Hair porosity refers to how well your hair can absorb and retain moisture. How porous your hair is has a lot to do with which no poo method will work best for your hair. Figuring out your hair porosity will allow you to maximize the benefits from your conditioning products.
How Porous Is My Hair?
It’s super easy to test the porosity of your hair.
Method #1: The Float Test
- Fill a glass or bowl with room temperature water.
- Take a couple strands of your clean hair and put them in the water. Clean hair is important. If you have oils or products on your hair, it will alter your results.
- Watch it for 2-4 minutes.
- If your hair sinks immediately, it has high porosity. Your hair absorbed the water quickly and sank quickly.
- If your hair is still floating 4 minutes later, it has low porosity. I have low porosity hair (see my float test pic below).
- If your hair is slowly sinking, you have normal porosity.
Method #2: The Slide Test
- Grab a strand of hair on your head.
- Starting from the end of your hair, slide your fingers up the hair shaft towards your scalp.
- If you have a bumpy ride, you have high porosity hair. If your hair felt smooth, you have low porosity hair.
Method #3: The Spray Bottle Test
- Take a small section of your hair and pin the rest back.
- Spray that section with a little water, just enough to mist it.
- If the water sits on top of your hair or beads up, you have low porosity hair.
- If your hair absorbs the water quickly, you have high porosity hair.
- If the water sits on your hair for several minutes then is absorbed, you have normal porosity hair.
NOTE: The “how to care” tips below are not set in stone rules. Everyone is different. For example, I have low porosity hair but my hair responds well to a coconut oil hair mask. Coconut oil is a heavy oil and does not do well on most low porosity hair in general. All of the tips below are “in general.”
For More Info
For more info, be sure to check out my ebook, The No Poo Method.
Low Porosity
Traits of low porosity hair:
- Cuticles are closed, so moisture does not enter easily / resistant to moisture
- Products sit on your hair
- Does not absorb hair color or treatments easily
- Water beads up on hair
- Hair takes a long time to dry
- Looks healthy but doesn’t have much elasticity or volume
How to care for low porosity hair:
- Use heat to open the cuticles to let the moisture in (hot water, heated deep conditioners, etc.). If you aren’t opposed to the hair dryer, you can use it to heat your conditioner while it is on your hair. Or wrap a hot towel around your head (heat the towel in your clothes dryer).
- Use lighter products. Argan oil and grapeseed oil are good light oils.
- Reducing build up is key. Build up on low porosity hair makes it more difficult for the moisture to make it’s way to your hair. Washing with clay and apple cider vinegar is a good way to remove build up on low porosity hair (see the no poo methods for more info).
High Porosity
Traits of high porosity hair:
- Absorbs too much moisture, but is unable to retain it
- Looks and feels dull and dry
- Generally damaged and over processed with torn cuticles (but not always)
- Tangles easily because the cuticles get caught on each other
- Hair dries quickly
- Tends to be frizzy
How to care for high porosity hair:
- Egg washes are great for high porosity hair. The protein in the egg restores and strengthens the cuticles. But do not do it too often. Too much protein will cause your hair to become stiff and break. See more under “egg wash.”
- Aloe vera gel and coconut oil are great for high porosity hair
- Heavy products and cream work well for high porosity hair
- High porosity hair benefits well to deep conditioning products to help restore and heal the damaged cuticles
Normal Porosity
Traits of normal porosity hair:
- Absorbs and retains the perfect amount of moisture
- Shiny, healthy, lots of volume
How to care for normal porosity hair:
- Keep doing what you are doing! Your hair is healthy and happy. Unless you are transitioning to a no poo, nontoxic method. In general, your transition will be relatively quick and easy.
Be sure to check out the FAQ page!
Love this! It is so helpful – thank you very much! I apparently have low porosity hair, which explains a lot.
😉
I’m pretty sure, judging by these tests, that I have low hair porosity, and that could explain why it takes me more than six washes to get small (and I mean tiny) amount of coconut oil out of my hair 🙁
Well, I’m going to try out the argan oil, sounds promising, thank you for this wonderful article 🙂
Kudos <3
😉
Hey,, my hair doens’t sink at all, but I have all the characteristics of high porosity (except for the fast drying hair, my hair dries very slowly). I don’t know which I am now 😀
Hi, great website, thank you! How do you get the “clean” hair for the porosity test? Does that mean using commercial shampoo, or does a no-poo method work?
Hi!! I have curly hair, and it is certainly low porosity. I currently use hairsprays and lave-in conditioners. So, if I use the low poo method, I would have to ditch these hair products as well? How do I start? Thanks!
Either way. If you haven’t started no poo, then what you have been using for shampoo will work. If you have already started no poo, then any method is good.
Yep, you can still use commercial products with low poo. It would be best to avoid sulfates, silicones, or parabens. Low poo shampoos do not have those ingredients in them so it would be best to avoid them in your styling products, too.
Does it matter if the strands are wet or dry when first dropped into the water? Wondering if I can do this right after a shower (wet hair) before I apply any product.
Dry hair will be better. If your hair is already wet, then it is already saturated with water. The idea is to see how well the water saturates into your hair.
I believe I have low porosity hair. I’m using baking soda and ACV every other day with a dry shampoo in between. The ends of my hair are very dry and tangly. I’ve tried an olive oil/avocado/lemon juice mask and it took 4 washes to get the oil out and my ends are still dry but the roots get oily after 2 days. Is there something I can wash or condition with that will moisturize my ends? It looks like grapeseed oil takes about 30-40 minutes twice a week, from what I’ve read. I was hoping no poo would be easier than washing my hair daily but after 7 weeks I’m still struggling. Argan oil sounds appealing because I can use as a leave in conditioner. I’m also reading about the different types of clays that you have written about. I’m starting to get confused about what to do. I know you’ve written so much on your website and it’s very helpful, but can you give me a little more help? My roots are oily, ends are dry, and my hair is a little wavy/curly. I also tried conditioning with aloe vera gel but that left my hair greasy and still dry. Thanks a lot and thanks for making a website!
Cut back to no more than every 4 days (more is better) between washes with baking soda. Too much baking soda will damage your hair. So first cut back how much baking soda you use. Once you cut back the number of days between washes, your hair will go through transition. It might take several months to go through transition. I talk a little about my transition here: https://thenopoomethod.com/start-here/. I love argan oil to condition my hair. I also like coconut oil, coconut milk, and honey. Good luck and I hope that helps!
My hair floats for a few second then sinks to the bottom where it stays for a while then floats all the way back to the top. It seems my hair has a mind of it’s own and can’t decide if it likes the bottom of the cup or the top. I did notice bubbles on the strands though.
Tangles easily
Tends to be frizzy/fuzzy
looks dry and dull
Water beads up on hair
Hair takes a long time to dry sometimes
heavy products leave my hair straightish
volume is ok
Good elasticity
type 4C/b (I don’t got the coils or curls though even with lots of water and gel)
So would this be high, low or medium or special?
I repeated the experiment multiple times and some hair would stay afloat but majority of the time the hair floats sinks then floats again. There was bubbles on each strands for the tests.
Nb. I don’t have heat damage because I don’t use heat otherwise from body heat. I shampoo my hair but also do an acv wash. Minimum product usage-JBCO (no brand. I’m from Jamaica so my grandma gets it for me) and cantu styling cream
Good elasticity
type 4C/b
Hi Kaci – You’ve stumped me! Your hair seems to be a little of everything. From what you are telling me, I’d lean more towards high porosity.
Howdy I am so delighted I found your web site, I really
found you by mistake, while I was researching on Yahlo
for something else, Anyways I am here noww and would just like
to say many thanks for a fantastic post and a all round enjoyable
blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have tine to read through
it alll at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS
feeds, so when I have time I wilol be back to read more, Please do keep up
the excellent work.
My spouse and I stumbled over here from a different website and thought I
might as well check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you.
Look forward to looking at your web page repeatedly.
Thanks for the kindness!
Thanks for the kindness!
my daughter is high and my son is low ….helps so much figuring this out..
you prolly have high porosity hair Kaci
What if your hair sheds ALOT…looks shinny but you easily get build up? And dry scalp…. But I have read when you shed you need protien ? I’m not sure what porosity I am… My hair does break easily also……
I think I’m stuck. I did the water test and my hair floated. I even left it there over night in the glass….still floating. However, I also did the strand texture test and it was pretty smooth all the way up. Soooo….I’m not really sure which I have. I do have frizzy texture to my hair, but that’s sort of a given with ethnic hair, no? What’s worse is that anesthesia 3 times in the last year has turned my hair into someone else’s! My hair is color treated, tends to be dry when I wake up (whether I wrap it at night or not), and when I add moisture via argan, coconut or olive oil, it rarely sticks around. I do put heat on it for styling about 4 days a week (I know, I know, that’s no good), but since I’m in the process of going natural, the mop just won’t cooperate otherwise. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Hi, I did all the tests and my hair seems to be low porosity (I have virgin wavy 2B type hair) and it takes ages to dry, but it sure acts and looks like high porosity hair.. Dry, frizzy, unmanageable. I’m currently on water only wash, but use conditioner, deep conditioner, coconut, jojoba oil, sometimes either argan oil or shea butter on my lenghts and tips. I try to take good care of my hair and don’t heat style it. I wash it with water once or twice a week usually with sauna and do a deep treatment (with keratin and protein at the moment) once a week but it leaves my hair even frizzier and rougher to touch than usual so I’ve been thinking of stopping or using it less and now that I read it’s bad for low porosity hair I probably really should stop this product altogether? Any ideas what I might be doing wrong with my routine and is it possible for low porosity hair to be so frizzy and dry? Also, great article! I’d really appreciate an answer because I’m desperate, please!
Oh, I forgot to mention I’m following no poo and only use natural products. 🙂
Oh I feel ya on the anesthesia. I had several surgeries within a couple years and the meds (during surgery and afterwards) really effected my hair. It sounds like baking soda is definitely not for you. I’d try soap nuts, clay (bentonite or rhassoul), and/or aloe. I hope that helps.
You might need some deep conditioning.
I have used vodka and water to rinse my hair before, which closes the cuticles of my hair and makes it more shiny. I don’t use this all the time though. As far a porosity my hair just floats in water and never sinks ever. My hair is rather thick too and takes forever to dry so i guess it is porous when wet.
Hi Janica – I’d start with cutting back protein and see if that helps. Some hair doesn’t respond well to protein. Have you tried clay? Rhassoul, kaolin, or bentonite? Aloe might help with the frizz. I hope that helps!
Hi! Actually I just started the protein deep treatments last month so it’s still quite new to me but I’ve been using it more rarely now because I find it drying. My hair was dry and frizzy before it too, it starts to seem like my natural texture because nothing seems to helps.. I actually added aloe vera as a styling gel just recently, sometimes it seems to work but sometimes not so I’m not sure yet. I do wash my hair with white clay occasionally! Do you mean to use clay for cleansing or conditioning?
Hi.I have a difficult hair situation. My hair and scalp are pretty dry, so oiling is must before shampooing. But then oil doesn’t wash off and end up using more poo and then my hair becomes clean but dry:( am not too big on using chemical conditioners but they become only way to smoother hair. Have low porosity hair. I hope my solution here:)
Hi my hair feels bumpy to me when I run my fingers up it, but in a float test it only sinks just below the surface ( that is only because I tried to push it down) and never goes any lower. Also my hair is dry with tangly ends and things like coconut oil make my hair very greasy. Please help do I have high or low porosity hair?
It sounds like you are in the shampoo cycle. Shampoo is designed to strip your hair of it’s natural oils. It’s possible that after transitioning to no poo, your hair will balance out and produce the correct amount of oil. And here are some things that might help: essential oils https://thenopoomethod.com/essential-oils-hair/, deep conditioners https://thenopoomethod.com/deep-conditioning/, hair nutrition https://thenopoomethod.com/hair-nutrition/. I hope that helps!
From what you say here, I’m leaning towards high porosity
Very good blog you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any community forums that
cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really like to be a part of online community where
I can get feed-back from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same
interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks!
Yes and all people who try the method of glass water they get results (low) I think it isn’t so clear idea.
Okay, so I mess up on all 3 test and don’t know if I have High or low P.
Hair qualities:
•hair dry up fast
•hair is curly (3c/4a)
• ran my finger through the one strand of hair and it was bumpy
•frizzy hair
• when I did the spray bottle water test, the hair beaded up,waited 4 min and still looked beaded up but More dry than before ( if that make sense) and as I’m writing this the hair is dry because I touched it.
•washed my hair and conditioned it, t-shirt dried my hair and did the spray bottle test didn’t feel like waiting several minutes so added condition for my leave- in and defined my curls and now 3/4 of the section of 1/4 of my head I tested it on is dry
H E l P M E
And when I did braid outs for my hair, I would use heat ( blow dry) to get it sorta straight. My hair continued to grow even when I did this braid out like two or four times a month
But I have split ends.
Hi there. I am soo confused. I have 4c hair. I did the strand test and my hair floats. which means low porosity. But I was having a lot of shedding before and thought I had high porosity hair (as in damaged) so I bought hair butters, heavy oils and other deep conditioning treatments from the shea butter line. Although the shedding lessened, The products just build up on my hair and give me white flakes on my leave outs. I’ve got build up on my hair no matter what I use. It makes me look like I’ve got dandruff but there’s none on my scalp, just my hair. I mostly notice buildup using the shea moisture line. Also…The hair dries very slow 🙁 and just not as full as it used to be when I was younger. I don’t use heat, haven’t for over 6 years. Been natural for 7. What porosity am I really? Also can I use the shea moisture line for low porosity?
Sorry another question. What if your hair floats for 15 minutes then sinks after? Is that low or high porosity?
Hi – here are lots of resources including online communities https://thenopoomethod.com/no-poo-articles/
Hi! I have very interesting hair.. as a kid, it was pin straight, but once I hit puberty, it just became poofy and frizzy.. at this point, my hairdresser told me I had gained a lot of curl and just didn’t know how to work with it yet
I’m now devacurl products which was working amazing for quite a few years, but I’m looking for a change now.. just don’t know where to start…
When doing the strand test, my hair stays at the top.
When running my fingers along a strand of hair, some seems relatively smooth (with at least a couple bumps) and the rest is bumpy.
I have a LOT of frizz. A lot. my hair is quite curly but if I don’t put products in to “hold” the curl, i become a frizz monster I lose my curls.
Any ideas??? I can’t figure out the porosity or texture.. don’t know what kind of products to use because of this….any ideas on what my crazy hair could be craving? I tried coconut oil a few times and it took like 5 washes for it to fully feel like it was out……
After washing my hair, I took a strand and put in a cup of water,it didn’t sink down o I guessed I have low porosity but my hair takes longer to dry. That’s contradictory. What does this mean?
It’s hard to trouble shoot online. I’m not sure what it means. But I tend to like the sink method more than how long it takes your hair to dry.
Curly hair tends to be low porosity. Clay generally does well with curly hair. And an aloe vera gel typically likes curls. It’s hard to trouble shoot online. So I hope that helps.