In this article, we will look into 5 things you can do to avoid sweat while wearing a helmet. We will also see how sweaty scalps can lead to infected hair follicles, breed nasty fungi and microbes, and cause hair loss in the most severe cases.
How to avoid sweat while wearing a helmet?
By wearing a ventilated helmet, a headband, and light clothes you can avoid sweating while wearing a helmet. Going slowly is critical as well. Make sure to clean and dry the helmet liners after each ride and wash your hair regularly with shampoo and conditioner.
Here are the 5 things you can do to avoid sweat while wearing a helmet in more detail:
1. slow down
The faster you go, the more you will sweat.
That’s just how cycling works.
So the single best way to avoid sweating under a helmet is to go slowly.
A cycling speed of around 10 mph (16km/h) is where most people don’t sweat on a city bike.
If you go much faster or have a lot of hills to climb, you will sweat much more under your helmet.
Make sure to stay hydrated as well as cool water also helps regulate your body temperature.
2. Choose the right helmet
A helmet with more air vents is going to keep your head colder.
It will also help humidity escape quicker, preventing it from pooling on your scalp.
Helmets with many air vents may not be as aerodynamic and fast, but they can help you sweat less and arrive at work with dry hair.
The number and size of the air vents is one of the main things I look for when choosing a helmet for commuting or mountain biking.
3. Wear light clothes
The warmer your whole body is, the more your head will sweat.
So it is vital to keep our entire body cool (especially on hot days).
Light, breathable clothes like Lycra or Merino Wool will wick away the moisture quicker, making you stay drier over your ride.
You can even wear light clothes as a base layer on colder days. It will have a similar effect as long as your second layer is still moderately breathable.
It’s often a good idea to be slightly cold (not freezing!) when you start riding as you will warm up on the bike. If you are already cozy beforehand, you will sweat much more once you get your heart rate up.
Pro Tip: Wear a brighter helmet and clothes as dark clothes will reflect less sunlight and warm up faster. This will keep you cooler overall and avoid sweat under your helmet.
4. Wear a headband or cycling cap
A cycling cap, headband, or even a do-rag can help sweat from running down your forehead and into your eyes.
This is especially an issue for men with short hair.
Women, on the other hand, can loop their hair in a silk scrunchie, wrap it in a buff, and put the cycling cap on top.
That works to keep most hairstyles intact under the helmet.
5. Keep your helmet liners clean
If sweat starts to run down your head, wash your helmet pads immediately after your ride and let them dry thoroughly.
If the helmet pads are soaked full of sweat, they can’t absorb more and it will run down your face unhindered.
But it’s also a good idea to wash helmet pads regularly anyway since they can be a breeding ground for fungi and microbes.
You can also replace them with quick-dry helmet liners if they never seem to be able to deal with your sweat.
problems with sweaty scalps and helmets
Sweat isn’t bad for your skin or hair.
But if sweat collects around your hair follicles for a long time, it can irritate your skin and infect it.
The grime of sweat, dirt, and hair products is also the perfect breeding ground for microbes and fungi that irritate your skin even more and weaken your hair.
Dandruff and an itchy scalp are often early warning signs that something isn’t right.
In more severe cases it can even cause hair loss as we covered in the article Does bike riding cause hair loss?.
To be safe, you should wash and dry your hair often if you wear helmets regularly.
Bonus Tip: avoiding sweat also prevents helmet hair
Sweat is not your only enemy.
It is also road dirt and hair products. The heat emitted by your skull when working out can melt it into a grimy mess.
Apart from the scalp health issues we covered earlier, it can also cause helmet hair.
Helmet hair is whatever happens to your hairstyle after a long bike ride.
It can describe flat or wild hair or even hair that has taken on the inside shape of your helmet like in my case a while back:
I wrote a full article on this subject that covers how it happens and how to avoid it.
