Hot Oil Treatment 101 – All You Want to Know of Hot Oil Hair Treatments

If you have dull, dry, and brittle hair, you can do a deep conditioning with hot oil treatments. Compared with common hair masks, you need to use hot oil to strengthen and nourish hair. It takes a longer time to complete the process. But you can get smoother, shiner, and softer hair than before.

You can give your hair hot oil treatment at home or a salon nearby. The hair oiling salon price is pretty high. If you want to save money, you can buy hot oil treatment products from Amazon or elsewhere instead. Don’t worry. It is easy to DIY hot oil hair masks by yourself.

If it is the first time you hear hot oil deep conditioning, or you just see hot oil treatment before and after pictures, you can read the following paragraphs to make the decision. This is your latest homemade hot hair oil treatment 101 tutorial in 2021.

• Overview of Hot Oil Treatment – What It Is
• Hot Oil Treatment Benefits
• Hot Oil Treatment Drawbacks
• Remedy of Hot Oil Treatment – What to Buy
• Steps for Hot Oil Treatment – How to Do
• FAQs of Hot Oil Treatment

What Is Hot Oil Treatment

Here are common questions about hot oil treatments for hair. You can know what it is, pros & cons, why, and when to use hot hair oiling on details.

Hot Oil Treatment, What Does It Mean?

By applying hot hair treatments, you can open hair follicles and add moisture to your hair with maximum absorption. It is a good way to seal cuticles and repair split hair ends. You can use plant-based oils to do a hot oil treatment at home, including olive oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, almond oil, etc.

Benefits of Hot Oil Treatment

1. Moisturize dry and brittle hair. If you have dry hair, you may have added it you’re your hair care routine already. The hot temperature can soak your hair fibers with nourishment from outside to inside. Moreover, you can repair hair shafts and increase hair volume gradually.
2. Soothe scalp dandruff and flakes. You can perform a pre-poo treatment by applying a hot oil treatment before shampooing. Gently massage the scalp with hot oil by your fingertips. Later, wrap your hair with a plastic cap for about 30 minutes. After that, you can shampoo and condition hair as usual. This hot oil massage and treatment can treat scalp issues a lot.
3. Add shine to hair. For damaged and color-treated hair, you can use hot oil treatment as a part of your deep conditioning treatment. Furthermore, you can delay hair greying and keep your original hair color.
4. Get rid of split ends. Actually, hot hair oiling treatments can be your split ends treatments as well. Different from trimming split hair ends, you can smooth and prevent split ends for a long time.
5. Promote hair growth. By hot oil head massages, you can increase blood circulation and moisturize your scalp effectively. It is a better way to provide nourishment to your hair. For elder adults, hair falling and hairline receding problems are common. If you want to thicken hair and delay hair follicle miniaturization, you can use hot oil treatments for hair.
6. Easy manageable. People who have curly and textured hair always have a tough time in winter. To make your hair softer and shinier than before, you can do a hot oil treatment to make your hair better. Moreover, oiling is also good for thin hair.

Drawbacks of Hot Oil Treatment

1. Your hair looks greasy. Your scalp produces oil every day. If you add additional oil, you may get an overly shiny and greasy look. For oily scalp, it is not suggested to starts with hot oil treatments.
2. Scalp and hair buildup. If you don’t wash your hair completely, the left hair oil can cause infections and smelly scalp.
3. Weigh hair down. Heavy oil makes your hair flat and lifeless. This is not good for people who have thin hair. If you want to give hair volume to roots, don’t apply too much hair oil near your scalp. 

Is Hot Oil Treatment Right for You?

It depends. Hot hair oil treatments are good for people with dry, brittle, frizzy, and color-treated hair. Be careful if you have psoriasis, eczema, and other skin problems. The adverse reaction should also be considered. You had better ask your doctor whether it is safe to get a hot oil treatment for hair and scalp. If you are not sure, you can choose 100% natural oils. Meanwhile, you can do a patch test to see if you have any itchiness or rash within 24 hours.

When to Apply a Hot Oil Treatment?

Anytime. You can do a hot oil treatment for hair in the morning, afternoon, or evening. There is no best time for hair oiling. Just remember to wash your hair to remove oil.

How Long to Leave Hot Oil on Your Hair?

Heat hair oil and gently massage with your fingers for 5 minutes. Later, you can leave the oil on your hair for 20 to 40 minutes. You can keep the hot oil treatment for 1 or 2 hours if you have enough time. Some people wondering whether the overnight hot oil treatment is necessary.  Well, you can give it a try if you have extremely dry hair. 

How Often Should You Do a Hot Oil Treatment?

 you can apply the hot oil hair mask for normal hair once a week. If you have extremely dry and heat/dye/perm damaged hair, you can oil hair twice a week. Making a hot hair oil treatment once a. week is enough for normal hair. If you have heat damaged, permed, or dyed hair, you can treat hair with oiling every three or four days. It depends on the dryness of your hair condition.

Can You Leave Hot Oil Treatment Overnight?

Yes. You can. But be careful don’t apply hair oil on your scalp overnight. You can use a shower cap, towel, or plastic wrap to cover your oil-soaked hair. Otherwise, you need to wash your pillowcase tomorrow.

Hot Oil Treatment Home Remedy

Plant-based oils are frequently used for hot oiling treatments, including coconut oil, olive oil, almond oil, rosemary oil, etc. You can choose the hair growth oil you need. Or you can mix hair oils together for hair health.  

• olive oil + almond oil – hot oil treatment for damaged hair
• coconut oil + jojoba oil – hot oil treatment to help dandruff
• almond oil + apricot kernel oil – hot oil treatment for dry scalp and frizzy hair
• grapeseed oil + castor oil – hot oil treatment for better hair growth
• coconut oil/almond oil/olive oil – hot oil treatment for black hair
• coconut oil/jojoba oil/castor oil– hot oil treatment after relaxing/dying hair
• peppermint oil – hot oil treatment for itchy scalp
• rosemary oil – hot oil treatment for hair loss

As you can see, coconut oil is one of the most popular hair oil for all types of hair. You can treat your colored hair and permed hair with hot coconut oil treatment for deep conditioning as well. If there is no coconut oil in your kitchen, or you want to switch to a new coconut oil product, you can take a look at the following recommendations.

100% pure coconut oil – moisturize hair and condition your scalp at home

100% natural fractionated coconut oil – head massage oil and hair moisturizer

Moreover, you can buy hair treatment oils to get a blend of essential oils as well. There are some highly reviewed hot oil hair treatments on Amazon you can choose from. 

OLAPLEX No.7 bonding oil – your highly-concentrated hair oil for damaged and compromised hair

moroccanoil treatment oil – detangle and smooth your frizzy hair with this salon hair oil

VO5 hot oil therapy – deeply hydrate dry hair from roots to ends

How to Do a Hot Oil Treatment at Home by Yourself

To start with, choose an oil according to your hair type and hair condition. If you have sensitive skin, you had better do an allergy skin test first. Try a different hair oil if you feel any itchiness or redness. Now, let’s see how to DIY hot oil treatment without going outside.

Step 1: Heat the oil

Prepare a heat-safe bowl. Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of your hair oil. (If you have thick or long hair, you can pour more oil) Then take out your pot. You can pour hot water or use it to make water over high heat. Later, place the bowl with hair oil into the pot. You can make a double boiler with water filling.

Step 2: Test the oil temperature

Brush your hair to remove tangles. You can separate your hair vertically down into 2 to 4 sections. Be careful that your warmed oil might be too hot. You need to dab your fingertip a bit and drop it onto your wrist to have a test. If you have a burning feeling, you need to wait for a while to cool it down.

Step 3: Apply hot oil onto hair and scalp

Scoop a bit of oil with your fingers. Rub it between your palms. Then apply it onto the scalp. Gently massage hot oil into your hair strands in small circles for 5 minutes. You can start from your hairline to the back of your neck. After the hot oil massage, apply the left oil to the rest of your hair. You can comb your hair with fingers from the top to bottom.

Step 4: Cover hair for 30 minutes

Use a shower cap to cover your hair. If you have long hair, you can pile your hair on the top of your head loosely. To get a better hot oil conditioning result, you can wrap a hot towel around your shower cap. Or you can use a blow dryer with proper heat settings to keep your scalp and hair warm. Let hot oil sit on your hair for 30 minutes.

Step 5: Wash hair as usual  

Shampoo and condition your hair to remove additional oil from your head. Avoid making common hair washing mistakes that may damage your scalp. If your hair is not weighed down or looks greasy, you can skip this step too.

• Control the temperature of the oil. Don’t make the hair oil too hot.
• Apply warm oil on wet clean hair. The cuticle is slightly opened after shampooing. So it is the best choice to absorb nutrients from the oil.
• Do a patch test. If you have sensitive skin, you need to apply some oil near the scalp first. As for common people, you should ask your dermatologist or doctor before trying.
• Not good for the damaged scalp. Don’t do any hair conditioners or masks until the scalp health condition is good.

FAQs of Hot Oil Treatment