Hot water?

[LadyMantis]

Hey there--

I used to have a hair stylist who told me to never wash my hair with hot water because it dries the hair out. When I asked another stylist this, she said it doesn't make a difference. Do any of you guys know the answer? Of course, it could always be different for everyone. I don't wash my hair in SUPER hot water anyway because I have super sensitive ginger skin and I don't want to look like a lobster. But I am prone to split ends, so I am wondering if I should wash my hair with cold water from now on.

So far I have been using hair masks every time I wash my hair and they are REALLY helping in the split end department. I know people keep telling me to use coconut oil but it's so messy!

Anyway, your input would be appreciated! Thanks!

P.S.--After looking at some of your pictures, I am SO jealous. My hair is in layers and the longest part is only at the back of my bra. So impatient!!!!! :(:(:mad:

[LadyMantis]

I should also add that I NEVER use heat on my hair anymore. I always let it dry naturally and so far, my hair has been much less brittle and dry. I was just wondering if there was anything else I could be doing...

[gthlvrmx]

I read somewhere on LHC that it's best not to even use hot water on hair because it could possibly have the same effect as using heat styling tools. Maybe it's not even close enough to be as hot as a flat iron but it's still heat. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=58861
People talked about that topic on that thread I just linked to you.
If hot water can dry out skin, it does the same thing to hair I am assuming.

[Entangled]

I personally think it's best to avoid the extremes in temperature, though I have no evidence to back that up; it just works for me.

[longhairvixen]

Cold water is best. It seals in the cuticles which means less tangles and shiny hair.

[tigereye]

Best use warm water rather than hot, but there's likely very little difference between warm and cool damage-wise. A cold-water rinse at the end is good for shine.

[KittyBird]

If it's an okay temperature for my skin, I figure it's fine to use on my hair. I started avoiding hot water when I joined here, but I've grown tired of torturing myself with cold water just because hot water is supposed to be damaging. I don't think it's as bad as people want you to believe, unless you're using extremely warm water.

[LeMimi13]

I alwaud thought it wsd a myth! I musy give colf water a try

[Crystawni]

If the water's too cold, I find it doesn't remove the shampoo, or any other products, enough. :shrug: My hair shines no matter what temp, too, but that could be due to its fineness and texture. And splits or damage? Very few splits if any, and no damage that I've noticed. But I do live where I don't need the water overly hot (tropics) so YMMV...

[lilin]

I'm with KittyBird. I figure life is for enjoying, right? :D I don't heat style, I don't use any stiffening products, I don't dye, I even have a silk pillowcase! If I want a steamy shower, I'll have one. I've known plenty of people who had long and good-looking hair doing MUCH worse things to it on a regular basis. I think, as with life in general, we all have a "hair vice," but as long as we're taking good care of our hair on most fronts, it's not a huge deal. If hot showers are my hair vice, then so be it. :p I'll just try to make up the difference by using oil/being WO.

Cold probably is better than hot, in terms of keeping stress to the cuticle at an absolute minimum. But man is it miserable! I might try it someday if I start washing my hair in a basin (which I've considered doing), that way the rest of me doesn't have to be cold. But otherwise... nah.

[Nique1202]

Cold water doesn't seal the cuticle any better than warm water, because the cuticle goes back to room temperature as it's drying.

If the water you're washing in or a blow dryer or a summer wind or any other source of heat is a comfortable temperature for your skin, then it's not hot enough to cause damage to your hair because comfortably hot for skin means close to body temperature, and if body temperature caused heat damage then nobody would be able to grow their hair out because of the heat off their scalps.

If the water is hot enough then it MIGHT have a little extra stripping-out-oils power but that's not going to compare to what shampoo does, and those oils are replaced and made up for when you use conditioner or oil or whatever after you wash.

[Panth]

I think people fail to realise that flat irons and similar heat tools are very, very hot - up to 410C on some models. Neither hot water nor blow drying come anywhere close to that in temperature and thus are nowhere near as damaging.

IMO, if your skin can stand it, then your hair can stand it - be it warm water or blow drying. (Of course, with blow drying there's also potential damage from fluffing it into tangles or by using brushes to set it straight - those are additional points of potential damage for blow drying, though they too can be minimised greatly by just being careful.)

[Chromis]

I find my skin get pretty dry if I use really hot water, so I imagine my scalp probably doesn't like it either. I still take hot, hot showers in the winter anyhow because it feels sooooo good, but I do turn it to just hot instead of just-short-of-scalding for my hair washes. I use a shower cap between washes, so I don't really worry about it otherwise.

[Nightshade]

Uhhh.... I shower in water so hot I wind up a pink little lobster and there's so much steam in the bathroom that it, no lie, rains from the ceiling. Somehow, my hair has managed just fine.

The idea that you should wash with cold water touted by stylists and magazines is because it makes dye last longer, and a lot of people use commercial dyes. It's like washing your clothes, your jeans will fade faster in hot water than cold water. On natural-colored or hennaed hair, I don't think the difference matters at all.

I tried the cold water as a final rinse thing for a year or so, and it made no difference at all other than I had wet, sopping, COLD hair stuck to me. Washing with hot water is perfectly fine. It is nothing compared to a flat iron or a blow dryer. What is MORE important is that when you wash your hair isn't tangled, and that you detangle gently afterwards, because hair is most fragile when wet.

[Lyv]

I wash my hair in super hot water and it's just as shiny and tangle free as it was when I tried using cold water. I don't really follow many of the LHC hair do's and don'ts though. I still flat iron (and am still split free with not visible damage), use sulphates and never wear my hair up.

[Vivalagina]

I just love hot showers. I've never had visible damage to my hair because of it. I only shower in cool water when it is very hot out and I can't handle the steam.

[Arctic]

For the most part of the year I take hot showers (and wash my hair at the same water temp), and if the summer happens to be cold, I might do it year around. If we have hot summer, then colder showers feel refreshing.

When I was young, I primarily washed my hair in cold water always, probably for almost ten years or so. I stopped when I moved into home(s) without a tub, and while my hair type has changed since then, I don't think I have gotten any damage - nor, ofcourse, do I think my hairtype change had anything to do with water temp.

My hair is not long though, but it's quite healthy, I think.

[lapushka]

Well it can't get hotter than 40°C, or you'd burn your skin, and IMO anything that's okay for skin to tolerate is okay for hair to tolerate. I never saw a difference with a cold rinse, anyway. :shrug:

[Nightshade]

I wash my hair in super hot water and it's just as shiny and tangle free as it was when I tried using cold water. I don't really follow many of the LHC hair do's and don'ts though. I still flat iron (and am still split free with not visible damage), use sulphates and never wear my hair up.

You're still at CBL, though :) My hair was fine with dye for a couple years years down to tailbone (which I see is your goal length), right up until it wasn't and it all broke off to APL. The game changes pretty quick with years of cumulative heat / mechanical / dye damage, and I found that out the hard way.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I believe you that your hair is in great shape at collarbone, but that for the majority of people, they can't attain tailbone, much less longer, with flat ironing at any degree of frequency. :) The real game-changer seems to be past tailbone, or maybe classic? It seems that around there, things that I was able to get away with at shorter lengths (BSL or so) didn't fly at all. By that point the hair at the ends is 5-6 years old, and cumulative damage is going to start showing, but by that point, there's nothing, or very little, that can be done about it.

[Wosie]

I personally get more frizz and drier hair if I wash my hair in hot water, but then again, I use really hot water when I shower (which is bad for my dry skin and eczema, but it just feels so nice). I normally crank down the temperature when I start washing my hair (but it's still warm). Just like my bud Crystawni said, when I wash my hair in cool water I find my hair still looking oily once it's dried (I normally do somewhat heavy pre-shampoo oilings one day before washing).

[ExpectoPatronum]

Ehh...I know hot water isn't the best for my hair, but I still use it anyway :p

I do rinse my conditioner out in lukewarm/cooler water. Not because my hair needs it, but because I usually get too hot in the shower that I do that to cool down.

[spidermom]

Hot is a subjective term, I think. The bottom line is that if your skin can handle it, your hair can handle it. I've read that most modern shampoos and conditioners are designed to perform best in warm water.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I like that analogy, spidermom. That's how I think about diffusing when I do it too. If my skin can handle the warm setting, my hair will be okay with it too.

[Wosie]

I just always think of the fact that skin is able to regenerate itself while hair cannot. So hair is more vulnerable than skin (naturally the skin matters more than hair, but you know what I mean ^.^).

[Nadine <3]

Eh, frankly I don't care if my hot showers are causing some microscopic damage...I'd shave my head bald before giving up hot showers.:p I use cooler water in the summer and never see a difference anyways, so boiling lava hot showers it is!!

[Kaya]

Eh, frankly I don't care if my hot showers are causing some microscopic damage...I'd shave my head bald before giving up hot showers.:p I use cooler water in the summer and never see a difference anyways, so boiling lava hot showers it is!!

I like the way you think! :D My DH is always complaining that I take scalding hot showers. What can I say...I love me some nice hot water! I have tried cold water rinses in the past. But after experiencing icy cold water dripping off my hair and down my back? No thank you! As others have said, life's about living and enjoying. If you like hot showers, take 'em! You never know when you might not be able to. And then when you are put into a situation where you have to take cool/cold showers, you can see the positive side in that it might be better for your hair! ;)

[Ephemia]

I try to find a compromise between what my hair likes and what's comfortable for me, so I use warm water. I turn it down until it feels cool on my hand, and when I put my head under I usually find there's a bit of warm and cool water coming down.

[gwenalyn]

I recall reading a blog post where someone did a microscopic analysis of hair exposed to hot, warm, and cold water. Warm water did the least damage, cold water did the most, and hot was somewhere in the middle. It was not the most scientific thing in the world, but it was interesting nonetheless.

I quite like not feeling obligated to have a freezing cold head, especially now that I haven't got any dyes to worry about.

[yahirwaO.o]

I cant be bothered really. Its being years since I hadnt take a hot shower, it is always cold no matter if its summer or winter. Both practical and enviomental reasons here.
I think the big difference would be about the fluoride in water systems. I was on vacation on a place where river was or at least not super poluted and my hair was shinier and brighter than ever.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I love having hot showers so I get out looking as red as a lobster. But I won't put my hair under that hot water. On hair wash day I use only warm water, and if it is summer I do a cool final rinse as well.

[StarsandFire]

I always shower in warm water. I find that if I shower with either cold or hot water, my hair turns into a tangled matted mess and gets super damaged.

[divinedobbie]

I shower in really really hot water but I do try to turn it down to "very warm" when I wash my hair and I always turn it down to very cool when I rinse out my conditioner, out of habit more than anything else. I haven't noticed increased shine or anything with a cold rinse.

[Deborah]

I shower in fairly hot water, and would not have it any other way. When I wash my hair I always end with a quart or so of cold water with citric acid powder dissolved in it poured over my hair - bending forward from the waist. None of that cold hits my body. There is no way I would shower in cold or even cool water.

[Doreen]

I'm in the 'Too hot for skin, too hot for hair' camp. I don't even bother with a cold water rinse at the end. I have never not used warm water on my hair so honestly I can't say whether there's a difference, but my hair does seem to be doing fine in spite of it.

[Frankenstein]

Hot water seems to aggravate frizz for me so I have switched to using warm. It works better but nothing gets my hair as clean as hot does. I'd never actually wash with cold but I always end with a cold rinse. Not sure if it makes much of a difference (I've heard it's a myth) but I don't feel right if I don't do it.

[Lyv]

You're still at CBL, though :) My hair was fine with dye for a couple years years down to tailbone (which I see is your goal length), right up until it wasn't and it all broke off to APL. The game changes pretty quick with years of cumulative heat / mechanical / dye damage, and I found that out the hard way.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I believe you that your hair is in great shape at collarbone, but that for the majority of people, they can't attain tailbone, much less longer, with flat ironing at any degree of frequency. :) The real game-changer seems to be past tailbone, or maybe classic? It seems that around there, things that I was able to get away with at shorter lengths (BSL or so) didn't fly at all. By that point the hair at the ends is 5-6 years old, and cumulative damage is going to start showing, but by that point, there's nothing, or very little, that can be done about it.

It's cbl now but this isn't the first time I've grown out my hair ;). I have pretty resilient hair, until 2 years ago I colored it monthly and straightened almost every day without breakage or crazy amounts of damage (there was some damage obviously). I just don't have split/breakage prone hair. My pre chop picture is probably the worst condition it has ever been in after 3 failed attempts at bleaching out my red evenly haha. I would never recommend anyone use high heat because I don't know their hair but it's not a problem for me so I still do it. I've cut back to once or twice a week though :cool:

[Horrorpops]

Wosie I hadn't considered that skin regenerates fairly regularly, whereas hair doesn't at all (at the ends). That's a very good point!

Anecdotally, I showered in cold water for 4 months in the summer because where I currently live gets sooooooo hot cold water was all I could stand. This included while I was washing my hair etc. I did find it was harder to rinse product out of my hair and off my face with cold water when compared to warm, but I didn't really notice an improvement in my hair or skin after this period. This was strange because I always had heard cold water was good for skin and hair, but in my case it made little difference. :shrug:

I still do a cold rinse on my hair and face though, mainly out of habit haha so who knows! :)

[3dgfan]

I think it depends on a person. For me hot water was the main reason why my hair became damaged because I never use any other heat on my hair. My hairdresser noticed that my hair was very dry and asked whether I used some hair tools like curling iron. And then she also told me that a hot water might be a reson.
So I started to wash my hair with warm or sometimes even cold water in December 2014 and the difference is very noticeable. I don't have so much splits and my hair is no longer dry.

[ovalgal]

I keep two big water bottles in the shower. One is filled with vinegar water and one filled with filtered water. I rinse with the vinegar water first and then the filtered water. These are as cold as my house (70s) and since I have started rinsing with them instead of warm/hot shower water, I have noticed a huge difference in shine and overall health of my hair. This might be due to the temperature or the acid rinse or a little bit of both. I used to rinse with the vinegar water and then my plain shower water and I feel that the cool water rinse works better than the warm rinse. I always wash with warm water though!