# Long wet hair outside in frigid temperatures **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061 "2013-01-04T15:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/1 "2013-01-04T15:01:17Z")
Is it an “old wives’ tale” that going outside with long wet hair without a hat on in freezing temperatures leads to pneumonia? If not pneumonia, what other bad things could likely happen? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/2 "2013-01-04T15:04:09Z")
Pneumonia is caused by infection or autoimmune problems… not by getting cold. I do know that if you let wet hair stay wet for too long it can get moldy. If it’s _really_ cold maybe the hair could freeze and you could break it off! ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/3 "2013-01-04T15:07:26Z")
The worst that will happen is split ends. The hair freezes and can break. Colds, etc., are caused by viruses or infection, not wet, cold hair. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/4 "2013-01-04T15:07:46Z")
It will freeze in little clumps of several hairs. It will not break the hair when you bend it, but I’m pretty sure trying to, can’t be good for your hair regardless. And I didn’t get the flu, or a cold, or pneumonia! ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/5 "2013-01-04T15:14:13Z")
You’ll feel a good bit colder than you would if your hair was dry. If you are at risk of getting hypothermia, you’ll get there sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/6 "2013-01-04T15:17:19Z")
I go out all the time with long wet hair. It’s fine. It never made me sick. I do bundle up warm, though. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/7 "2013-01-04T15:21:05Z")
And your hair will get dry! > [@](#): > > … Snow and ice [sublime](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_%28phase_transition%29#Water), although more slowly, below the melting point temperature. This allows a wet cloth to be hung outdoors in freezing weather and retrieved later in a dry state. … CMC ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/8 "2013-01-04T15:23:18Z")
helmet head is a risk. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/9 "2013-01-04T15:33:18Z")
You’ll have a very hard time figuring out when your hair is dry. Very cold hair feels like wet hair. Your hair will freeze, which feels odd. I’ve been doing this for most of my life. I’m rarely sick and when I contracted pneumonia as a teenager, it was viral and during the spring well after freezing weather was over. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/10 "2013-01-04T15:35:41Z")
[Germ theory.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease) ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/11 "2013-01-04T15:35:56Z")
It’s never bothered me and I do it fairly often. I suppose that if you had a bug brewing in your system and you went out with wet hair and not enough clothes on and got chilled, your body might not be able to fight the infection as effectively and you’d get sicker faster. But no, freezing wet hair is not a direct cause of illness. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/12 "2013-01-04T15:37:57Z")
What **flodnak** said. Your head is your biggest area for heat loss, and wet hair will cause you to lose heat faster, so if it’s REALLY cold with significant wind chill, you’ll get to hypothermia faster. As far as heat loss goes, you could wear a hat over your wet hair, but that sounds really uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/13 "2013-01-04T15:41:30Z")
I wear a hat if it’s cold enough. It’s not exactly soaked. I take a shower as soon as I get up, most days. From March to app. November I’m coming back from the pool/shower at the Y. But in January and February, I take a shower as soon as I get up, and by the time I leave home, my hair is still somewhat wet, though not clamped to my head or anything. It has frozen, though it never breaks or anything like that. Never had pneumonia or the flu. Never had hypothermia issues. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/14 "2013-01-04T19:33:46Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > What **flodnak** said. Your head is your biggest area for heat loss [not true](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=501743), see posts #2 and #9 > [@](#): > > and wet hair will cause you to lose heat faster, so if it’s REALLY cold with significant wind chill, you’ll get to hypothermia faster. true ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/15 "2013-01-04T19:39:12Z")
I’ve frozen my hair this way before, but I didn’t get sick. Having frozen hair is an odd feeling. For example [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PxTPXbmDksQ/hqdefault.jpg "Frozen Hair - Minnesota Cold (Part 3)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxTPXbmDksQ) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/16 "2013-01-04T21:04:08Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > [not true](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=501743), see posts #2 and #9true Ignorance fought! (But I think I might just run pantless wearing a hat to gather data.) ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/17 "2013-01-04T21:53:51Z")
Your head is indeed the source of most bodily heat loss… in cold weather… if all the other parts of your body are covered and your head isn’t. Your tummy is indeed the source of most bodily heat loss… in cold weather… if all the other parts of your body are covered and your tummy isn’t. Your legs are indeed the source of most bodily heat loss… in cold weather… if all the other parts of your body are covered and your legs aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/18 "2013-01-04T22:04:42Z")
If your mustache is badly in need of trimming and you go out when it’s wet and it freezes your mouth closed, opening your mouth stings like the dickens while simultaneously solving the need for a mustache trimming. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/19 "2013-01-05T07:49:17Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Your head is indeed the source of most bodily heat loss… in cold weather… if all the other parts of your body are covered and your head isn’t. > > Your tummy is indeed the source of most bodily heat loss… in cold weather… if all the other parts of your body are covered and your tummy isn’t. > > Your legs are indeed the source of most bodily heat loss… in cold weather… if all the other parts of your body are covered and your legs aren’t. And how common is it to do either of those three things? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061/20 "2013-01-05T20:43:02Z")
> [@naita](#): > > And how common is it to do either of those three things? Well, the third one happens a lot to women, their first winter in the tundra, when they think that a pair of leggings or snowpants under their skirt while they commute is not a sexy enough look. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-wet-hair-outside-in-frigid-temperatures/646061.md?page=2)