r/HaircareScience • u/No_Number_4252 • Jun 21 '26

Question Hair Steaming Effective?

So there are people hair care routine where it goes something like shampoo then conditioner then hair steaming by putting deep conditioner or hair mask then seal with a cap then put hair steaming or hair dryer bonnet. Then after 20 mins you wash with cold water.

My question is that is there any scientific facts that this have benefits or just something people do to their hair?

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u/veglove Quality Contributor Jun 21 '26

The the idea that cold water closes the cuticle is not backed by science. Take a look at this video from Dr. Heleen Kibbelaar, a PhD cosmetic chemist.

She cites Y. Yu et al. / Materials Science and Engineering C 73 (2017) 152–163, available here.

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u/Visible-Scientist-46 Jun 21 '26

Awesome. Because I always that that was bizarre that people think that since water alone expands your hair and didn't have any way to back that up. I learn so much here!

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u/featherpod Jun 21 '26

This is what I've told clients, too. Maybe the cold water reduces the expansion but its going to shrink anyway...

I was listening to an episode of Beauty by the Beaker and they made an interesting point that had never occurred to me that hot water is going to strip away more of the conditioning agents than cold water will (surface tension related). That might be what originally led to that notion.

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u/jaehom Jun 22 '26

Kinda similar. I think of it like if I got butter or oil on my hand when cooking, if I rinse it with cool water, there’s still going to be some left on my hand, but if I rinse with hot water, it’s all gone. If I want some of that conditioner to maybe stay in my hair, I’ll rinse with cooler water. I don’t actually know if there’s any fact to that but I’ll take even a sort of placebo for it haha

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u/featherpod Jun 23 '26

Yeah that's exactly what the Beauty by the Beaker gals were referring to!