How to Sleep with a Perm Rod Set

Written by Tiara Croft in Hair & Sleep

So you’ve painstakingly cultivated your perfect curls and are ready to rock them. A perm rod set is a fun, playful look no matter what the length of your hair is. However, it’s also easily ruined by sleeping. If you’re not careful, in the time it takes you to get your forty winks, your curls might flatten and lose their shape, and you’ll be back to square one again.

Here are four simple steps that help you preserve your perm rod set overnight:

  1. Section Your Curls
  2. Throw On a Bonnet
  3. Use a Satin Pillowcase
  4. Adjust Your Sleeping Position

Let’s explain more about each one.

1. Section Your Curls

With a relatively loose hair tie, make two or three sections out of your curls. The first one should be sitting at the front of your head, almost like a fringe cut, and the second one should be at the very back, leaving the sides of your head curl-free.

Alternatively, you can separate the back part into two pigtails that again leave your sides exposed.

Make sure that the hair tie is firm enough to hold your hair sections in place, but not so tight as to warp the shape of your curls.

This sectioning will minimize the flattening of your curls, since most of us sleep on our sides throughout the night.

2. Throw On a Bonnet

Some people use scarves for this step, but you will find that a bonnet doesn’t slip off as easily. As in the case of the hair tie in our previous step, make sure that the bonnet is loose enough not to squish your curls, but still gripping around your head in a way that makes it difficult for it to slide off.

Carefully tuck your perm rod set into the bonnet as you would put on a shower cap. Start from the front and make sure to pick up all of your hair in the back.

The bonnet will provide additional protection to your curls, making sure they don’t get too frizzy by the time your alarm rings.

If you are looking for a satin/silk bonnet to both cover and protect your hair overnight I’ve had the best luck using an ELIHAIR Silk Bonnet from Amazon.

3. Use a Satin Pillowcase

This step isn’t only for the pillowcase, actually. Both your bonnet and your pillowcase should ideally be made of satin. Other than this making you feel like an extravagant queen, satin has the purpose of reducing friction between your bonnet and the pillowcase.

With the way your head simply slides across your pillow, there is minimal risk that your bonnet will catch and fall off while you’re sleeping.

Additionally, I personally recommend using a Pure Mulberry Silk Pillowcase (Link to Amazon) to help prevent snagging while you are tossing and turning in your sleep.

4. Adjust Your Sleeping Position

Finally, consider the position you are sleeping in. This may be difficult since we’re not always aware of what positions we’re sleeping in, but at least before you drift off into dreamland you can make sure to avoid contact with the pillow.

Perm rod set enthusiasts advise making yourself comfortable on your stomach and supporting your head on your pillow by using your arms.

Sooner or later, you will turn in your sleep but this starting position will reduce the amount of time your curls are pressed into the pillow.

Practice Makes Perfect

That’s it as far as our constructive advice goes. We know that waking up with a messy perm rod set can be frustrating as little else, but we’re sure that with a little bit of finessing and practice you’ll get the hang of this in record time!

It doesn’t take much to preserve your super cool hairstyle so you can show it off day after day. Throw on some music, kick the evening off with your skincare routine, and complete everything by securing your curls so that they live to see tomorrow. Have fun!

Author:

  • Tiara is an avid sleeper and fully dedicated to her work and research. Most often this includes, but is not limited to, napping, testing how many hours in one night that she can sleep, trying new sleep methods and constantly changing sleep positions. Tiara's main focuses are on dreams and how we can achieve the best natural sleep possible. As a sufferer of insomnia and other sleep-related disturbances, Tiara loves to dig deep into the subconscious to ask all the questions that can help us better understand what happens when we sleep.

    • Reviewed By:

    • Gregorio Ruggeri of Salon Ruggeri is an award-winning and widely respected hairdresser who is known not just for his impeccable cuts and color, but for caring for the scalp and the integrity of the hair from a holistic point of view that prioritizes long-term health. He has won “Best Blonde” in New York’s “Best Of New York” issue, and the salon has been named on “Best Of” lists in Allure and Time Out New York. He has also been featured in countless print and digital publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, W, Vanity Fair, Beauty, Inc., as well as in the story “The Place Where It Girls Go For Perfect Hair,” in Refinery29. Ruggeri credits his enduring passion to a constant desire to learn (he has completed a master’s degree in hair color, and continuing to study trichology, the medical treatment of the hair and scalp.), and grow along with his clients.

Tiara Croft

Tiara is an avid sleeper and fully dedicated to her work and research. Most often this includes, but is not limited to, napping, testing how many hours in one night that she can sleep, trying new sleep methods and constantly changing sleep positions. Tiara's main focuses are on dreams and how we can achieve the best natural sleep possible. As a sufferer of insomnia and other sleep-related disturbances, Tiara loves to dig deep into the subconscious to ask all the questions that can help us better understand what happens when we sleep.

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