Does your hair frizz immediately after washing? Does it tangle, stick together, and feel dry even when it’s humid? Then your hair may be wet frizz. If you want to know what causes wet frizz, then you’ve come to the right place. In today’s article, we’ll tell you what wet frizz is and how to fix it, so keep reading.
What Is Wet Frizz?
Wet frizz is frizz that appears when your hair is still wet which usually occurs after washing your hair or maybe after you rinse out your conditioner and wring out the excess water. Wet frizz can also occur when you use styling products or when you air dry.
Wet frizz can cause hair strands to appear fine and dry rather than smooth and silky. If you look carefully at your hair while it is wet, you will discover that every strand of hair becomes disheveled and falls apart in multiple directions.
Why Is Your Hair Frizzy When Wet?
After understanding what wet frizz is, would you like to know what causes wet frizzy hair? Now here are a number of contributing factors to wet frizzy hair, let’s have a look.
1. Hair dryness
Hair dryness is one of the major causes of wet frizzy hair. When your hair is too dry, to compensate for the lack of moisture, it absorbs more water than ever before, and too many water molecules can break the hydrogen bonds in the internal structure, causing the hair to swell and forcing the cuticle to deform, thus making it coarse and frizzy.
2. Scalp buildup
A common culprit for wet frizzy hair is scalp buildup. Hair care products, chemicals, dead skin, dirt, and oil can form a residue on the hair. If we don’t wash them out thoroughly, over time these residues can coat the hair strands and not only make it look greasy and messy, but they also block moisture from entering the hair, which can dry it out and eventually contribute to frizzy hair even when it’s wet.
3. Protein overload
Protein overload is another culprit for wet frizzy hair. As we all know, our hair is made up of protein, so using products that contain protein can help strengthen its internal structure and maintain its elasticity. But too much protein can have the exact opposite effect. Protein overload not only leads to dry, brittle, and frizzy hair, but also to hair loss and breakage. Therefore, it is important to maintain a good balance of moisture and protein in your hair.
4. Hair porosity
Hair porosity refers to a measure of the hair’s capacity to absorb and retain moisture, depending on the structure of the cuticle (the outer layer of the hair). When it is tightly packed and has no gaps, then your hair is low porosity. When the cuticle surface has loose scales, gaps, and cracks, then it is said to be high porosity. And if neither of these conditions is present, then you have medium porosity hair.
Each person’s hair porosity may be different. Hair porosity can also cause wet frizzy hair. If you have low porosity hair, then your cuticle is almost completely sealed, making it difficult for moisture to enter, which can lead to dry hair and you end up with wet frizzy hair. High porosity hair, on the other hand, has a significantly raised cuticle and moisture will enter easily, but this will make it difficult for the hair strands to retain moisture, which will lead to wet frizz.
How to Get Rid of Wet Frizz?
After knowing the reasons for wet frizz, would you like to find some methods to get rid of wet frizz? Now, we will give you some ways to tame wet frizz. If you are interested in them, you can give them a shot.
1. Clean your hair weekly
From the above, we already know that scalp buildup can cause wet frizzy hair. Therefore, in order to get rid of wet frizz, it is especially important to keep your scalp and hair clean. You can deep clean your scalp and hair weekly, for example by using a clarifying shampoo, by using a scalp exfoliator, etc. This will not only get rid of wet frizz but will also make your hair less oily.
2. Use sulfate-free shampoos
Sulfates are found in many shampoos, and they work by creating lots of foam and lather that can help cleanse the hair. But unfortunately, sulfates can break down the cuticle, which dries out the hair and turns our hair into wet frizz. So if you don’t want wet frizzy hair, you can try a sulfate-free shampoo that will not only cleanse your hair but also repair the cuticle, thus helping to maintain moisture balance and reduce the occurrence of wet frizz.
3. Carefully dry your hair after washing
Carefully drying your hair is also one of the best ways to get rid of wet frizzy hair. After shampooing hair, most people tend to wring it out like a towel in order to remove as much water as possible from the hair. However, this causes friction to the hair which quickly damages the cuticle and leads to wet frizz and damaged strands. To minimize wet frizz, you can use a microfiber towel to gently squeeze, rather than never wringing or twisting your hair.
4. Deep conditioning hair
If you’re looking for ways to get rid of wet frizzy hair, then why not consider deep conditioning your hair? We mentioned above that highly porous hair has a highly permeable cuticle which can lead to tangles and wet frizz. If you want to get rid of wet frizz, then you can deep condition your hair every week, which will not only help you tame wet frizz but also make your hair soft and smooth.
Conclusion
After reading this article, you must have a good idea of how to tame wet frizz. If your hair is experiencing wet frizz and you want to be free from it, then you can try these methods. Furthermore, if you have other better ways to fix wet frizz, please share them with us in the comment section.