Wait! I thought this was supposed to have the opposite effect!?
I use the same temperature of water for my final rinse as I do for the whole wash. Cold water doesn't close cuticles. The most it will do is not rinse out conditioner as thoroughly as warm or hot water might...so that might explain the "difference" people claim to see. Otherwise the only thing that closes/opens cuticle of the hair is a change in the pH. That's why relaxers are very alkaline to open up the hair cuticle and then you follow the process with an acidic neutralizer to close the cuticle.
I learned that many things we do on this board have NO effect whatsoever on our hair and cold water rinse is one of them. Its hard to break this myth when you see many with long hair still claiming to do it so perception takes over before science.
After doing more research, there is no point in subjecting myself to the cold water. Does nothing for your hair. Its funny how our mind is so conditioned to believe otherwise though.
I stopped doing this among other useless things like DC'ing for more than 5-10 minutes, useless heat for penetration, steaming is actually worse for your hair, growth aids, etc..
Why is steaming and heat not good/ useless for hair?
Why is steaming and heat not good/ useless for hair?
@TheNDofUO, I'm not sure what @MizzBrown's reason is but I stopped conditioning with heat because if "bubble hair" is real, I don't understand why heat from a blowdryer would not cause it. A raise in temperature causes liquid to expand and if there's moisture inside the strands, and not pure water whose boiling point is high but product-laden moisture with a lower BP, what would stop that internal moisture from expanding inside your strands and causing mid-strand splits? So many people complain of having them and they don't use brushes which IMO can rip at strands...so maybe heat is to blame?
Anyway, this is why I don't DC with heat anymore. If the products I use don't call for it, I figure the makers already determined I can get good deep conditioning without it so I just stick to the script and leave it on for as long as recommended without involving heat in the mix.
(BTW it's a good idea to mention people when you ask them a question. If you mention people, ie type @ immediately before their name (no space), they are more likely to return to answer your question than if you don't because if you don't mention them, they have no way of knowing you spoke to them unless they happen to return to the discussion).