You can employ the best hydrating shampoos and every other deep conditioning treatment on your hair, but what separates good hair from great hair is your hair care regime that encompasses multiple things. And how you manage your damp hair is one of those undertakings. There are certain aspects, like whether you can bleach and dye your damp hair or not, that need to be answered clearly.
At SkinVeteran, we believe in helping our readers pull off the best-looking skin and excelling hair. After talking with our skin expert, we have rounded up 10 things you should avoid doing with your damp hair. Thereby, you will notice a significant improvement in your hair health.
What is the Difference b/w Wet Hair and Damp Hair
Wet Hair
When you finish the shower, your hair will be fully water-soaked. You will observe water just pouring out of your hair. The hair in this completely water-saturated form is called wet hair.
Generally, the hair is strong stuff when dry. A single hair strand can endure up to 100 g of weight, but there is an exception when wet. The water-soaked hair is weak and prone to damage. Even vigorous toweling or a slight pulling can make it fall out.
Damp Hair
After the shower, you squeeze out the water with your hand from your hair (best practice) or towel dry it where hair is referred to as damp.
You can call it partially dry because still, hair has 20 to 40 percent of water. So, still, it will be prone to damage but comparatively less. Avoid doing the following 10 things on your damp hair that can wreak havoc on hair health.
1. Avoid Agressive Toweling
Following the busy routine, we festively towel dry our hair as we walk out of the shower. Experts say that it is a bad practice because it does a lot of damage to the hair.
Hair Fall and frizziness can be the consequence of vigorous toweling of the damp hair. As mentioned above, damp hair is weak and prone to damage. Therefore, toweling force destroy your hair cuticle, which makes hair strand frizzy and susceptible to fall-out
2. Avoid Brushing Damp Hair
We know that it is easy to detangle hair when they are damp. But do you know what experts say about brushing hair while it is damp? Experts believe that brushing wet hair can damage it from roots and can cause excessive hair fall.
A little force of the brush will break the hair. Therefore, use a wide-tooth comb gently on 90 % dry hair to do the job.
3. Do not Tie It Up
Dry hair stretches only 30 percent without harming the hair shaft. Conversely, damp hair has maximum elasticity. Hence, tying it up into a ponytail or any other form can be damaging.
Also, air will not pass from tied-up hair to dry it. Further, it will be easy for fungi to attack. So, let it dry before tieing up.
4. Can You Bleach Your Damp Hair?
Bleach can be arduous for your damp hair because the hair strand turns weak when slightly wet. Wet hair has an opened cuticle which is a protective covering of the hair shaft. So, it allows bleaching agents to penetrate deep, which along with depigmenting your hair, will also destroy structural proteins of the hair.
Therefore, we will suggest you not try bleaching your damp hair at home. Instead, visit a hair colorist who knows the exact amount of water your hair should have while bleaching.
5. Can You Dye Your Damp Hair?
Dyeing damp hair is not wrong, but it may not produce the ultimate vibrant results you are expecting. Since water in hair acts as a diluting agent for the coloring chemicals, it prevents dye to deposit on hair correctly.
Dye has to travel across the hair cuticle, which isn’t possible when hair is wet instead of dry. So, if you are aiming for subtle hair color, dyeing damp can be a suitable option.
However, if you want a more vibrant, lasting, and less damaging dyeing procedure for your hair, it will be better not to dye wet hair.
6. Restrain From Blow Drying
It may be a little disheartening for you, but blow-drying or curling the hair causes extreme damage to it. How? According to a study, ideally, one should never blow-dry damp hair.
The heat dries out the water molecules under the cuticle of the hair shaft. It will result in breaking out the cuticle and causing split ends, brittle hair, and breakage.
However, we don’t live in an ideal world. So, what can be the options for blow-drying wet hair while causing minimum damage?
Using the cool air of the blow drier first and then actuating on to a slightly warmer heat can do the trick. Never blow dry by placing the drier too close to your hair. Also, there are some products that you can apply to slightly damp hair before blow-drying or curling to avoid damage.
7. Avoid Applying Chemical Products
You should avoid applying products on damp hair that contain chemicals like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Parabens, Diethanolamine (DEA), Propylene Glycol, Fragrance, and Imidazolidinyl Urea.
According to studies, these products cause hair loss when used excessively on damp or even dry hair.
In damp conditions, hair becomes more porous. It means that it can absorb any chemical more easily now. So, when you apply the products containing these chemicals, they will get absorbed. Eventually, these toxic chemicals will damage the overall health of your hair and cause hair loss.
