Ever wonder why certain water is so bad for your hair? Take chlorinated pool water, for instance. Almost anyone who has swum in a chlorine pool feels an unnatural, dryness and maybe even a metal-like texture of their hair afterwards. For many, salt water from the ocean can be very drying to the hair too, but did you know that even your own shower water can be damaging?
Why is water bad for your hair? Let's explore ways to ensure you're not damaging your follicles every time you take a dip.
Hot Water
The fastest way to damage your hair with water is making it too hot. 150-degree water will result in third degree burns in two seconds, and 120-degree water will do the same in five minutes. To keep your hair healthy, 100-degree water is the sweet spot—any hotter than 100 degrees unnecessarily swells the cuticle of the hair causing damage and increasing porosity. Maybe you've heard that cold water is good. Sure, it can have benefits, but the hair needs a temperature that's just above normal body temperature to warm up the oils, and the things it has attracted and has solidified down the strand of the hair and just off the scalp, to be removed. 100-degree water breaks down these particles and allows them to be cleansed from the hair; then you can rinse with cool water.
Chlorinated Water
Chlorine is in pool water for a good reason; it kills things like E. coli, but what it does to your hair is not so good. First, look what it does to your swimsuit! Your hair is most likely getting similar exposure, unless you're wearing a cap. Chlorinated water easily penetrates the hair shaft and strips hair of its natural conditioner and protectant, sebum, and with repeated exposure can result in splitting and breaking. Then there's the copper that enters the water as chlorine interacts with the pool, its pipes and becomes absorbed in the hair. It's the copper that is oxidizing in the hair, like the Statue Of Liberty, that makes the hair green, not the chlorine itself.
Ocean Water
Is ocean water always bad for your hair? Not necessarily. If your hair is oily or if you have eczema or psoriasis, which can both cause hair loss, a dip in salt water can actually be therapeutic. On the other hand, saltwater does open the cuticle of the hair, creates porosity and can cause color to fade.
Lake Water
Lake water can vary greatly as some lakes are spring fed and regularly cycle water in and out. Others can have less of a turn over in water. Some have rockier or muddier bottoms; some have powerboats and some don't. Lake water can vary greatly in its effect on the hair, but here's the biggest concern: people with lighter hair can experience great color shifts if the water is “dirty.” A great indicator of what the water is doing to your hair is look at your bathing suit. That's what the lake is doing to your hair.
Water is a very delicate thing even when it comes to hair. Fresh water is getting less plentiful, and even that needs to be at the right temperature to make sure we clean but not damage our hair. The solution is knowledge. If you're going to be jumping into water that you don't want in your hair, the first choice is to use a swim cap. The second choice is to wet your hair with good water from a shower, hose or spray bottle and apply conditioner to act as a barrier before getting it wet naturally. Wetting your hair with good water will dilute the bad water by filling the hair first.
Rinse your hair and shampoo it as soon as you can to cleanse the bad parts of the water from your hair.
About the Author
Patrick McIvor is Artistic & TechniCulture Director for Goldwell and KMS California and owner of 101 E. Center Salon, Nazareth. As one of the most respected colorists in the industry, McIvor was the founding Color Director for Nick Arrojo and Rodney Cutler at Arrojo Cutler Salon on 57th Street in NYC and has now rejoined Nick Arrojo as Brand Strategist & Techni-Color Director of ARROJO. McIvor is a cultural junkie inspired by international cosmopolitan influences from fashion and global trends to technology. The team at 101 E. Center Salon creates beautiful, sexy, believable hair in an intimate studio utilizing technology to make guests the center of a TechniCulture Salon Experience. McIvor is featured in the book “50 Hairstylists” and was named one of the best colorists in the USA by Allure Magazine.
