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How to Wrap Hair at Night | A Step-by-Step Guide

If you have come to learn how to wrap hair at night, then you have come to the right place. Below, we’ll walk you thought the benefits of wrapping your hair at night and how to do it effectively.

Wrapping Hair at Night: A Summary

Overall, wrapping your hair at night is good for you because it reduces dryness, keeps your style in place, and keeps your hair in good health. Wrapping hair at night is generally good for your hair’s health, and it’s easy. Just follow these simple steps:

  1. Choose a material to hold hair up
  2. Put your hair up to the side
  3. Fold your headpiece
  4. Lay the cloth on your head
  5. Tie your headpiece back
  6. Tuck away any excess hair

Wrapping your hair at night is also great as a self-care routine, as it creates a nighttime ritual. Having a nighttime routine rooted in self-care can help you look and feel better with some well-deserved extra love.

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How to Wrap Hair at Night in 6 Easy Steps

Now that you understand the benefits of wrapping your hair at night, we can look into the steps. Wrapping your hair at night is as easy as obtaining the fitting headpiece to hold it up and tying it off correctly. The following steps explain choosing the right type of cloth for you and how to tie your hair back correctly.

1. Choose a Material to Hold Hair Up

The most crucial step in wrapping hair at night is choosing the suitable material to hold your hair up. Tying your hair back is pretty straightforward, but deciding what way you hold your hair up will have significant differences depending on your choice.

There are three significant materials to wrap your hair with that night. You can choose to hold your hair up using either of the following items:

  • Scarf
  • Durag
  • Slap Cap

Scarves are easily the most popular way people choose to hold up their hair. A satin or silk scarf is an effective tool for people with curly hair. Scarves are fabulous at preserving curly or braided hair overnight.

You can treat yourself to your favorite hairstyle before you go to bed, wrap it in a scarf, And upon release in the morning with a bit of water, it will come out as fresh as the night before.

People who enjoy this wash-and-go lifestyle or have curly hair should wear a scarf to hold their hair up at night. It is important to note that silk scarves are gentler on your hair but are more expensive than satin.

While scarves are undoubtedly the most popular way to tie hair up at night, durags provide their unique benefits. Durags are the cheapest option and provide a lot of resistance to the elements.

If someone rolls around a lot at night or sweats easily, you should use a durag over other headpiece options, as they are better built for this. It should be noted that durags will flatten your hair at night, so if you have a more voluptuous hairstyle, you might want to look into one of the other options.

Last but not least, we have slap caps. Slap caps have the benefit of being the easiest to wear at night. While scarves and durags need to be tied in a certain way, slap caps have the advantage of not needing any knots.

These caps also have the reverse effect of durags in that they can increase moisture retention and keep it in your hair, so they can be great if you want to prevent dryness. Slap caps are great if you want the most accessible and most convenient option. 

2. Put Your Hair Up to the Side

After choosing which headpiece you will tie your hair up with tonight, the next step is to put your hair up to the side. You can not put your headpiece on until your hair is contained and in the spot, you want to work with it.

While it is not necessary, it can be helpful to start by parting your hair to the sides so that you know where to grab your coat. Brushing your hair while parting can also be helpful, as it can straighten out your hair before getting ready to put it up and prevent extra frizziness.

If you have curly hair, you should opt to use your hand instead of a brush. Once you are ready, grab all the hair on one side of your head and pull it over to the other. Once the hair is on one side, grip it and pin it up to your left or right side.

You will want to keep your hair against the temple of the side you choose and keep it smooth at your hairline. Continue to place pins down your hair about every 2 inches to keep it straight and to hold it firmly at your side.

3. Prepare Your Headpiece

Now that your hair has been prepared and your headpiece is ready, it is time to fold. If you are using a scarf, you will want to take that scarf and hold it down completely flat. You will then want to take one corner and fold it into a large triangle on the opposite corner.

If you are using a durag, you will want to push in the inside side so that your head will fit in the garment. A Slap cap will not require any preparation and can skip this step.

4. Lay the Cloth on Your Head

After properly preparing your means of holding your hair up, you will now want to place that item on your head. You will want to ensure that the front part of your head wrap will come in line with the edge of your hairline. 

It is ok if some stray hairs are lingering outside your headpiece, as we will take care of those in an upcoming step. It is more important to follow your hairline as a natural guide.

5. Tie Your Headpiece Back

For this next step, you will want to tie your headpiece back. If you have chosen to use a slap cap to hold your hair up, you will notice that they do not have laces and do not need to be tied off.

Scarves are easy to tie, as you will take the two corners of your triangle and knot them behind your head. It can be easiest to do a simple bunny ear tie, but it will not hurt to get fancy and try a more complex knot.

Make sure you can sleep comfortably with your head on this knotted area. Durags come with built ties that you will wrap around your head entirely and bring from the back to the front and again to the back to knot off.

Ensure that your laces are firm but not tight, as you do not want to over-tighten and cause pain. After tying off a durag, make sure that you pull the flap on the bottom down. This will tighten the durag naturally and give your hair some excellent compression.

6. Tuck Away Any Excess Hair

Last, you will want to fix up your hair and place any excess strands outside your garment back inside. Take any stray hairs on your forehead or back and tuck them neatly into your knotted headpiece.

Sleeping with excess hair left outside your cloth can cause it to tangle or frizz up. If you feel your headpiece will not stay in place, use another bobby pin to hold it tighter in any loose sections.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pretty black woman holding her hands to her face for a piece on how to wrap hair at night

Svitlana Sokolova/Shutterstock

Do you still have questions about how to wrap your hair at night? Below we have a few more answers to frequently asked hair questions.

Should you wrap your hair at night?

It is very healthy to wrap your hair at night. Holding your hair up during the night will help to prevent damage to your hair, such as breakage and frizziness. Keeping your hair up also has the added benefit of creating a nightly routine, which has been shown to positively affect your mental health.

Should you brush your hair before wrapping it?

While not entirely necessary, brushing your hair before wrapping it can be great for aiding in frizz prevention.

Which direction do I wrap my hair?

Your hair should always be pulled downward in the back of your head, but whether it leans left or right depends on where you work. If you want to work on the left side of your head, you will have it fall towards the left. If you are going to work on the right side of your head, you will have it fall to the right.

How long should you leave hair wraps in?

You can use a wrap you have made for more than one day at a time. You can wear the same wrap for up to three weeks at a time without any problems as long as you continue to wash your hair as usual. To undo a wrap and make a new one, just untie the finishing knots and retie it on your head.

Does wrapping hair help with frizz?

Putting your hair up in a wrap at night is an excellent way to reduce frizziness and breakage.

So, How Do You Wrap Your Hair at Night?

In the end, learning how to wrap hair at night is just a few simple steps away. Add hair wrapping to your nightly routine if you are interested in self-care. Wrapping your hair at night is relatively healthy and provides a great way to maintain your hair’s health. And it’ll also look better than ever!