How to deal with hard water?

[GrowingOut]

Hej alle!

(Hi all!)

I'll be living in Copenhagen this August, and heard on a thread that the water is very hard there. I've lived in the same soft-water area my whole life, so I'm not sure if I'll have to change my routine from me usual, "Shower about every 4 days, and use shampoo on about the third shower." Routine. (So a very lax CO routine)

Any tips on how to prevent damage?

[Laurenji]

Hard water can do a lot of things to your hair, although it doesn't necessarily damage it.

Your shampoo will not foam as well as in soft water (although I'm not sure that it cleans worse, it just foams less) so you'll probably have to experiment with that. You'll also need to chelate or use some sort of acid (like ACV, or I've heard citric acid works really well) every so often in order to get rid of mineral buildup.

While I was combing through the archives of the old LHC, I found a recipe for "Miracle Water" - basically if you have hard water, add citric acid and ascorbic acid to a gallon or two of water and wash your hair with that instead. I haven't tried it personally yet, but here is the link to my blog where I put the recipe if you want to try it: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/entry.php?b=116223

[GrowingOut]

Hard water can do a lot of things to your hair, although it doesn't necessarily damage it.

Your shampoo will not foam as well as in soft water (although I'm not sure that it cleans worse, it just foams less) so you'll probably have to experiment with that. You'll also need to chelate or use some sort of acid (like ACV, or I've heard citric acid works really well) every so often in order to get rid of mineral buildup.

While I was combing through the archives of the old LHC, I found a recipe for "Miracle Water" - basically if you have hard water, add citric acid and ascorbic acid to a gallon or two of water and wash your hair with that instead. I haven't tried it personally yet, but here is the link to my blog where I put the recipe if you want to try it: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/entry.php?b=116223

Thanks! I probably can't do anything TOO out there, as I'm staying with a host family. Not sure how'd they'd feel if I stole ALL the lemons

[Laurenji]

The citric acid actually comes in powder form! You can get it on Amazon or other websites. Just search for "citric acid powder".

[GrowingOut]

The citric acid actually comes in powder form! You can get it on Amazon or other websites. Just search for "citric acid powder".

HUZZAH! :D Thank you!

[LadyCelestina]

you can also get it in grocery stores baking section :)

[Soltimus]

Citric acid is easy to get in Denmark. All the Matas shops will have it, it's a product many people use around the house etc.