"CLOSE-OPEN-CLOSE" IS IT A GOOD THING?

             "CLOSE-OPEN-CLOSE"- IS IT A GOOD THING?

There are a few concepts that enter the pet grooming field from hairdressing which cause me to pause.  The notion of Close-Open-Close as a shampooing protocol is one such concept.  Here are my thoughts:

Close-Open-Close originated in the human hair care industry in relation to permanent hair coloring.  It refers to the hair cuticle and guides the beautician to treat the hair before and after coloring. The purpose of closing the hair cuticle before coloring is to equalize the porosity of the hair cuticles. Weathered or damaged hair has cracks, crevices, and lost cuticle scales.  These open or “porous” areas will absorb more color and create an uneven result. To prevent this, the hair dresser will pre-treat the hair with a product that fills in the uneven spaces and makes the cuticle surface more uniform. Close-Open-Close has been adopted by the pet grooming industry and re-invented to become a protocol for shampooing. In our universe, it translates to “condition-shampoo-condition”.  Here are some facts to consider: 

• The hair cuticle does not actually OPEN.  It lifts or becomes slightly raised or lifted.  
• Opening or lifting of the hair cuticle is not a good thing. It is not designed to be forcibly lifted.  It does not open and close like a door.
• The cuticle layers are held in place by lipids and proteins. Repeated lifting by chemical or mechanical means erodes the “mortar” that holds the structure together.*
• When we shampoo hair, the water breaks the hydrogen bonds and swells the hair shafts.  This slightly raises the hair cuticle. 
• Also contributing to lifting of the cuticle are the anionic surfactants in the shampoo.  Hair naturally carries a negative charge.  When the negatively charged anionic cleansers meet the negatively charged hair, it can pull on the surface causing lifting.  This is all the more reason to use a well-balanced shampoo that has been mindfully formulated.
• High pH products, such as hard soaps, hair dye, and aggressive degreasers can also cause excessive lifting of the cuticle and erode the cuticle "mortar".  
• A lifted hair cuticle does not necessarily allow beneficial ingredients to penetrate into the cortex or body of the hair shaft.  Penetration is determined more by the chemistry and molecular size of the ingredients.  We do not just open the door and put good stuff inside the hair shaft.  
• Also, the most recent hair science suggests that penetration of substances into the cortex of the hair does not happen through the cuticle, but through the mortar that holds the cuticle layers in place.  

Okay. So here's my take-away from my reading on this subject: It seems to me that the issue is the lifting of the hair cuticle that causes damage not the smoothing. Not all shampoos are potentially damaging. A shampoo is much more than a single surfactant, or single cleansing agent. In a well-formulated product, the secondary, co-surfactants (foam builders, emulsifiers, thickeners) team up with the primary detergent(s) to form a complex matrix that is the shampoo. One important effect of the co-surfactants is to reduce the irritancy of the primary cleanser, e.g., a sulfate. We still have a powerful cleanser, but it is more friendly to hair and skin. Another formulation practice that makes for less lifting of the hair cuticle is the use of cationic polymer conditioners in the shampoo. Polyquats, such as Polyquaternium 10 and Polyquaternium 44, play well with anionic surfactants and neutralize the negative charge of the detergent(s) and smooth the hair cuticle during the shampoo process. Polyquaternium 10 is ubiquitous in human hair shampoos (it's everywhere) and we are seeing more and more in pet shampoos. 

When to Condition Before Shampoo
While I don't believe that all professional pet groomers should condition before every bath, there are some situations where this protocol can be helpful.

Badly damaged coat that is not to be clipped. An example is the 10-year old Bearded Collie in full coat that we groom every 2 weeks that has accumulated considerable damage throughout the coat from constant de-matting. She is always very dirty because her owner doesn't care and lets her wander into any dirt or undergrowth that she wants to. Conditioning before the shampoo with a product with plenty of hydrolyzed protein (Chris Christensen Thick n' Thicker Foaming Protein is great but expensive. From the human hair aisle, Neutral Protein Filler is less costly.)
Funky old dog skin. I have been amazed at how a protein treatment will bring the skin of old dogs to a healthier appearance. I am not talking about treating a skin disease, with broken skin.
Fine, non-porous hair. In this case you might want to simply condition before the bath and not after. Less porous hair and fine non-porous hair do not absorb conditioning ingredients in the same thirsty way as do porous and/or damaged hair.

Is "Closed-Open-Closed" a Good Thing?
Groomers have been doing pre-bath treatments for years. COC is is another option in your toolbox. One can choose to treat the hair and skin with an oil, a mineral soak, or a cationic conditioner. Some groomers like to simply reverse the traditional order and condition before the bathe and that's it. Reverse conditioning has its place, especially with non-porous hair or when you do not want to soften the coat. Conditionng before the bathe as well as after gives us a means to protect skin and coat from the aggressiveness of the shampoo.

* "Shampoos and hair conditioners have generally been perceived as products that do not damage hair. However, there is increasing evidence that these products, particularly shampoos can contribute to hair damage through abrasive/ erosive actions combined with cyclic actions involving bending, compression and extension, both during and after the shampoo process. These actions produce degradation of both the keratin and the important non-keratin components of the hair surface, the cell membrane complex and the cuticle layers." Robbins. pg 330
However, not all shampoos are damaging. Let me say that again, please: not all shampoos are damaging. Many modern shampoos contain a cationic surfactant, such as Polyquaternium 10. And there are some shampoos, such as iGroom Charcoal+Keratin, that contain hydrolyzed protein along with a mild surfactant, and are much less likely to cause damage to hair than traditional shampoos.

What I don't like about Closed-Open-Closed is that the concept oversimplifies the nature of the hair cuticle. The cuticle scales that protect the hairshaft cannot be repeated open and closed like a cupboard door. What the pre-bath treatment often does is to prevent the lifting of the cuticle scales during the shampoo or cleansing process. The desirable process is one that minimizes the lifting of the hair cuticle. 

REFERENCES:

C.R. Robbins, Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair, 329 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-25611-0_6, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012
Chapter Six, Interactions of Shampoo and Conditioner Ingredients with Hair.

http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2013/03/junk-science-opening-hairs-cuticle-for.html