Is it a bad idea to let my hair freeze on my walk to school?
January 25, 2011 8:05 AM   Subscribe

In the winter, it sometimes happens that my (long, damp) hair freezes on my walk to school. Will this damage it? Should I be avoiding this?

I'm one of those people who leaves the house every morning with wet hair. I also walk almost everywhere I go. And I live in a place where winter is a serious season. As such, my hair sometimes freezes on my walk to school. This doesn't bother me, but it occurred to me the other day that it might be bad for my hair. Is it? How bad?

please note: I'm not concerned about the aesthetics of this on the day it happens. It's clear to me already that it's not causing problems on that level.
posted by dizziest to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I don't know about damaging your hair, it's just dead cells after all. I don't really buy into all that hair-care pseudo science. But it doesn't sound healty to let your hair freeze on your head! Are you talking about the ends of some long hair, or is it wet to your scalp?
posted by londonmark at 8:09 AM on January 25, 2011


Best answer: I have noticed that when I do this, I tend to snap off my haircicles a lot. If I braid my hair while wet, then do not unbraid it until it is fully warm, this solves most of the accidental breaks.
posted by jeather at 8:09 AM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I've known someone where a large part of their hair broke off after it froze. If you don't have long hair I can't imagine that being a problem.

I can't say for certain about the actual damages to the follicles but I don't believe that it would be an issue. You should know from your own experiences so far how well your hair fairs to the freezing and thawing.
posted by zephyr_words at 8:12 AM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


It seems that if there were water inside the hair strands themselves, the expanding freezing action could break the strands apart, giving you split ends or whatever. I have no idea if hair strands actually absorb any water though, or if it just sits on the surface.
posted by orme at 8:17 AM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I could certainly see it causing split ends. Ice crystals can damage live cells, so I don't see why they can't cut into dead cells in your hair as well. The water in the hair will expand as it freezes, probably disrupting the structure of the hair.
posted by demiurge at 8:19 AM on January 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


I am familiar with this phenomenon... the hair certainly *feels* brittle when it's frozen, but I don't know if that's just the ice being brittle while the hair is still nice and soft inside or if the actual hair is brittle. I'm sure the follicles are fine, but it seems like it might lead to split ends and stuff.

Just to be safe (and because it's more comfortable to me), I usually twist my hair up under a hat when I am going to be out in the cold with wet hair. Well, I don't right now because I'm wearing my hair short. But if it were long, that's what I'd do.
posted by mskyle at 8:21 AM on January 25, 2011


This used to happen to me when I had long hair and lived in a freezy climate. Just don't bend it or fuss with it until it thaws; I never noticed any other issues. (Data point, possibly irrelevant: my hair is thick; finer hair may react differently.)
posted by rtha at 8:28 AM on January 25, 2011


This has happened to me, due to leaving the house with wet hair, or due to freezing rain. I never noticed any lasting effects either way.
posted by benign at 8:33 AM on January 25, 2011


Yes, the water molecules expand as they freeze, and if there's water under the follicles of your hair, that expansion can weaken your hair or cause it to break. Also, of course, if the hair moves while it's frozen, the ice makes it very brittle and it can break off where it wouldn't if it were dry.

When I had long hair, I washed it at night or on a weekend when I wasn't going out right away so it would be dry by the time I was heading out into the cold. But my hair was also long enough that I only washed it once a week or so, so that was easy.
posted by rosa at 8:34 AM on January 25, 2011


Hair breakage and split ends definitely happened when I lived in Chicago and let my long hair freeze. I have thick strong hair, and have otherwise never had a problem with either.
posted by catlet at 9:18 AM on January 25, 2011


Before I cut my hair short, this would happen to me every winter. I never experienced any breakage, and my hair never seemed damaged in any way -- if anything, it seemed to feel a little softer after it thawed (though that may have been psychological).
posted by chowflap at 9:59 AM on January 25, 2011


I have straight, fine hair and this used to happen to me a lot. Never any damage that I've noticed.
posted by Sara C. at 2:31 PM on January 25, 2011


I have also heard the story of someone's hair breaking off after being frozen.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:39 PM on January 25, 2011


Response by poster: I haven't had problems with breakage so far, it's mostly the water expansion I'm worried about, but braiding it seems like it might help with both problems, as each strand will be exposed to less air & thus less likely to freeze. I'll try that tomorrow!
posted by dizziest at 8:55 PM on January 25, 2011


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