Mekanisme kerja pelurus rambut

2.3.2. Chemical hair straightening

The disadvantage of hair pressing is the temporary nature of the change, because
straightening is achieved by breaking and reforming weak hydrogen bonds.
There are two ways that curly hair can be chemically altered to become straight:
straightening and relaxing. Although both of these methods are permanent, new
hair growth must be treated every few months to maintain overall straightness.
2.3.2.1. Differences between hair straightening and relaxing
Many publications apply inconsistent definitions of straightening and relaxing,
as if they were the same process. Although the desired result is the same, the chemical process to achieve it is
different. Relaxing produces superior results.
The following distinctions can be made between the two processes:
Straightening is a two-step chemical process involving reduction and
oxidation.
Relaxing is a one-step chemical process applying strong alkali.
2.3.2.2. The chemistry of hair straightening
The way a chemical straightener works is very similar to the permanent waving
process. The active ingredient of the straightener is a thiole, mostly ammonium
thioglycolate. The straightener creams may contain up to 12 % ammonium
thioglycolate, adjusted to a pH of 8.6 to 9.5 depending on the product.
The thiole as reducing agent cleaves the disulfide bond (CyS-SCy) of the keratin
For the sake of simplicity Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of this reaction
(chemical descriptions are given in the chapter 3.2.3.2.). During the reduction
phase the hair is mechanically straightened with a comb. The deformation
occurs on the molecular level through the sliding of polypeptide chains with
respect to each other, leading to changes in their relative positions (Fig. 11).
During the process the hair must be kept as straight as possible, and only
heavy (highly viscous) emulsions can do this. Finally the deformation has to
be fixed. The CyS-SCy linkages are reformed by an oxidizing agent, mostly
hydrogen peroxide. As a side product, the oxidation leads to the formation of
cysteic acid, CySO3H. During the reduction stage the hair is fragile. As soon as it is in contact with an
active compound, the hair must be handled with great care. This is why, in cold
waving, loose rolling is recommended immediately after moistening, with no
pulling of the hair. In the case of straightening the situation is different; as soon
as the application is started, and then again after the process period is over, the
hair needs to be combed out straight. This is the contradiction that embodies the
primary difficulty of this operation. To do this correctly and avoid hair damage,
great care and extensive experience both with the products as well as with Afro
hair are absolutely essential. The risk of hair breakage is very high.
Straighteners based on ammonium thioglycolate are not as popular as the
relaxers based on NaOH, because for Afro hair they process more slowly and
straightening is not as effective as with relaxers. Straightening is particularly
used for Caucasian and Asian hair.
With the current techniques hair straightening methods are still far from perfect.
The most recent, successful process of permanent hair straightening applies a
hot iron press technique to hair treated with an alkaline solution containing
thioglycolic acid and dithiodiglycolic acid /16/.
2.3.2.4. The chemistry of hair relaxing
The most popular and widely used relaxers for Afro hair are still based on
NaOH (in the USA the common name for NaOH is Lye). Since it is well
known that it can damage the hair, many products claim that they do not contain

lye. Marketing experts perceive that hairdressers will be attracted to such NoLye products. However, these just contain alternative hydroxides calcium,
potassium, lithium or guanidine hydroxides and are still damaging the hair.
The pH of a relaxer may range from 11 to as high as 14. Generally, the pH is in
the region of 12-13.
The advantages of NaOH relaxers are:
Fast processing time (the more NaOH a relaxer formation contains, the
shorter the processing time)
Good smooth relaxation
High efficacy with reduced tendency of the hair to re-curl on shampooing