HOW SHAMPOO WORKS

You know shampoo cleans your hair, but do you know how it works? Here is a look at
shampoo chemistry, including how shampoos work and why it's better to use shampoo
than soap on your hair.

What Shampoo Does

Unless you've been rolling around in mud, you probably don't have hair that is truly dirty.
However, it may feel greasy and look dull. Your skin produces sebum, a greasy substance,
to coat and protect hair and the hair follicle. Sebum coats the cuticle or outer keratin coat
of each hair strand, giving it a healthy shine. However, over time, sebum also makes your
hair look dirty. An accumulation of it causes hair strands to stick together, making your
locks look dull and greasy. Dust, pollen, and other particles are attracted to the sebum and
stick to it. Sebum is hydrophobic. It waterproofs your skin and hair. You can rinse away salt
and skin flakes, but oils and sebum are untouched by water, no matter how much you use.

How Shampoo Works

Shampoo contains detergent, much like you would find in dishwashing or laundry
detergent or bath gel. Detergents work as surfactants. They lower the surface tension of
water, making it less likely to stick to itself and more able to bind with oils and soiling
particles. Part of a detergent molecule is hydrophobic. This hydrocarbon portion of the
molecule binds to the sebum coating hair, as well as to any oily styling products. Detergent
molecules also have a hydrophilic portion, so when you rinse your hair, the detergent is
swept away by the water, carrying sebum away with it.

Alunna: Ichraq Arrach

Classe: IV b