This paper investigates the effect of three different treatments, namely (i) sunlight exposures,
(ii) bleaching and (iii) perming on the damage of the keratin fibres (with the use of human
hair). Scanning electron microscopy was applied to examine the surface morphology of the
samples. Hair samples appeared to be rougher and their scales diminished after the
treatments. The degree of colour change of samples was measured using a diffuse
reflectance spectrophotometer. All three different treatments caused a certain degree of
colour change on the samples. Urea bisulphite solubility test was also employed to
investigate the alkaline damage of samples.
The results illustrated that the urea bisulphite solubility of samples conformably decreased
when they were subject to these three types of treatments. With respect to the tensile
strength property, the results indicate that the breaking load of treated samples decreased
dramatically after undergoing three different types of treatments. On evaluating the test
results, it was concluded that the bleaching process imparted the most severe damages to
hair. The results of the different test methods were evaluated and discussed.