Hot or cold water to wash your hair?

Whenever we wash our hair, the water temperature is the first thing we think about. No one loves the flow of cold water or very hot water on their scalp. However, the water temperature really matters. They say that using cooler water on your hair is better than using hot water as it improves the look and feel of your hair.

Here are tips on how to use both hot and cold water to wash hair:

Cool water: It rinses out the shampoo and dirt from your hair and keeps it clean but it has to be soft water- not hard. Hard water leaves the hair rough and does not properly rinse off the shampoo. For best results, use soft, cool water for washing the hair.

Cold water seals the cuticles and retains the moisture from the conditioner applied on your hair, making it smooth, resulting into shinier hair and closes the pores. The more the moisture you have on your hair, the less frizzy it becomes. The closing of pores prevents dirt from accumulating or even entering the scalp. Cold water also improves blood circulation to the scalp.

The problem with cold water is that it flattens the hair, especially if one has thin hair, since it leaves it smooth. To wash products off your hair, choose cool water and never cold water so that your pores tighten and your hair remains silky and shiny. If you feel you are worried about your hair being flattened, skip the conditioner step.

Hot water: It has its advantage for the hair too, as it cleanses the hair better than cool water. It gets rid of all the dirt and oil and is most beneficial for women with oily scalp. It enables the cuticles and pores to open helping to remove product residue.

However, if you often rinse your hair with warm water, your hair may become overly porous, it dehydrates the scalp thus reducing the moisture in the hair. It can also dry your hair since it also strips your hair of its natural oils, making it brittle, frizzy and vulnerable to breakage.

When your hair is dirty, wash it with warm water (not hot). For best results when washing your hair, use lukewarm water then rinse off with a little cool water. Balancing the two temperatures is good as the warm water cleanses the hair then the cool water closes the cuticles ensuring the moisture is retained.