How to deal with sweaty hair and exercise

MusSpo13

I'm not sure of this belongs in 'beauty' but I'll ask anyway.. My problem is with sweaty hair when I exercise. I have long thick hair and anytime I exercise even just a brisk walk my hair is all sweaty after which means I have to wash it. My problem is I try to get some sort of exercise most days but I don't want to wash it everyday as I know it's bad for my hair so I'm just wondering has anyone got any tips for dealing with this.. I always tie up my hair when I exercise but this doesn't help..

Tipperary Fairy

Don't have advice, will be keeping an eye for a solution too, just wanted to say I'm in the same boat. My boyfriend laughs at me because I'll only go for a run on the day my hair is due to be washed I feel your pain

PinkLemonade

I have the same problem, I try blow dry it out and then use dry shampoo, but there's no way that it would last more than 24hrs after that.
You could try washing your hair with conditioner only, that gets rid of sweat but doesn't dry your hair out, you'll still have to dry it though.

MusSpo13

Tipperary Fairy wrote: »

Don't have advice, will be keeping an eye for a solution too, just wanted to say I'm in the same boat. My boyfriend laughs at me because I'll only go for a run on the day my hair is due to be washed I feel your pain

It's great to hear that someone else has this problem too!

MusSpo13

PinkLemonade wrote: »

I have the same problem, I try blow dry it out and then use dry shampoo, but there's no way that it would last more than 24hrs after that.
You could try washing your hair with conditioner only, that gets rid of sweat but doesn't dry your hair out, you'll still have to dry it though.

I've never blow dried it before dry shampoo..I'll give that a go!
Ideally I would like to avoid washing my hair altogether as it takes so long to dry..I always have to work out in the evening as I wouldn't have the time in the mornings to blow dry my hair every day. It sounds like such a stupid problem when I write it down here.

fussyonion

I have the same issue.
I go to the gym 3-4 times a week and have to wash my hair each time, even though it can mean washing it three/four days in a row.
It's a pain but I can't have smelly hair.

People seem to think sweat dries the same as water; it doesn't. It dries into a stink, believe me, I've smelt it!

If you don't want to wash your hair, you could spritz some Batiste Dry Shampoo through your hair which will get rid of odour and absorb grease.
It does leave your hair feeling fresh but it's not a replacement for washing your hair.
If you use Batiste on one day and then the next, you'll definitely have to wash it the day after.

MusSpo13

fussyonion wrote: »

I have the same issue.
I go to the gym 3-4 times a week and have to wash my hair each time, even though it can mean washing it three/four days in a row.
It's a pain but I can't have smelly hair.

People seem to think sweat dries the same as water; it doesn't. It dries into a stink, believe me, I've smelt it!

If you don't want to wash your hair, you could spritz some Batiste Dry Shampoo through your hair which will get rid of odour and absorb grease.
It does leave your hair feeling fresh but it's not a replacement for washing your hair.
If you use Batiste on one day and then the next, you'll definitely have to wash it the day after.

Thanks, ok dry shampoo seems to be the way to go!

intheclouds

I used to only wash my hair on gym days but it was getting washed too often and (a) ruining my temp dyes and (b) getting all dried out from over washing.

So now I just maintain washing it 3 times a week and on gym days that are not hair wash days I just keep it tied up and let the water go on it in the shower after (but without taking it down so the water doesnt penetrate fully).

I cant say Ive ever suffered smelly hair from my workout, although Im not much of a sweater anyway, and I tend to do anaerobic work in the gym in the mornings at the moment - that might change if I go back to a lot of cardio. I did used to time my cardio with hair wash days before.

What I will do occasionally if its a bit dirty but not a wash day is shake some baby powder in then shake it back out, that will dry it out a bit, although it adds volume so would only do in the odd time.

Sunny Dayz

Ah thank God I'm not the only one! I put off washing my hair an extra day to coincide with exercise for washing after! I've been getting my hair cut shorter over the years so it doesn't take as long to wash or dry. But it's still the hassle and the excess washing. I have to give plus one for dry shampoo, it gets an extra day out of the hair and it soaks up the moisture. I do be bold and try for 2 days on the dry shampoo but it can feel quite built up then on the hair.

PinkLemonade

MusSpo13 wrote: »

I've never blow dried it before dry shampoo..I'll give that a go!
Ideally I would like to avoid washing my hair altogether as it takes so long to dry..I always have to work out in the evening as I wouldn't have the time in the mornings to blow dry my hair every day. It sounds like such a stupid problem when I write it down here.

I'm the same - its as though I alternate between rest days and hair wash days! I detest doing excersize on fresh hair.

One thing that does help also is using a very thick hair band to absorb sweat, I've one from under armour that has a thick plait at the back that absorbs quite a bit

cactusgal

Same problem here. I also blow dry it (just near roots) and use dry shampoo after a gym workout, but on the days that I do Bikram yoga, it's soaked in sweat, so I definitely have to wash it.

njs030

Me too on the sweaty hair, thank god it seems to affect a lot of people. I feel less disgusting now!

I find a thick hairband does help, I put it kinda across the top of my forehead so it is in front of all the skin meets hair areas....but I mainly do cardio on hairwash days like everyone else here!

Taboola

notjustsweet wrote: »

Me too on the sweaty hair, thank god it seems to affect a lot of people. I feel less disgusting now!

I find a thick hairband does help, I put it kinda across the top of my forehead so it is in front of all the skin meets hair areas....but I mainly do cardio on hairwash days like everyone else here!

+1 to a massive hairband

fussyonion

I see girls wearing those sweatbands in the gym; I'm going to get one and see if it makes a difference.
I'm sick washing my hair after each work-out, even though I do it because I have to.

intheclouds

What kind of hairband - anyone got a link?

Sunny Dayz

+1 if anyone has links to the types of hair / sweat bands.
I usually wear a hair band when jogging - but I have weird ears that don't like ear phones (I've tried most types) and using a head band keeps them in my ears!

intheclouds

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

+1 if anyone has links to the types of hair / sweat bands.
I usually wear a hair band when jogging - but I have weird ears that don't like ear phones (I've tried most types) and using a head band keeps them in my ears!

Oh on the earphones, I just buy any earphones and change the buds for the tree type ones - Ive never found any that would stay in before I did that. I buy the tree ones on ebay (usually from china).

Theyre like this:


I got a water mp3 player before and they were the type of buds and a whole new world of earphones opened up to me!! (the water mp3 didnt last very long at all!).

PinkLemonade

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

+1 if anyone has links to the types of hair / sweat bands.
I usually wear a hair band when jogging - but I have weird ears that don't like ear phones (I've tried most types) and using a head band keeps them in my ears!

The one I have, UnderArmour, I got from M&M direct a while ago and there's nothing like that in the UA website anymore.
I did have a look at elverys online and they have a few headbans, and the nike website too has some very thick headbands which look really nice. Anything that's thick and will absorb sweat should do the trick.

njs030

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I40VIYK/ref=mp_s_a_1_5/191-1979335-5550748?qid=1456921176&sr=1-5&refinements=p_n_feature_six_browse-bin%3A2528751011&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&dpPl=1&dpID=41zDCMOEh5L&ref=plSrch

Something like this Nike one on Amazon.

MusSpo13

intheclouds wrote: »

I used to only wash my hair on gym days but it was getting washed too often and (a) ruining my temp dyes and (b) getting all dried out from over washing.

So now I just maintain washing it 3 times a week and on gym days that are not hair wash days I just keep it tied up and let the water go on it in the shower after (but without taking it down so the water doesnt penetrate fully).

I cant say Ive ever suffered smelly hair from my workout, although Im not much of a sweater anyway, and I tend to do anaerobic work in the gym in the mornings at the moment - that might change if I go back to a lot of cardio. I did used to time my cardio with hair wash days before.

What I will do occasionally if its a bit dirty but not a wash day is shake some baby powder in then shake it back out, that will dry it out a bit, although it adds volume so would only do in the odd time.

I have such a fear of going into work the next day and my hair being all smelly and sweaty.. I'm going to try washing it with just water over the weekend and see how I get on.

MusSpo13

Thanks everyone for all your advice! Makes me feel a lot better that I'm not the only person that has this problem. I'm going to give all these tips a go and see if any of them make a difference for me!

intheclouds

MusSpo13 wrote: »

I have such a fear of going into work the next day and my hair being all smelly and sweaty.. I'm going to try washing it with just water over the weekend and see how I get on.

Im going to get some dry shampoo and see how that goes.

Also the hairband.

MusSpo13

intheclouds wrote: »

Im going to get some dry shampoo and see how that goes.

Also the hairband.

Just thought I'd let everyone know how I got on.
I used a thick nike hairband and it really helped..I still sweated a lot but I did find that it did keep some of the sweat out of my hair. I also tied up my hair into a rough bun rather than my usual tight ponytail so I think this may have also helped keep air going through my hair.
Haven't used the dry shampoo yet.

LeeLooLee

I have the same issue. Long, thick hair which is a chore to wash, so I wouldn't want to be washing it every day. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I coordinate my workouts with my hair wash days, so working out and washing my hair afterwards every other day. The days I don't wash my hair, I try to stick to light yoga or pilates, or I just skip exercise those days. I definitely wouldn't want to be walking around with sweaty hair, so I try to work around it!