’s rest isn’t hard to come by if you just take a few extra measures.
Why not try some of these and see how they work?
Why Is It Important to Protect Your Hair While Sleeping?
There’s not much to protect your hair from when you go to sleep, with the possible exception of some bad habits you may have developed over time.
Basically, when you go to bed, you want to make sure you’re not going to be damaging your hair or developing split ends.
There’s also nothing worse than waking up to tangled, knotted hair! Damaged hair can be hard to style, and often ends up looking frizzy, thinning, and unhealthy.
How To Sleep With Long Hair: 7 Essential Tips
Sleeping with long hair doesn’t have to end with you waking up to a tangled mess!
If you’re looking for ways to ensure that your hair stays healthy, preserving your braid to create waves, or simply sleeping comfortably with a lot of hair on your head, then look no further.
Here are 7 tips recommended by hair experts to keep your hair healthy, tangle-free, and reduce the risk of damage when you sleep at night.
Wash Out Hair Products
Using hair-styling products, like hair spray, can dry your hair out within a few seconds of applying it.
This is due to the alcohol in styling products, which removes hydration from your hair. If you use hair spray or styling gel on a daily basis, consider using an alcohol-free product.
Before you go to bed at night, you should “wash” your hair, using a dry shampoo wash. This will remove the styling product, as well as excess oil.
Using dry shampoo will give your hair more volume and texture and make styling it easier in the morning!
Washing styling products out of your hair at night will minimize the risk of damage and prevent knotting while you sleep.
Make Sure Your Hair Is Dry
We’ve all been guilty of going to bed with either wet or damp hair! What many of us don’t realize is that we’re damaging our hair when we don’t dry it properly before bed.
When hair is wet, it stretches and deforms the follicle when we brush it, play with it, or lie on it when we’re in bed. This can leave you with dry, broken, dull, and lifeless looking hair. Your hair may even take on a rough texture.
Styling your hair in the morning could also be harder, due to how dry the hair is. If you prefer to wash your hair in the evenings, try and do it a few hours before you go to bed. Alternatively, use a hairdryer on the low setting to make sure it’s completely dry before settling in.
If you can’t avoid going to bed with wet hair, then put a hydrating conditioner or mask on. You can then slip a silk cap over your hair, to protect it and prevent conditioner getting onto your pillow.
Brush Out The Tangles
If you want to wake up tangle-free, you can’t go to bed with knotty hair! Brush the tangles from the day out before you get into bed.
You may be tempted to use your fingers or hair brush to smooth your hair out. But this can lead breakage or leave you with split ends.
It’s a good idea to bet a wide-toothed comb or a detangling brush specifically for this purpose.
A detangling brush is generally softer on your hair. Its shape and design reduces the amount of pressure applied to your scalp and hair. You should find that it glides through your hair without tugging or causing pain.
Apply A Product That’s Designed for Overnight Use
If you’re considering using products on your hair overnight, make sure they’re designed for overnight use.
There are a number of moisturizing conditioners, hair masks, and oils available. Using one while you sleep can help reduce breakage and split ends and prevent crazy hair in the morning.
Argan oil is a good choice that you can use daily (or nightly). It nourishes hair without leaving it looking or feeling greasy. It penetrates the hair follicle, leaving your locks soft, manageable, and full of life.
When using overnight hair products, cover them with a silk cap. This will protect both your hair and your pillows from stains.
Tie your hair up in a top bun using a soft, creaseless tie to keep it in place. This will also prevent it from falling out of the silk cap during the night, which would defeat the point!
Tie Your Hair Up
If you aren’t sure how to sleep with long hair comfortably, you can always tie it up.
The beauty of having long hair is that you can tie it up differently every night to create waves, curls, or a messy bed-head in the morning! Knowing how to tie your hair up at night will also help to minimize damage.
For example, if your hair is straight but has been damaged, tie it up in a loose ponytail with soft, thick bands at both ends to keep it safe and secure.
Putting your hair up in a sock bun will give you a natural curl overnight. You can brush it out gently with your fingers in the morning.
If you’re uncomfortable sleeping with a bun, you can braid your hair loosely to help prevent split ends. It’s best not to braid your hair when it’s wet, though.
Ladies, try to avoid French braids. They tend to get in the way and are often more roughed up in the morning than they were when you went to bed!
Be Careful What Accessories You Use
Avoid using hair bands that have metal clamps or rubber elastic that’s not inside a fabric sleeve. The roughness of these two materials can cause your hair to break and create split ends.
This goes for tying your hair up at night or during the day!
You can always use a creaseless tie or bands that have no metal fasteners on them. Remove bobby pins and clips before you go to bed. These can break your hair, get very tangled, or even bruise your scalp when you sleep.
You can find products that have been specifically designed to wear at night. Silk ties and overnight curlers will keep your hair in place without breaking it.
Buy A Silk Pillowcase
If you prefer to sleep with your hair loose, then it’s a good idea to invest in pillow cases made from either satin or silk. Both materials help your hair retain moisture. This makes a difference in how much it knots and tangles during the night.
Another option is to wrap your locks up in a silk scarf. This will prevent it from being pulled or damaged as you move around in your sleep.
You should avoid wrapping your hair in cotton or sleeping on cotton pillow cases. Cotton draws moisture away from your hair. This can leave you with frizzy, dry, and unmanageable hair in the morning!
Conclusion
Of these 7 tips, there should be at least one way that works for you! One you figure out how to sleep with long hair, you may be shocked at what a difference it makes to the health of your locks.
It’s important to start taking good care of your hair now, so you’ll have luscious locks for a long time to come! These tips should give you a head start on keeping your hair as healthy as possible.
Happy sleeping!
