Why can’t you undo a heated hairstyle with cold?

Question

Example: if I straighten my hair, washing it in water will un straighten it, but being in super cold air won’t.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

When you use heat to straighten your hair, you’re changing how the building blocks of your hair are connected. Cold air doesn’t undo this because it’s not strong enough to break those connections.

But when you wash your hair with water, it can loosen up those connections and let your hair go back to its natural shape, like curly or wavy.

So cold air is too weak to make a big difference, but water is strong enough to “reset” your hair