What Is a Hydroxide Relaxer

A – Sodium hydroxide (lye) relaxer – used to straighten tightly curled hair. This type of relaxer is alkaline in pH (11.5 to 14), which forces the cuticle to open so that the relaxer can penetrate in the cortex layer of the hair. Once there, the sodium hydroxide breaks down the cross bonds (sulfur and hydrogen).

What are the types of hydroxide relaxers?

Hydroxide relaxer types include sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide and guanidine hydroxide. These relaxers can be marketed as base and no base relaxers. Base relaxers require stylists to base the client’s entire scalp with a protective cream prior to the chemical relaxer application.

What are the 3 types of relaxers?

There are three types of relaxers; sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate.