While we stress great importance on picking the right haircare products to make our hair beautiful and shiny, we hardly pay attention to the kind of water we wash our hair with. It’s always advisable to use soft water that is free of minerals to wash the hair because hard or brackish water with high mineral content can cause buildup on the scalp and hair strands leading to damage and hair loss. In the same way, the temperature of the water that you use to rinse hair also matters a lot. Using the right temperature for your hair may really benefit you. Many people have different views and opinions, some experts suggest using cold water and some others advice rinsing with hot water. Let’s find out if it is better to wash hair with hot or cold water.
Washing hair with cold water:
1. The only drawback of washing hair with cold water is that it can reduce the volume of the hair. This could be a matter of concern for girls with thin hair type. Cold water can make your hair shiny and frizz free because it helps to close hair cuticles. Open cuticles are good only while shampooing or conditioning your hair, but after you are done washing your hair with shampoo and conditioning with hair conditioner, you need to seal the cuticle so that hair strands are safe from environmental factors and pollution, and doesn’t get damaged easily. If you use cold water for the final rinse, you will most likely end up with healthy, frizz-free hair.
2. Cold water also leaves scalp cleaner and closes open pores which in turn would protect the scalp from dirt, grease and oil. If your pores are sealed, then you are also much less likely to be suffering from hair fall.
3. Improves blood circulation: If you visit a hair loss clinic, the first thing the doctor would suggest is to massage your scalp regularly to improve blood circulation and thereby promoting hair growth. Cold water can do that for you. When you wash your hair with cold water, blood moves faster and your capillaries warm up and hair roots and scalp get all the required nutrients for healthy hair to grow out.
2. Washing Hair with Hot Water:
Let’s find out the effects of washing hair with hot water:
1. It may cause breakage: When hair is exposed to hot water, there is a risk of increased hair fall. If you comb it or brush it right after applying hot water, don’t be surprised to see some hair on your hair brush.
2. Hot water can weaken the roots: If you use very hot water to wash hair, then you can do some serious damage to your hair roots and weaken your hair roots, triggering hair fall and premature greying, also making hair more frizzy.
3. Hot water effectively cleans your hair and scalp by opening up pores and washing away dirt and grime.
We can deduce with all the above findings that cold water is better for washing hair compared to hot water, but one cannot completely rely on cold water. It is better to alternate washing hair with warm water and cold water, but as a final rinse, always use cold water to seal hair cuticles. Most importantly, scalding hot water is a complete no-no when it comes to washing hair.
