Cold rinsing

[jhill923]

DO you believe this really makes a difference ?

[rena]

Yes! It helps to give more shine to the hair by helping the cuticles lay flatter, and many here (myself included) swear by it. :)

[GALISH]

It is supposed to be good for hair as it closes the cuticle but I don't really know if you may notice any changes in that case, but it does leave my hair a little bit softer and silkier, and I think a bit shinier too. It also helps to control frizzy hairs.

[lauravmarcela]

I only do it when I feel brave. I try to stall on it but I know it helps

[jil]

I have been doing it for years. I think my hair looks and feels better when I do this, but I'm not sure if it is in my head. :)

[knux]

I notice a huge difference in the quality of my hair if I do not cold rinse. So much so that when I don't do it, All I think about that day is cutting all my hair off.

[LornaDoone]

It does make a difference. My hair has more shine when I rinse in cold water and is easier to comb out. :) That said, it is not a big enough difference to get my to rinse in cold water in winter.
Cold water rinses are a summer only routine for me! ;)

[Aud200]

I usually do this but don't know if it actually makes a difference... Rena and others who swear by it, can you briefly explain what you do? For example, do you use icy cold water? How long do you rinse with the cold?

[Cirafly24]

I find that rinsing with cold water and/or vinegar makes my hair very shiny and silky. I do a cold vinegar rinse every time I wash my hair...I put 1/2" of white vinegar in an empty 20oz soda bottle, and fill up the rest with cold filtered water from the fridge. After rinsing out my conditioner, I squeeze the excess water from my hair, and pour the vinegar/water rinse over my length and ends. I try not to let any of the water touch my skin lol BRRRR!

[Prelude]

I find that it works really well for shiny hair, but my hands are normally ice cubes by the time all is said and done but no pain for gain. :)

[UltraBella]

Brrrrr............... I absolutely HATE being cold, I am chicken to even try it !

[myrrhmaiden]

I use cool, not cold. For me it makes my hair less frizzy...kinda like using the cool setting on the blowdryer.

[Fufu]

I believe :) I always give my hair a final cold rinsing.

[Jimothea]

I agree with the others who said cold rinses definitely work. Though --and I'm probably weird here--I don't just finish my head off with a blast of cold water, but rather about halfway through the shower I start gradually working my way colder, so that by the time I'm a scrubbed and whatnot I'm actually showering in cold water but don't really notice.

Works pretty well because I ADORE raging hot showers, lol, but I know my skin and hair can't hack it! Plus, this way I don't have to arch my back away from the water, since it doesn't shock me. (My back is literally stick, stick straight and doesn't like doing this in cold water, I have discovered. LOL.)

Acid rinses do the same thing to the hair cuticle, and I do those too with ACV, but I honestly think my hair and body and scalp really like the cold at the end of the shower. Never thought I'd admit that. I've been doing it for...five months now, winter and all.

HTH!

[Khiwanean]

I didn't feel it made a difference until I tried it with the water turned as cold as it would go. For me, it makes a noticeable difference in shine, but doesn't make my hair any less tangly. I hate cold, but I can stand it by bending really far backwards so all that the cold water hits is my scalp and my length. There's an added bonus in that I don't feel so cold once I'm out of the shower.

[Jeni]

I do a final cool rinse (Ive done COLD too, didn't notice a difference) when I shower. Ive never noticed my hair being shiner but it seems...smoother maybe?

I don't know...since its an easy thing for me to do (added benefit is it helps get me out of the shower!) I do it. I have heard that its all bunk so who knows. If you feel it makes your hair better, go for it.

[iluvkorn]

i do a *cool* rinse as well. can't stand the cold but i can deal with the cool.
it makes my hair soooo shiny and i end up looking at it all day. :)

[Signe]

When I chicken out from a cold rinse I always just run the ends of my hair under the tap when I get out of the shower or dunk my hair into a basin of cool water after, that way none gets on my body.

I think this helps me because it makes my hair dry more evenly, i.e. the warmth from my scalp dries my roots quicker and my cool ends not as fast. Pre-LHC with the super hot washes my ends would always dry out wayyy earlier n then I would get lots of frizz.

[RocketDog]

I do a cool rinse with white vinegar and it makes a big difference for my hair - it is smoother, less frizzy-flyaway, and less tangly once it dries. I keep a big jug of filtered water mixed with some white vinegar in the shower, and since it's on the floor (basically on the concrete slab) it stays cooler than room temperature. Not freezing cold, but signifigantly cooler than even my lukewarmish showers (can't shower in hot water, my skin freaks out).

[Indigo Girl]

I absolutely think it makes a difference. When I do a cold ACV rinse, my hair shines like crazy. Plus it's always softer. Not so nice at the time (I love my hot showers and hate cold shower water), but it definitely works.

[Pifkin]

It makes a huge difference for me - much easier to comb out, much more shiny, and more moisturized feeling. If I don't do a cold water rinse at the end of my shower, I can definitely tell!

[PolarCathy]

For me it does make a huge difference. Also, when I wash my hair with lukewarm or colder, I have zero shedding. Not 10, not 5 hairs but zero. I rinse with as cold as I can stand (the coldest what the tap can produce which is damn cold, I live in the north of Sweden...), including my scalp, for about 30...60 seconds. Five minutes later I feel so refreshed. ;)

[pepperminttea]

It makes a big difference in the smoothness of my hair, and the shine. Admittedly it's something that's easier to do in summer than winter, but it really is worth the little squeak of shock in the shower. :p

[Yozhik]

Eek! I guess I'm going to have to try the COLD cold rinse method. :scared:

I've done the cool/lukewarm rinse, and it doesn't seem to do anything for me, personally. :shrug:

[Rebecca.1905]

Huh. I did this for the longest time - coldest setting - and didn't notice a difference. So I stopped. Didn't make sense to freeze myself out for no gain. Maybe it's just my hair.

[alwayssmiling]

I wish I hadn't seen this thread :p. You guys sound very convincing, I will give it a go tonight. I have tried it in the past but I used coolish water rather than very cold which may be why it didn't make much difference.

[Firefox7275]

I'm doing a cold rinse before I wash, in order to encourage the sebaceous gland to do its thing (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=77). Sometimes my hair seems less greasy, sometimes not so I can't really say if it's working! On the bright side it means less wasted water as I just switch the shower on with my head immediately. Cold is supposed to be better for retaining colour and encouraging shine so I guess I ought to be doing the whole wash in cold water!

[Firefox7275]

For me it does make a huge difference. Also, when I wash my hair with lukewarm or colder, I have zero shedding. Not 10, not 5 hairs but zero. I rinse with as cold as I can stand (the coldest what the tap can produce which is damn cold, I live in the north of Sweden...), including my scalp, for about 30...60 seconds. Five minutes later I feel so refreshed. ;)

What is your wash technique please? Most of my shedding during washing is from 'combing' my fingers over my scalp to wash that area. :confused:

[Chetanlaiho]

I cheat, I put the shower head lower and just bend over so that only my length gets the cold water ^^; I do my scalp too (sometimes also before washing for the same reason as firefox7275) but I find that cold water on my scalp = headaches for some reason :/

My hair feels a bit softer and easier to manage if I do a cold rinse, and this way the rest of my body doesn't have to stand the cold ^_^

[chelseamichelle]

My hair feels much smoother and is less dry and frizzy when I use cold water. It makes such a difference that I never ever use warm water anymore. Warm water never touches my hair, it's cold from the beginning and I feel like this is the way to go. If I just do a cold rinse after using warm I hardly see or feel any difference in my hair.

[PolarCathy]

My hair feels much smoother and is less dry and frizzy when I use cold water. It makes such a difference that I never ever use warm water anymore. Warm water never touches my hair, it's cold from the beginning and I feel like this is the way to go. If I just do a cold rinse after using warm I hardly see or feel any difference in my hair.

Couldn't agree more.

[paleogirl]

I totally feel a difference from rinsed hot hair to rinsed cold hair. I started rinsing in cold a month ago. I go from hot to cool then cold. Its not quite as much of a shock.

Also I am now not cold when I get out of the shower because the water is colder than room temp and it feels good to get out of the cold. It now feels weird to go from hot shower to being finished with out the blast of cold. It is crazy what you get used to.

[Hile]

I always do a cold rinse right before I get out of the shower and I really think it helps to keep the frizz at minimum. When doing it I bend as far back as I possibly can as I hate cold water more than anything. I've also tried a cold rinse before washing my hair as Firefox7275 and Chetanlaiho, but I wasted too much hot water trying to warm up after that.

[PolarCathy]

What is your wash technique please? Most of my shedding during washing is from 'combing' my fingers over my scalp to wash that area. :confused:

Well, there is really nothing special in my routine... I do rub my scalp really vigorously because I am water-only. I even scritch it with my nails which is not exactly the gentlest way of washing but it certainly stimulates blood circulation and removes stuff since I use no solvents. I do the whole thing in a wash sink as awkward as it may sound. The wash sink is better because I have more water pressure there than in the shower and also because I can see the hairs shed in the sink. In another thread I posted and I think you have read that now I "wash" my hair every day because I have been using onion juice on my scalp daily; by that I mean I rinse every day. I do the hardcore washing only once every four or five days.

My shedding was greatly reduced (to about 20-30 hairs a day) when I gave up on the shampoo. Since I switched to lukewarm/cold water it is virtually zero while washing.

IDK if this may matter or not: I often pull my hair because I know it's good for the roots, I grab a handful of hair and pull it several times. I do this once or twice a day.

[Misti]

I wonder whether the cold water works better for some sorts of hair than others.

My hair is very fine and thin, and I, too, find that a cold rinse works wonders for how my hair feels after I wash. (Cool, not so much, but that's the best I can do when it's really cold out.)

[einna]

I need my final cold rinses to keep my hair from getting to big. I have a lot of F/M hair, that can get pretty poofy and frizzy. It also helps my dark blonde hair to get some shine. I just bend over, so I don`t get the cold water on my body. I usually start with cool water, and gradually turn it to colder.

ETA: I use luke warm water for the rest of my hair wash, and occationally turn the water to hot to heat up my body, while keeping the hair away.

[dollface]

hmmm i've noticed some improvement in shine and since i color my hair rinsing in cold water helps my color stay a lot longer and it's also refreshing :D

[CurlyCreature]

Cold water/showers are also a really good "all natural" meathod for coping with depression. My friend swears by it. She's been coping with clinical depression for the past few years, off and on medications, but she says what helps the most is when every shes in a "funk" unmotivated... sad... she forces herself to have a cool-cold shower. She says it wakes her up, gets her heart pumping and adrenaline rushing to wear she can feel "fresh". I dont have clinical depression but whenever I'm in the "duldrums" I find taking a cool-cold shower helps

[gogirlanime]

I just started cold-washing my hair about two weeks ago and I dunno how to describe it, it feels just softer and less "fried", it also seems to retain moisture better.

[lizashley]

I've tried it a couple times before and didn't really notice a difference. My boyfriend was the one who suggested it, lol, he used to have long hair. I hate the cold, but maybe I'll try it again.

I never understood exactly why this works. I understand how the cold water could seal the cuticle but what I don't understand is why it would stay that way once you get out of the cold water and into the warm air?

[Misti]

I never understood exactly why this works. I understand how the cold water could seal the cuticle but what I don't understand is why it would stay that way once you get out of the cold water and into the warm air?

I think the cold water is closing the cuticle, and the air is warmer than the cold water, but not nearly as warm as the warm water you'd been showering in. If the cuticle "loosens" a bit in the warm air, it won't be nearly as ruffled as it was under the hot water fropm the shower.

[Firefox7275]

Well, there is really nothing special in my routine... I do rub my scalp really vigorously because I am water-only. I even scritch it with my nails which is not exactly the gentlest way of washing but it certainly stimulates blood circulation and removes stuff since I use no solvents. I do the whole thing in a wash sink as awkward as it may sound. The wash sink is better because I have more water pressure there than in the shower and also because I can see the hairs shed in the sink. In another thread I posted and I think you have read that now I "wash" my hair every day because I have been using onion juice on my scalp daily; by that I mean I rinse every day. I do the hardcore washing only once every four or five days.

My shedding was greatly reduced (to about 20-30 hairs a day) when I gave up on the shampoo. Since I switched to lukewarm/cold water it is virtually zero while washing.

IDK if this may matter or not: I often pull my hair because I know it's good for the roots, I grab a handful of hair and pull it several times. I do this once or twice a day.

Thank you! :)

[Cleopatra18]

Yes!!! It cuts down the drying time by 70% and my hair is so much softer.

[kaned_ferret]

I am a super-hot shower addict (skin goes from white to bright red lol) and about a year ago I got into the habit of finishing up with an ice cold hair rinse after washing. Note: always just my hair and scalp, so I kinda limbo lean backwards or flip my head over and use the shower head on my scalp - never going to catch me losing all that lovely body heat lol! It makes a huge difference to both my hair and scalp - if I leave my hair washed and rinsed in the heat of my usual shower temp, my scalp tends to get very itchy from continued sweating after, which adds to dryness and flakiness, not to mention uber fluffing of the hair. The ice-cold finisher makes my head feel soothed and refreshed, and definitely keeps my unruly hair happier!

[Dark Queen]

I am a super-hot shower addict (skin goes from white to bright red lol) and about a year ago I got into the habit of finishing up with an ice cold hair rinse after washing. Note: always just my hair and scalp, so I kinda limbo lean backwards or flip my head over and use the shower head on my scalp - never going to catch me losing all that lovely body heat lol! It makes a huge difference to both my hair and scalp - if I leave my hair washed and rinsed in the heat of my usual shower temp, my scalp tends to get very itchy from continued sweating after, which adds to dryness and flakiness, not to mention uber fluffing of the hair. The ice-cold finisher makes my head feel soothed and refreshed, and definitely keeps my unruly hair happier!

Ha, I feel the same. I hate the cold, but I have noticed a difference in finishing my hair with cold water. It seems to feel healthier in general. I'm not sure about any changes in shine, though I've noticed it dries slightly faster (I never blow dry), which I'm hoping is a good thing (closed cuticles = less porous? :shrug:)

[racrane]

I hate the cold, too! I do use a little cold but I"m wondering, how long should you let your hair be in the cold weather to get the benefits? I'm such a chicken, I'll do the bare minimum...

[CurlyCreature]

Hmm... Will it still work if I take a hot shower before bet, but then cold rinse/dunk in the sink in the morning? I love my steamy showers before I sleep...

[Dark Queen]

I usually just take a few steps back, bend forward and rinse out my hair a few times with the cold water. So long as I run the water thoroughly through so the hair feels cold, then I'm done. I suppose this last step could be done in the sink if you don't want to get your body wet, but I don't know if you should wait too long to do it.

[rogue_psyche]

I think it helps, but it isn't a miracle worker. It's about as helpful as using a leave-in, in my opinion.

[growingpains]

Brrr.. I have never been able to consistently commit to this. I am going to try and keep all the positive feedback here in mind and and least turn the temperature to luke warm for the final rinse. Seems like a good compromise :)

[deepsuperficial]

I think it works - I used to do it and my hair was really shiny... now I'm too chicken lol I hate cold water on my head

[dazeydayze]

Absolutely

[Jomo]

I tried this again this morning and oh god it's horrible to do lol! But hoping when my hair dries the results will be worth it...

[HeatherJenae]

Yep. I look like a frizzball when I rinse in hot. I have lions mane hair anyway, kind of an 80's perm without doing anything and the hot water just exacerbates it hard. Cold is definitely the way to go for me. :)