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Wearing a Beanie With Wet Hair – Good or Bad?

By Taylor James

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Updated on

Sometimes you just don’t have the time to let your hair fully dry before you rush out the door to an appointment. A great solution for hiding hair that hasn’t had time to be styled is to put a hat on.

Beanies are gaining in popularity during all seasons due to celebrities like Billie Eilish and Young Thug, so it’s safe to say that it might be your go-to option if your hair hasn’t dried yet. Wearing a beanie with wet hair might seem like a clever solution, but is it a good idea? Here are a few points to consider before you put a beanie on over wet hair. 

Woman wearing a grey beanie

Wearing a beanie with wet hair will most likely give you a bad hair day. 

Although it might be a great short term solution, if you ever want to take your beanie off during the day, you’re almost certain to have one of the worst hair days of your life hiding underneath.

When you put a beanie on wet hair, it dries in the form of the hat. This gives you an extreme version of hat hair. Wearing hair products, like mousse or a hydrating serum, may help slightly, but probably won’t be able to save your hair in the grand scheme of things. 

Wearing a beanie with wet hair may cause matting. 

Walking and moving around creates friction between your hair and your beanie. If your hair is still wet when you put your beanie on, this friction can cause matting. Not only does matted hair not look great, it’s also unhealthy for your hair, because it can cause breakage if you do this too often. If your hair mats after wearing a beanie with wet hair, you’re not going to have the best time trying to pick it out with a comb. Ouch! 

Wearing a beanie will hide un-styled hair. 

Wearing a beanie with wet hair isn’t entirely bad. It can help you look more put together if you were rushing at the beginning of your day. Whether you’re running your kids to elementary school drop off or meeting up with your parents after you slept in, a beanie can hide a hurried routine. Sometimes, the social aspects of life need to take precedence over good hair care. C’est la vie. 

Wearing a beanie with wet hair will keep your hair from freezing. 

If you live in an area where the temperatures get chilly, you know that going outside with a wet head is a pretty miserable experience. You lose heat through your head, and adding the element of wet luscious locks on top can really ruin your day, especially if your hair freezes.

To help you avoid freezing your hair and the overall discomfort of wintery weather, a beanie can be a major asset. If it’s the difference between frozen hair or wild hair, take the wild hair. You’ll be much more comfortable. 


There are a lot of personal reasons you may want to wear your beanie over wet hair, but overall, it’s not the best choice if you want to keep your hair healthy and well styled. It’s ultimately your choice, but now you know the pros and cons and can choose wisely for yourself.

About Taylor James

As Philip Treacy once said, “How a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about.” And on that note, I hope you enjoy your hats and find the site useful. Learn more about Hat Realm's Editorial Process.