Looking for a hair porosity test?
Start with observations, not a glass of water. How your hair gets wet and dries can help you notice habits worth adjusting—but cannot establish a porosity measurement.
Separate roots from lengths
A useful observation is more specific than a porosity label. Record the two areas separately, then choose one comparison. This does not diagnose your scalp or measure porosity.
AAD hair-care guidance distinguishes shampoo placement at the scalp from conditioning the lengths. Follow product directions; persistent irritation needs qualified advice.
Your saved comparison stays in this tab's session storage, separate from quiz answers. It is not sent to us or added to analytics. Closing the tab ends the session; browser restore may retain it. Clear it below, or export a file and import it on another device. The sample remains an illustrative example.
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Home float tests are easily affected by oil, product residue and surface tension. This guide does not assign a low, medium or high porosity label.
A useful place to start
Keep the conditions similar and change one thing at a time. These observations do not establish your porosity.
Build my free routineWhat hair porosity actually describes
Porosity describes how readily hair takes up and releases moisture. Pattern, density, length, previous treatments, humidity and product residue can all complicate what you observe at home. Fast or slow drying alone cannot tell the whole story.
Use a small, repeatable observation
- Compare your hair under similar conditions, using your usual gentle wash routine.
- Write down the products used, approximate drying conditions and how your hair felt.
- If you adjust a product amount or technique, change only one thing so you can notice the difference.
Read the full guide to hair porosity for sources and limitations, or compare low and high porosity descriptions.
