Here's Why You Need to Protect Your Hair From Hot Water Damage

As winter wraps its icy fingers around us, a hot shower seems like a blissful way to relax yourselves. But, what you shouldn’t forget is to protect your hair from the possible damage that may be caused by the hot water.

To protect your hair, opting for hot showers is not the best option. After a cold, windy day, the sensation of lying in a hot tub or standing under a hot shower is undeniably the best, but what’s best for your hair is to keep it out of the reach of that hot water.

Here we will look into some reasons why hot water might not be your hair’s best buddy and how to protect your hair from the damage caused by it.

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Protect Your Hair: Can Hot Water Damage Hair?

Damaged Hair (Image by Freepik on Freepik)

Many of us have convinced ourselves earlier that hot water is better for washing our hair. Well, the fact is that it is better than cold water for washing our tresses as it removes oil and dirt build-up in a better way than cold water.

Hair products like shampoo, hair masks, or oils are more effectively washed off by hot water than cold water. However, this small benefit is accompanied by a much larger number of disadvantages of using hot water for washing hair. Let’s have a look at them.

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1. Stripping Off Natural Oils

As said earlier, hot water is a better cleaner than cold water. But the problem here is that along with removing the externally applied masks and oils, hot water also strips off the scalp’s natural oils. These natural oils are essential to maintain moisture and protect your hair from dryness.

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2. Increased Hair Loss

The high temperatures of hot water cause the hair pores to open up, thereby exposing the roots of the hair. This damages and weakens the hair strands, causing them to break more easily.

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3. Problematic Dandruff

Dandruff in hair (Image by Jcomp on Freepik)

Hot water makes the scalp lose moisture, because of which itchiness, dryness, and flakiness increase in the scalp. This contributes to the development of dandruff as well.

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4. Scalp Irritation

The heat of hot water falling on the scalp skin leads to redness, irritation, and a burning sensation many a time. Due to this, the scalp is not able to properly take up nutrients or absorb hair care products. Thus, it becomes necessary to protect your hair from damage.

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5. Weakened Hair Structure

To protect your hair, hot water is a big no as it ruins the internal as well as external structure of the hair. The cuticle gets damaged by the heat, due to which hair becomes very porous, subsequently resulting in problems like frizziness and split ends.

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6. Reduced Natural Shine

Removal of natural oils by hot water not only makes the hair look dry, but also reduces the shine of hair, causing it to look dull, unhealthy, and unimpressive.

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What is the solution?

By now you have realized that hot water is a no-go for hair washing, which might make you think that cold water is the best option. However, cold water isn’t an ideal option either for washing hair as it is unable to properly clean the build-up in your hair.

This leaves us in between these two extremes, that is, lukewarm water. Many experts have suggested that lukewarm is the ideal option for washing your tresses. It effectively cleans the hair, without causing damage like hot water.

Along with lukewarm water, good winter hair care must also include hair care products according to your hair type to protect your hair from the weather or water damage.

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Concluding the article, we have seen that neither hot nor cold water is the best fit for washing hair. Both come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, keeping the temperature in between somewhere is the best way to protect your hair from water damage.