Why I Stopped Washing My Hair In The Shower

Who washes their hair in the shower? *raises hand* I have done it all the time in the past.

Not much can beat the relaxing feeling of a steamy hot shower. It feels great on our bodies and a long hot shower is sometimes all you need to relax. It is also really convenient to wash your hair while you are in there.

At the start of my healthy hair journey I then asked myself, could doing this be a cause of poor hair health?

Hot water is great for rinsing away oil and dirt. It essentially opens the hair cuticles for cleansing of the strands. It also eliminates old sebum oil from the scalp.

However, it can cause frizz and drier hair because of moisture escaping the hair shaft. This especially applies to and is problematic for high porosity hair. Furthermore, hot water eliminating all the sebum oil from the scalp can lead to dry itchy skin. Sebum oil is the natural oil our scalp secretes that gives our hair shine and strength.

I have learned that when your hair is rinsed under cold water it smoothes the hair cuticles thus allowing it to reflect light and increasing shine. Also since the cuticles are shut, it allows it to seal in moisture and prevents breakage.

While washing your hair in hot water may feel good, doing your complete wash and rinse under hot water is a cause of lost oils* and it leaves the hair cuticles open resulting in drier, frizzier hair. Also if you are doing a final rinse out of your conditioner while under hot water, you are inevitably washing away all the important properties that you were attempting to reapply.

Ultimately in the shower you are going to tend to want to wash under hot water. I mean who would seriously want to take a cold shower?!

Taking all of this in consideration, I stopped washing my hair in the shower. I now just wash in my kitchen sink so I can ensure temperature control.

Just to clarify, I’m not washing my hair under ice cold water! I typically will wash under slightly warm water to rid the dirt but after conditioning, when doing my final rinsing, I’m doing it under cool to cold water to ensure that I am closing those hair cuticles and sealing in as much moisture as possible.

I’ve noticed a great difference and appearance in my hair since adopting this method and will continue doing for the rest of my healthy hair journey. How about you; have you noticed that your hair doesn’t perform at its best when you wash it in the shower?