PDA

View Full Version : Washing hair in hot/warm/cold water?



Garnetgem
January 20th, 2016, 01:28 AM
Was wondering how you all care for your hair with washing do you use hot or warm or cold water to wash and rinse in?,i did the mistake of using hot the other day and am left with dry hair that's been left with plenty of static!

i usually use warm to wash then finish off with a cold rinse but this time was in a hurry....

Groovy Granny
January 20th, 2016, 01:47 AM
I wash in warm with a cool rinse...otherwise it is more frizzy.

Sarahlabyrinth
January 20th, 2016, 02:28 AM
I wash with warm and rinse with cooler. I don't put hot water on my hair.

Daydreamer.
January 20th, 2016, 02:51 AM
I wash/rinse with warm water. I can't stand cold water...

jocelyn anne
January 20th, 2016, 03:03 AM
Was wondering how you all care for your hair with washing do you use hot or warm or cold water to wash and rinse in?,i did the mistake of using hot the other day and am left with dry hair that's been left with plenty of static!

i usually use warm to wash then finish off with a cold rinse but this time was in a hurry....

I prefer washing my hair with luke warm water. But if I use a condtioner, I rinse my hair with cold water.

jocelyn anne
January 20th, 2016, 03:04 AM
I wash/rinse with warm water. I can't stand cold water...

Yes, cold water feeld so good on our hair but the body, no! I'm freezing.

school of fish
January 20th, 2016, 04:46 AM
I personally don't get enough benefit from a cold rinse to endure that painful shower-blast, and I don't get any negative effect from hot water on the hair, so hot showers it is for me! Especially in winter, here in Canada ;)

Mind you, my hair is seriously low-porosity, so that may be a factor.

lapushka
January 20th, 2016, 08:33 AM
Was wondering how you all care for your hair with washing do you use hot or warm or cold water to wash and rinse in?,i did the mistake of using hot the other day and am left with dry hair that's been left with plenty of static!

i usually use warm to wash then finish off with a cold rinse but this time was in a hurry....

Lukewarm, to make it comfortably warm on my skull, at least. No "hot" water - you can't stand that on your scalp anyway. So what goes for the scalp, goes for the hair. I never cold rinse. I upside-down wash. No shower washing for me. It's too convoluted with my disability.

meteor
January 20th, 2016, 09:09 AM
I try to go for temperatures as close to neutral, lukewarm, if possible. If you have a handheld showerhead, you can easily direct cool/cold water rinse only at the length without touching skin.
I notice that I definitely crank up the heat in wintertime, and I know neither skin nor hair appreciate that, but it just feels nice and warm. I do find that hotter washes can result in more frizz, flyaways and dryness, while colder washes can be less cleansing for me (leave a tiny bit of oil behind). What I like about hot water is that it washes off dirt and grease faster (sebum is waxy so higher temperatures make it runnier). But cooler water is better if you don't want to wash off all of your oil/sebum and conditioner, so a cool final rinse for washing off your conditioner is probably better than very hot water.

I've never seen any research on specific ranges of temperature of water and its effect on hair. If somebody finds something, please do share! :flower:
However, boiling, scalding hot water is most definitely damaging (but you probably don't wash in that kind of temperature anyway) - for example, here is a great study on coconut oil which uses boiling water (and bleach - in other experiments) to create hair damage to see how coconut oil can benefit hair - http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc1999/cc050n06/p00327-p00339.pdf. There are some great graphs there that demonstrate the specific degree of damage (protein loss) incurred by boiling wavy, curly, straight hair...

Also, I found an interesting short blogpost on water temperatures and hair: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/01/do-cold-water-rinses-make-hair-shine.html
She looked under microscope at kinky, coarse, and porous hair strands and found that both ice cold and very hot water are not great - causing swelling / lifting of cuticle - unless the hair is coarse. There are some great photos there: kinky curly hair, low-normal porosity, and room/cold/hot temperature water treatments (swelling/lifting cuticles in both cold and hot water) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QHM7WGutbbk/UtF9KRTgh5I/AAAAAAAAAvg/tDZI4zfWGqM/s1600/kinking.jpg); coarse hair (no significant effect from hot/cold water) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3vCMWhqAFxc/UtF9wdSXfrI/AAAAAAAAAvw/dwdQfKMo27A/s1600/coarse_hair.jpg); porous hair (more swelling from hot water (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gQzJZglB4W4/UtF-5UtT3gI/AAAAAAAAAv4/CcLcZJEhhFI/s1600/porous_hair.jpg)).

school of fish
January 20th, 2016, 09:30 AM
I personally don't get enough benefit from a cold rinse to endure that painful shower-blast, and I don't get any negative effect from hot water on the hair, so hot showers it is for me! Especially in winter, here in Canada ;)

Mind you, my hair is seriously low-porosity, so that may be a factor.

I should probably clarify what I stated above - when I say 'hot', I really mean the warmer side of warm, not scalding hot! I certainly would never want to suggest that using overly hot water is a great idea :)

But yes, I probably use hotter water than some do, and I've not noticed any difference to the behaviour of my hair, skin or scalp as a result. The dryness of winter air around here has much more effect for me than water temperature, so I just go with what feels comfortable water-wise :)

pailin
January 20th, 2016, 09:32 AM
I'm firmly in the benefits-not-worth it camp when it comes to cold water

KittyBird
January 20th, 2016, 09:35 AM
I wash with hot/warm water. If it's ok for my skin, then it's ok for my hair. I'm done with torturing myself by washing in lukewarm or cold water and enduring cold rinses after washing in warm water. It didn't make any difference for my hair anyway.

CoveredByLove
January 20th, 2016, 09:40 AM
I wash with hot water (obviously not scalding hot). My hair just doesn't get clean with cool water...I suspect it's due to my hair being low porosity.

gustavonut
January 20th, 2016, 09:55 AM
It's funny because I was just experimenting with this. My last shower I used warm/hot water on my hair and got my usual flyaways.. So when I took a shower yesterday, I used an ice cold rinse on my hair when I had my second C in my hair, and rinsed out the best I could. My hair not only has no flyaways, it also feels really soft and not greasy!

lapis_lazuli
January 20th, 2016, 11:00 AM
I also wash with hot water... can't bear cold water on my head :p
I just make sure it's not scalding hot...

Anje
January 20th, 2016, 11:09 AM
I just wash in warm water that's comfortable. My hair isn't falling apart or anything, so I assume it's fine. :P

Llama
January 20th, 2016, 11:23 AM
I always wash with "hot" water, not burning hot or anything but a comfortably hot temp. I feel like it's necessary in order to really get the hair clean. I also believe it's good for the scalp and for hair growth.
I used to do a cold water rinse at the end of my shower sometimes in the summer and my hair never felt any different for it.

Arctic
January 20th, 2016, 11:27 AM
In the past years I've planted my feet firmly in the warm/hot water camp. I am freezing all the time anyway, and we have cold most of the year, and my hair doesn't seem to mind. Life's too short for being miserable daily, I think showering time is for relaxation.

Only in the summer if it's really really hot, I use cool water.

chen bao jun
January 20th, 2016, 12:19 PM
I'm a low porosity, too, but I wash with lukewarm water. then I have to have my shot of cold water at the end.

I Used to wash with scalding hot, but my hair was trashed back then.

I do need heat to get substances into my hair, so I do a treatment first(usually SMT, soemtimes hot oilg) and go under a hot hair dryer. Then I co-wash with warm water. Then I use COLD water at the end and a vinegar rinse. The cold water seals my cuticles shut again--the heat treatment at the beginning opened them up, a necessity for a lo-po. The vinegar fixes the ph balance.

My hair is silky, VERY silky with the cold water rinse at the end and its not if I don't do that. So I put up with hating cold water on my skin--or else wash in the sink. I take really hot showers by preference, so hot that my husband says that he's going to have to take me to the hospital one day with burns from scalds--he really jumps if he gets in my water by accident.

I have had brillo hair before, seriously, so the feel of my hair is really important to me and I love that silkiness it gets when washed properly. My hair is NEVER soft (I know what truly soft hair feels like, my mom is a fine 4c, I've never felt any hair so soft as hers is) and mine is really not, but it is smooth and silky, which I will take instead.

Nadine <3
January 20th, 2016, 12:24 PM
I wash with water that is as hot as I can stand it. I love boiling hot showers, especially in the winter. It probably adds to the ridiculous dryness of my skin but I have lotions for that. Never noticed anything different with my hair though, it stays the same.

Lauraes
January 20th, 2016, 12:33 PM
I wash with hot water, but rinse at the end with cool water. That's the best I can do, cause I love hot water. :p

Frankenstein
January 20th, 2016, 12:40 PM
I wash with warm water usually - sometimes if I have oil or product I want to get out I'll turn the temperature up a little bit warmer. When I rinse out conditioner I use lukewarm water and then finish with a cold rinse before getting out of the shower.

Garnetgem
January 20th, 2016, 12:55 PM
It's funny because I was just experimenting with this. My last shower I used warm/hot water on my hair and got my usual flyaways.. So when I took a shower yesterday, I used an ice cold rinse on my hair when I had my second C in my hair, and rinsed out the best I could. My hair not only has no flyaways, it also feels really soft and not greasy!

Yep this is what i find hair seems to appreciate a cold rinse it makes it less flyways :)

Garnetgem
January 20th, 2016, 12:57 PM
I wash with warm and rinse with cooler. I don't put hot water on my hair.

Yes i can tell you don't use hot as your hair looks in fantastic condition :)

Islandgrrl
January 20th, 2016, 01:01 PM
Warm water with a cool vinegar rinse for me.

RavenMane
January 20th, 2016, 02:20 PM
I wash with lukewarm to warm, condition then bun it and turn the water hot for the rest of my shower. Then turn it to cool to rinse conditioner out. I actually like cool water showers though.

Gaalsong
January 20th, 2016, 02:33 PM
I get the water as cool as I can stand it, but since it's winter that's difficult for me! Usually it's medium warm water. Then I use cold water in a mason jar to do a final rinse so it doesn't touch my skin, just my hair.

Deborah
January 20th, 2016, 04:17 PM
I wash my hair in the shower, so I use the same nice hot/warm water I use on the rest of me. I can't stand cool or lukewarm showers. shudder: Once I am totally finished, I pour about 40 ounces of really cold water, into which I have dissolved a teaspoon or so of citric acid powder, over my hair, leaning forward so it doesn't get on the rest of me. I do this because we have really hard water, and this counteracts the water hardness and leaves my hair very nice.

khryz
January 20th, 2016, 07:11 PM
I start off with lukewarm water, but I always finish off with cold water. Good thing we don't have winter here ;)

shrinkingviolet
January 22nd, 2016, 11:28 PM
Either warm or lukewarm.

sillyme
January 23rd, 2016, 06:15 PM
In the winter I wash with warm and rinse with warm and then sometimes give it a little shot of cool water...not always. I've never noticed if I have less fly-aways when I give it that shot of cool. I'll have to start paying attention to that! :)

ethanbawasanta1
April 5th, 2016, 09:44 PM
https://gkhair.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/cold-vs-hot-water.png

Is this true?

twill
June 24th, 2017, 08:23 PM
I've been doing the cold water treatment at the end of every shower for a long time, now. For me, it has very noticeable results. (Also, I don't actually shower in the cold water. Been there, done that. Nuh-uh. If the shower I'm using doesn't have a detachable head, I simply switch it back to the tub faucet and stick my head under the faucet, or even run some cold water from the sink instead of the tub.)

Simsy
June 24th, 2017, 11:59 PM
Hot water only over here. I have had cold showers in the past and I refuse to go anywhere near them, even for my hair. That being said, cold water did nothing for the frizz, curl or shine in my case; so I'm not particularly upset by the lack of cold/cool showers.

Lukewarm showers do something really quite strange to my hair. It feels heavier, thicker and just harder to deal with. Also doesn't seem to rinse as well as hot showers do. The tangles are harder to deal with and everything just feels way more stubborn. Cold/cool showers do similar but much worse. So I stick with a temperature that is only a few degrees cooler then the maximum our hot water system goes to.

I have found going heavy on the moisture counters most of my hair problems irregardless of water temperature.

pandabarrier
June 25th, 2017, 09:08 AM
I usually CWC upside down, with warm water then I use cold water in the ACV rinse, after shampoo. I apply the last C, let it marinate, then rinse with lukewarm water finishing with cold water. I also use warm water in the scalp washes too, finishing with cold water. I've noticed my hair tangles less if I do final cold water rinse.
I do this in the winter too, though sometimes it could be very cold.

Jo Ann
June 25th, 2017, 08:08 PM
I've found that, as I've gotten older, I'm not taking the hot showers I did back in my 20's, and that's a good thing!

Usually, a warm wash and warm rinse, unless I SMT, then it's a warm rinse to get the SMT out, followed by a cold rinse (thank God for handheld shower heads!). And yes, the cold rinse seems to bring out a better shine from the SMT.

Iolite
June 25th, 2017, 10:52 PM
Lukewarm wash and cold rinse, despite the fact that the cold water makes me sneeze:shrug: At least my hair loves it!

twill
June 25th, 2017, 11:08 PM
A couple of benefits I've noticed from doing my hair this way is that it doesn't tangle as easily and is definitely stronger. It also seems to dry quicker, which doesn't make sense to me, but hey, I'll take it!

Dark40
June 26th, 2017, 08:59 PM
I wash/rinse with luke warm, and rinsing out conditioner I rinse with the coolest water that I can stand.

Dark40
June 26th, 2017, 09:02 PM
https://gkhair.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/cold-vs-hot-water.png

Is this true?

Yes, I find it to be very true. Cold water locks and seals in moisture. It seals the cuticle leaving hair appearing shiny.

Coucouvaya
July 5th, 2017, 10:20 AM
Devil's servants deliver buckets filled with hell's water to me in order to take my bath.
Only during summer I can bare to rinse my hair with cold water and I make sure to avoid any cold water drops falling on my body. Still I don't see my hair suffering any damage.

Priska
February 18th, 2024, 09:28 PM
What an interesting thread, thank you! I've never heard anything about this! :eek: Yesterday I happened to watch a youtube video from Doro Cubillo, where she speaks about this, and that washing hair with hot water might cause shedding and frizziness, so I had to check what I find about this issue from lhc. I definitely need all possible weapons against tangles, dryness and frizziness, so I think I'll turn my hot water cooler now... I live in cold area too, but maybe I'll replace hot water with hot cup of tea ;)
I must try rinsing my hair with ice cold water (in my sink, only for hair).

Hairy-Fairy
February 18th, 2024, 11:23 PM
I use warm water to wash my hair. The way I care for my hair leaves an intentional film of sebum, oils and/or butters that harden in cooler water temperatures and make it hard to detangle. However, too warm and they rinse away too much, I lose slip, and that also makes it harder to detangle. I've found the happy medium is where my skin is happiest anyway (sensitive skin prone to dryness).
Sometimes I rinse with cold, sometimes I don't. I used to do a multi-step wash that involved ending with a cool vinegar rinse but I wanted a shorter wash day due to lack of energy so I cut everything down to one multipurpose step. If I had more time and energy I would probably still do the vinegar rinse. That made my hair feel smoother and softer, I just don't know if it mattered what temperature it was.
In regards to cold water on the body being unbearable, I've found that if I lower the temperature in increments my body adjusts better. I also don't go completely freezing either, just cool water.

mochichichi
February 19th, 2024, 06:34 PM
I wash inverted and only my hair (not my body). Initial soak with cold water, warm water for the actual washing, and a cold rinse after conditioner and to distribute product after rinsing out.

pumpkinsage
February 19th, 2024, 08:22 PM
I just use warm/hot water and in the summertime, it'll be cool water but not really cold.