Does washing in really warm water harm hair?

[dontcallmejessi]

I love taking really warm (almost hot) showers and I'm starting to wonder if that is having a huge impact on the condition of my hair. I'm wondering if there are others who have another method to help me enjoy my hot shower and still save my hair. I have started using a 1 liter size squirt bottle filled with water for my final rinses. Which is great and makes it much shiner, but I'm thinking maybe I should be using this for my whole washing process to protect my hair from the heat of the shower. I just fill it at the end of my shower so that by the time I go to use it again in my next shower it is room temp and ready to go. Any other ideas? Or do I have nothing to worry about?

[xoxophelia]

I personally just take a warm shower and then turn the water so it isn't hot or cold for when my hair is under the water.

[spidermom]

I've run into the advice to keep hair out of hot water in a number of places, so I tend to believe it. I keep the water on the cooler side of warm to wash my hair, then I move my hair out of the way or clip it up when I want to turn the water hotter.

Of course, what is hot is relative. I thought I took hot showers until I stepped into the shower with my husband one day. Yow! Talk about hot! I thought it would scald the skin right off me. In comparison, my showers are warm, not hot.

[Phiona]

about 4 months ago I stopped washing my hair when I take a shower because I love very hot showers and the hot water was drying my scalp. So now I wear a shower cap to protect my hair. After my shower I wash my hair over the side of the tub with cool/luke warm water. after i condition I do a final rinse with freezing cold water. Wow my hair is soo shiny now and my dry scalp is completely gone :) I first got the idea from Youtube's YouTips4U

[ericthegreat]

I've always taken warm showers, and doing so has never harmed either my skin or my hair. I just won't stand for cold showers, the way I see it any possible benefit that cold water might give to my hair is far outweighed by me shivering or catching a cold.

I just make sure that I only use moisturizing products when I'm in the shower. I use a gentle body wash, on a regular basis I only CO my hair, and once a week I apply coconut oil as a deep treatment.

[Madora]

I use warm water for shampooing/rinsing. For the final rinse I use water as cold as I can stand.

[ravenreed]

My showers are never super hot. I don't like really hot water. However they are not cold or warm either. They are mild to moderately hot. I have yet to notice any significant benefit by only using cold water on my hair, or any harm by washing in the temperature I use on the rest of my body.

[lyria]

I LOVE long hot showers (and pity whoever goes after me without warm water!). But at the end, I make sure to run it cold and soak my hair before getting out. I've been doing this for years and it works well for me :)

[Amraann]

I have tried the cool water final rinse and it makes my hair tangled. Not to mention I despise cold water on my skin. Unless its in the middle of a Florida summer.

[MinderMutsig]

I'm willing to give up a lot to have nice, shiny, healthy hair but giving up my hot showers is NOT one of them. There is just no way. Ever. I'd rather go bald.

[ScarlettAdelle]

I got one of those removable shower heads & I do this weird leaning back holding onto the faucet move to get my body out of the way while I rinse my hair with freezing cold water. It also rinses it in the direction it's already been combed with conditioner in, so at least in my hair it doesn't tangle it. I've noticed my hair's been way shinier since I started washing with hot water & rinsing with cold.

The heat in the shower of the water that touches your skin probably isn't warm enough to cause damage. Hair can usually stand around 350 degrees without suffering noticably. Unless you shower in boiling water, I doubt it'll be a problem. The "heat" that people usually refer to is heat from styling irons and the like, which are much, much hotter than my water heater can get my shower water. Unless you have a water heater whose heating abilities mimic those of a kiln, I wouldn't worry about it.

[deko]

I wash my hair with cool water (the final rinse is icy cold) and shower with really warm water. I have a bathtub so I wash my hair and take a shower separately (I wash my hair in evening and take a shower at morning if I do).

My hair is very shiny and easy to cope with, and I think it has something to do with the very cold final rinse. Or acv. :)

[lapushka]

I really don't know if hot water would harm hair. And, what's hot, anyway? I mean, what kind of temperatures are we talking about? It can't be that much hotter than 40°C (104°F), can it? We'd start to burn ourselves. If our skin can take it, I'm sure our hair can take it. Anyway, don't we all kind of wash in water that approaches our body temp? How can that possibly be harmful?

IMO, hair's pretty much like wool (and yeah, that's dead too). Take a wool sweater, wash it too hot, it *will* turn out all kinds of horrible, but then we're talking temperatures of say 60°C (140°F), 90°C (194°F). I doubt that that's what we expose our hair to.

So yeah, hot showers. Grain of salt.

[JuneBride]

I, too, LOVE HOT shower (in the winter especially!) and what I do to SAVE my hair is...get in when its warm but not too hot, wet hair thoroughly and then glop on the conditioner (I CO) then I put it up in a shower cap and turn the heat UP on the water...and ENJOY a super warm shower without hurting my hair!!! When I need to take my hair down and rinse (which is the LAST thing I do...I turn the heat down, rinse, rinse, rinse and then turn the heat up and hit only my BODY with the water to warm me up but not my hair...then I exit the shower :) Hope that Helps!!!

[enfys]

I really don't know if hot water would harm hair. And, what's hot, anyway? I mean, what kind of temperatures are we talking about? It can't be that much hotter than 40°C (104°F), can it? We'd start to burn ourselves. If our skin can take it, I'm sure our hair can take it. Anyway, don't we all kind of wash in water that approaches our body temp? How can that possibly be harmful?

IMO, hair's pretty much like wool (and yeah, that's dead too). Take a wool sweater, wash it too hot, it *will* turn out all kinds of horrible, but then we're talking temperatures of say 60°C (140°F), 90°C (194°F). I doubt that that's what we expose our hair to.

So yeah, hot showers. Grain of salt.

Sensible way of looking at it. I've not poached myself in a bath yet, and my showers aren't hot enough to turn my skin red. I do take warm showers and I don't adjust the temperature at any point and that's what I've pretty much always done. If I wash separately I don't turn it down because I can't reach the dial from outside the bath.

I think using cold water to wash could make me grumpy enough to hate my hair, and that would not make for a happy LHCer.

Do you see problems you think could be attributed to too-hot water, or do you just think it because you've read it?

[thatjengirl1]

I just turn the water down a bit when i rinse my hair. i use really hot water for my body, but i would never use that hot of water to rinse my hair. also getting out and rinsing your hair in the sink with cold water wakes up your roots and makes your hair a little shinier :)

[Shermie Girl]

I very much doubt that washing your hair in very warm or hot water does it any harm. If it doesn't burn or hurt your skin, it isn't going to burn or hurt your hair. :D

[maria_asa]

I really don't know if hot water would harm hair. And, what's hot, anyway? I mean, what kind of temperatures are we talking about? It can't be that much hotter than 40°C (104°F), can it? We'd start to burn ourselves. If our skin can take it, I'm sure our hair can take it. Anyway, don't we all kind of wash in water that approaches our body temp? How can that possibly be harmful?

IMO, hair's pretty much like wool (and yeah, that's dead too). Take a wool sweater, wash it too hot, it *will* turn out all kinds of horrible, but then we're talking temperatures of say 60°C (140°F), 90°C (194°F). I doubt that that's what we expose our hair to.

So yeah, hot showers. Grain of salt.

I also agree with this and even if it's not true nothing is going to stop me from taking hot showers.

[Fufu]

i prefer lukewarm water on my hair, water that you practically feel nothing on your skin.

To me, once i feel kinda ouchy on my skin, i won't rinse the water on my hair.

[dontcallmejessi]

I have very fine hair so it is quite delicate anyway. But it has been chemically tortured over the past summer a few times, so it is especially fragile now. And so I'm trying to figure out what else I can do to protect my ends until it all grows back out virgin. It seems like my ends get all tangly & split if I even just look at them wrong :p But yes I think I am noticing that whenever I have an especially long hot shower that my ends seem worse and split like crazy. Could just be feeling guilty tho :rolleyes:

I love my sports bottle for my final rinse. I don't even have to fill it with cold water. I just refill it at the end of my shower and set it in my shower window. The cold air cools it so it's ready by my next shower. And because it is a squirt bottle I can avoid getting it on me. :cheese:
Maybe 2-3 bottles would be enough for the whole rinsing/washing process just not sure I'm talented enough to squirt and massage my head at the same time. :eyebrows:

[Kaelee]

I wash my hair daily with shampoo in very hot (hot enough to redden my skin) water. I've done this for years and my hair doesn't seem worse for it. :)

[PeaceLoveHair]

I like warm showers..almost hot- especially in the winter. I make sure that the hot water doesn't touch my hair, and when Im washng my hair I make sure adn adjust the temp so the water is warm/ cool. I try to finish off wiht a quick cold water ( more cool than cold) blast to my hair ( but not my body) before turning the shower off. This works perfectly for me.

[ravenreed]

I am right there with you. Cold water makes me really unhappy!


Sensible way of looking at it. I've not poached myself in a bath yet, and my showers aren't hot enough to turn my skin red. I do take warm showers and I don't adjust the temperature at any point and that's what I've pretty much always done. If I wash separately I don't turn it down because I can't reach the dial from outside the bath.

I think using cold water to wash could make me grumpy enough to hate my hair, and that would not make for a happy LHCer.

Do you see problems you think could be attributed to too-hot water, or do you just think it because you've read it?

[Messyhair]

I use ridiculously hot water to shower in. I don't adjust the temp for my hair simply because it would hurt immensely - I have circulation issues and nerve damage in my extremities, so I can't stand a temp change like that. Maybe if I had a hand-held shower head.... I'll have to look into that.

In any case, my hair doesn't seem to mind. It always grows long and healthy-looking, but I don't really have anything to compare its condition to since I haven't done anything else. I have tried cold water rinses in the past and they made no difference except to hurt me immensely while I did them. No more of that for me. :)

[SwordWomanRiona]

I always take really warm showers and that hasn't seemed to harm my hair. It must be accustomed to it, because it remains soft and shiny, and I never rinse with cold water or condition. Reasons? 1. I am too propense to colds and sore throats :( 2. Conditioning makes my hair greasy.

[SwordWomanRiona]

I am right there with you. Cold water makes me really unhappy!
Same happens to me! If the water isn't warm enough I get really grumpy :).

[kitschy]

I only use conditioner to wash may hair. I use very warm water. I think since I don't use shampoo I don't get the drying effect from the hot water.

[lapushka]

Just wanted to mention that on the bottle of the Inecto citrus line conditioner, it says to use warm water to rinse out the conditioner.