The quickest way to fix hat hair is to wet it a little and let it dry in the shape you want. Run damp hands through the flattened part from the roots, push it the way it normally sits, then dry it with your fingers moving or a hand dryer pointed at the roots. Water undoes the shape the hat pressed in. Combing dry hair, or adding more product on top, does not.
That is the whole fix for most men with short hair. The rest of this is how to do it in a washroom with nothing but a sink, and how to stop it happening every morning.
Why a hat leaves a mark that combing will not shift
Hair holds its shape with weak bonds inside each strand that break when the hair gets wet and set again as it dries. A hairdryer uses that on purpose. A beanie does it by accident. Your scalp is warm and slightly damp under a hat, so for the length of your commute the hair is quietly re-setting itself in the shape of the inside of the hat.
You end up with three things, and they need different fixes:
- A flat top. The roots have set lying down, so the hair has no lift.
- The band line. A ring pressed around the head where the hat grips, usually just above the ears and across the back. Above it the hair is flat, below it the hair kicks out.
- Static. Only some hats, and only in dry weather. That one is a charge, not a shape, and water fixes it for a different reason. We went through which hats cause it in why your hair stands up when the beanie comes off.
A dry comb drags the hair into place for about ten minutes. The bond underneath is still set the hat's way, so it creeps back.
The fix, by hair length
| Your hair |
What the hat does |
What fixes it |
| Buzz cut or crop under 2cm |
Very little. Maybe a faint line |
Nothing, or a damp palm over the line |
| Short sides, 3 to 6cm on top |
Flat top, band line on the sides |
Damp roots, push up, dry with fingers moving |
| Longer on top, 7cm and over |
Top pressed into one sheet, ends flick at the band |
Damp from root to mid-length, re-part, dry fully |
| Curly or afro hair |
Curls flattened on top, shape squashed |
A mist of water and the pick or your fingers, no comb through |
The pattern is simple. The longer the hair, the more of it needs to get damp, and the more it matters that it is properly dry before you stop.
The two-minute washroom fix
- Take the hat off as soon as you are indoors. Every minute it stays on, the shape sets harder.
- Run the cold tap over your fingers and flick them until they are only just damp. Dripping hands give you a wet patch that takes ten minutes to dry.
- Work your fingertips into the roots where the hair is flattest, usually the crown and the front. Lift as you go.
- Run a damp hand along the band line on each side, pressing the kink flat against the head.
- Push the top the way you wear it, fingers moving back and forth so it does not set in clumps.
- Dry it. If the hand dryer has a nozzle you can point, aim it at the roots for twenty seconds. If not, keep moving the hair with your fingers until it is dry to the touch.
- Only now, if you use product, warm a small amount between your palms and touch it into the top.
Step 6 is the one men skip. Damp hair that is left to dry flat goes straight back to flat, which is why a splash of water on its own sometimes seems not to work.
What to keep in your desk drawer
Not much. A small comb with wide teeth, for the band line rather than the top. A matte clay or paste, because it can be reworked with damp fingers in the afternoon without going greasy. That is enough. If you wear a beanie on a long commute, a travel spray bottle of plain tap water saves you bending over a basin.
Leave out gel and any wet-look product. Once they have set under a hat they crack into a stiff dent, and that will not shift without a proper wash.
Stop it happening in the first place
Never put a hat on wet hair. This is the biggest one by a distance. Hair that goes under a beanie damp from the shower dries in the shape of the beanie, and then you are fixing a full set rather than a crease. If you shower in the morning, dry your hair properly before you leave, even a minute with a hairdryer.
Wear the hat looser. A beanie pulled down hard makes the deepest band line. One that sits higher on the head, folded up at the cuff, presses less hair and leaves the sides mostly alone.
Pick the fabric. Wool and cotton press less and charge less than acrylic. A lined hat is kinder to the hair than a rough knit that grips it.
Cycling helmets are their own problem. The pads sit right on the crown and the strap pulls at the sides, and you sweat under it. On the days you cycle, the washroom fix works better if you rinse the roots properly rather than just damping them. The sweat side of it is in what to do about a sweaty scalp after training.
And for anyone worried about what all this flattening does over a whole winter, the short answer is nothing lasting. We explained why in does wearing a hat cause hair loss.
The cut decides how bad it gets
This is the part nobody selling you a texturising spray will tell you. Hat hair is mostly a cutting problem.
The band line hurts most when the weight of your haircut sits right where the hat grips. Sides left long and heavy above the ears get folded by the band, then stick out below it. Take those sides shorter, with a taper or a fade that keeps the hair close where the beanie sits, and there is nothing left there for it to bend.
The top works the other way. A heavy, blunt top collapses into one flat sheet under a hat. The same length with texture cut into it, so the hair is in pieces of different lengths, lifts back up with damp fingers in seconds, because the pieces do not lie down together.
So from November to March we usually suggest the sides a grade shorter than you wear them in summer, and a little weight taken out of the top. Our standard haircut is 30 minutes and £15. Mention the hat when you sit down, and say which one, because a cycling helmet and a beanie press different parts of your head.
Try it before Monday
The fix takes about two minutes, but the first time you do it in a cold office washroom it will take five, and you will use too much water. Do a dry run at the weekend: wear your hat for an hour, take it off, and go through the steps at your own basin. By Monday you will know how damp your hands need to be and how long your hair takes to dry. If it still sits flat on top after a week of doing it properly, the haircut is the problem, and you can book a chair to sort that out.
