I never fully realized how the temperature of the water can really mess with the outcome of your hair. I recognized early on the different effects that hard water and soft or purified water can have but not the temperature. It was not until I began looking up homemade recipes and reading how these recipes were carried out that there was any mention of cold water for this or hot water for that.
In my research I was able to find that hot and cold water can reduce or improve the retention of moisture and how clean ones scalp can be. Kind of similar to how steam and hot water works when cleansing the face. I found a lot of information on sites trying to aid people with alopecia (hair fall or hair loss) such as this one www.ayurhelp.com
Hot water actually dries the scalp and hair. It is best not to use extremely hot water when cleansing. Instead one should use very warm water. When it touches the skin, it awakens or stimulates the pores. Allowing for them to open up. This makes it easier and more efficient for cleansing the scalp . With an open pore one can ensure that they are getting rid of the maximum amount of build up.
Cold Water does the exact opposite. It causes the pores to snap shut. This is very helpful when moisturizing or conditioning the hair. You want to make sure that it keeps all of the moisture that it can.
So it is best to use warm or hot water whenever you are shampooing or co-washing to make sure you get any build up left from product use. Thus allowing for the scalp to breath and improve growth. It also leaves the pores open so that whatever conditioner you follow up with can get right in to work better. Whenever you are doing a deep condition or just conditioning it is best to use cold water to rinse out the products. That way all of the "conditioning goodness" that your hair soaked up while the pores were open will not be rinsed away. Thus maximizing hair moisture.
I tried this little method out on December 30th, 2009 when I declared that I was going to take care of my hair and focus on low manipulation and moisture....And...it WORKED!!! After my pre-poo and deep condition, I rinsed with cold water instead of hot. I was able to get all of the product out and my hair was amazingly soft. Even with the hard water of Thailand. I will continue to use this method from here on out.
