How You Should Really Be Cleaning Your Scrunchies

If you have medium-length or long hair, you probably have a stash of scrunchies in your hair accessories collection. Scrunchies were ubiquitous in the late 1980s and '90s, although they'd been invented decades before, in the 1960s. Since then, they've gone in and out of style. They've become trendy again over the past few years, according to The Atlantic. With a wide variety of price points, there's a perfect scrunchie for nearly every person and every possible outfit. 

These versatile accessories are easy to use and they cause less damage than traditional hair ties. You might even wear one around your wrist regularly in case you need to secure your hair when you're out and about. If you wear them often, there might be something you're overlooking, though. Pop Sugar notes that even though you likely wash your hair regularly, your scrunchies might be even dirtier than you think. Chances are, you're not cleaning them enough if you've even ever cleaned them at all.

One reason you probably need to clean your scrunchies more often than hair ties is the extra fabric on scrunchies collects more sweat and dirt than their smaller counterparts, according to Pop Sugar. Dermatologist Dr. Daniel Lanzer told Vegamour, "Hair ties and hair scrunchies can foster nasty germs (bacteria and fungus), that when coming in close contact with your skin can cause a number of unwanted skin infections." Dr. Stephanie Nichols, NMD, agreed, and she revealed that scrunchies are "a perfect breeding ground for yeast and bacteria." Yikes!

Like any other fabric item, the way you should wash them depends on the fabric they're made of, which could be cotton, velvet, satin, or something else. For basic materials, you could probably get away with throwing them in the washer with the rest of your clothing (via Pop Sugar). However, if you want to ensure that they last a while or if they're made of more delicate material, you could hand-wash them instead. 

To wash scrunchies by hand, fill a container with warm water and add a drop or two of shampoo or fabric softener. Gently scrub them or allow them to soak for a few minutes. After that, rinse them with clean water and squeeze out excess moisture. Lay them flat or hang to dry. No matter how you wash them, however, do it regularly so that you're not putting dirty scrunchies on your clean hair.