How often do you wash your hair, sis? For me, it’s one of those things that I do as little as possible. It doesn’t matter if you natural, relaxed, or got to the salon…wash day will forever be a drag. One thing that you may not think too much about is the temperature of the water you’re using. Yes, girl! Your hair reacts differently depending on whether or not the water that you’re using is hot or cold. Don’t believe me? Take a look below to see the pros and cons of cold-water vs hot water.

Cold Water on Hair

Most people will say that it is much better to wash your hair in cold water apart form hot water. Truth be told, they aren’t entirely wrong. Washing your hair with cold water prevents the hair from getting fried. Think about when you run a flat iron through your tresses. Have you ever experienced any breakage from having it on high? If you haven’t, count your blessings. Everybody isn’t so lucky.

Well, your flat iron isn’t the only thing that shouldn’t be too hot. Scolding hot water can not only burn your scalp, but it can also damage your tresses.   Therefore, many recommend that you always use cold water on your hair. I don’t know about ya’ll, but freezing cold water is not the most pleasant experience. Not to mention the fact that freezing cold water is actually not as good for your tresses as people say.

With that in mind, you might be thinking, “So should I ever wash my hair with cold water?” The answer is yes, you should rinse your hair with cold water when you are removing conditioner from your hair/ Why the conditioner? After applying conditioner, most people turn around and sit under the dryer for a little deep condition situation. When you sit under the dryer, you allow your cuticles to open up while all that goodness seeps into the shaft. After you finish, you need the close those cuticles. Therefore, you do the opposite of applying heat which is adding something cold (i.e. water) to make those cuticles close into place.  

On top of closing your cuticle, applying cold water also adds luster and shine—a direct result of closing those cuticles after deep conditioning. The biggest con of washing with cold water, apart from it being uncomfortable, is that you will lose volume in your hair. That’s right sis. Cold water tends to have the hair looking a bit flat. If your hair is thick, then this is a great thing. However, if your hair is on the thinner side, flat hair may not look that flattering.

Warm Water on Hair

Notice I say warm water on hair and not hot water. Why? Like I mentioned in the previous section, hot water can and will damage your hair. Now on the other hand, warm water is a different story. Remember how I told you about the heat from the dryer helping to open your cuticles and allow all the goodness from the conditioner to seep through? The same thing happens whenever you use warm water to wash your hair. Everything becomes open including the pores on your scalp which makes for a deeper, more effective cleaning session.

The biggest con to warmer water is that it has a tendency to make the hair frizzy. If you have the right hair products like the Shedavi Crowned Styling Wash -Go Gel, then you won’t ever need to worry about frizz again.

As a wrap up, you need to use warm water when washing and cooler water when rinsing out your conditioner. How do you usually wash your hair? Tell us about it in the comments!

Written by Bianca Scott