Just read something about hair bleach and heat that blew my mind

I was looking up some old chemistry stuff online for fun, and I found a study from a university in Texas. It said that for every 10 degrees Celsius you raise the temperature when bleaching hair, the chemical reaction basically doubles in speed. I mean, I always knew heat helped, but I didn't realize it was that extreme. It makes me think about how careful you have to be with a client's scalp heat or even a hot room. Has anyone else had a bleach process go way faster than expected because of the environment?

2 comments

2 Comments

parkermorgan12d ago

I did a full bleach on a client in a non air conditioned salon last July and it processed in like 15 minutes flat. Honestly, I keep a little thermometer in my station now just to check the room temp before mixing. If it's above 75 degrees, I mix my developer with cold water and work in smaller sections to control the speed.

vera_brown4012d ago

Whoa, hold up. That study is talking about the chemical reaction itself, not the developer mix. Developer is already mixed and stable. Using cold water to mix it doesn't slow down the bleach reaction on the hair, it just makes the paste cooler for a minute. The heat from the scalp and room warms it right back up. The real trick is to use a lower volume developer when it's hot.