Hard water help!

[xcrunr2go]

So I rent currently & have hard water. I didn't realize it until my hair started acting very dry & brittle! I feel like it's killing my hair! Any hard water tips much appreciated! My predicament is a water softener & neutralizer for my hard well water will cost $1,350. My landlord is offering to do the drainage but that is the firm price. Is it worth it to invest in a softener if I'm a renter? I don't know how long I plan on staying here either although I've been here for the past 4 years...thoughts?

[Finallymajor]

Im not super familiar but can't you get a filtering shower head? That would be an idea and you could take it with you when you move?

[spidermom]

What has helped my hair in the hard water around here is white vinegar soaks. I also use Ion hard water shampoo and conditioner, although not every wash, plus I'm nearly out of it. I use a splash of vinegar (maybe 2 tbsp) in 32 ounces of warm water. What I do is wash, then bend forward with my hair falling toward my feet, rinse, lower my hair into the vinegar water, and let it soak for awhile - a minute or two. Then I pour the vinegar water slowly over my scalp, do a scalp massage with my fingers for another minute or two, rinse, then use conditioner and rinse. This made an immediate difference in the way my hair felt and behaved.

[Pearly~91]

Have you seen/heard of vinegar rinses? They can help clarify and eliminate hard water build-up.

I use a diluted apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinse after I finish washing my hair about once a month. I use about 1 teaspoon of ACV in a quart of water and dunk my hair in/ dump the rinse over my head after I condition but before I get out of the shower, then proceed as usual. The water where I live is hard, but not as bad as some well water I've seen. You may have to use it more often. I would just beware the amount of ACV you use each application, as it can be drying.

Also, I know I've seen this question before, so you could probably try a search ;)

[jrmviola]

Ive not had to deal with hard water, but what about swimmers shampoo/Conditioner? If its made to help clean chemicals out of hair then surely it can clean Iron, etc...

[Anje]

Vinegar rinses are good. So is occasional use of a chelating shampoo, especially one geared toward hard water. If you've been OK for 4 years, though, my guess is that it's not doing tons to your hair. You might just be due to clarify and deep condition.

I'm a big advocate for water softeners because around here the water is crazy-hard and we get scum on everything. My glasses get etched in no time. Detergents barely lather. You need to chisel the gunk out of the dishwasher, and I'm afraid to look in my hotpot. But I can't say truly that my hair has ever suffered much for it.

ETA: Shower head filters are fantastic if you've got excessive chlorine. Living in downtown Cincinnati, my husband had an issue with that to the point where his skin and hair were really drying out badly. Shower head filter fixed it beautifully. But it's not going to have much effect on hard water, unfortunately.

[yogagirl]

Do a search for the miracle water thread.

Another option is to rinse with distilled/filtered water. That can get expensive if you don't have a good source for it.

When I looked into simple, screw on shower head filters it said they clean out chlorine etc, but not minerals and iron I believe. Definitely look into it though, maybe I just didn't look at the right ones. They're available at hardware stores and Amazon for example.

[xcrunr2go]

I've had a Sprite shower filter on since I've moved in however not sure how effective it has been. I think I'll try distilled/purified bottled water for now & see where that takes me....

[lapushka]

I live in an area with very hard water (Belgium, depends on region, though) and I have no issues - at all. It might be something else, so what is your routine now? Any protein in your products? What are you using?

[Seeshami]

I love my filtered shower head so I ditto the people who have already mentioned them.

[yogagirl]

I've had a Sprite shower filter on since I've moved in however not sure how effective it has been. I think I'll try distilled/purified bottled water for now & see where that takes me....
Yeah those filters say they remove chlorine, dirt and odors. I don't think they would help much with well water. We have well water in one of the buildings at work and even just washing my hands there once makes them burn.

I would definitely try chelating once and from then on only using filtered water for hair washing, at the very least for the finally rinse. Good luck!


I live in an area with very hard water (Belgium, depends on region, though) and I have no issues - at all. It might be something else, so what is your routine now? Any protein in your products? What are you using?
Well water is different than just hard water. Hard water typically means minerals like calcium. Well water often has stuff like iron in it. It can make yellow and bright orange stained toilet bowls (I see that at the one building at my work, it's so gross.)


ETA: you could also try a Brita filter. I'm not sure if it would be better than your Sprite filter, but it's a relatively cheap option at least.

ETA again: Mircale water thread, worth a try because relatively cheap option and no lugging distilled water from the store to your house every week: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128756

[Kaya]

Im not super familiar but can't you get a filtering shower head? That would be an idea and you could take it with you when you move?


Do a search for the miracle water thread.

Another option is to rinse with distilled/filtered water. That can get expensive if you don't have a good source for it.

When I looked into simple, screw on shower head filters it said they clean out chlorine etc, but not minerals and iron I believe. Definitely look into it though, maybe I just didn't look at the right ones. They're available at hardware stores and Amazon for example.

Seems like there has been a lot of threads about hard water lately! Glad to see I'm not the only one who has had issues with it! :o When we moved to the UK late last year, my hair suffered quite noticeable. I can vouch that if you find the right type of shower filter, it can make a world of difference. This is the one I use. It filters both chemicals and minerals; I can tell it works cause the amount of scale that built-up in my shower dropped significantly. So there are filters out there, not necessarily filtering shower heads, that do help with hard water.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inline-Filter-Removes-Chlorine-Reduces/dp/B005PXBA4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442247082&sr=8-1&keywords=shower+filter


I live in an area with very hard water (Belgium, depends on region, though) and I have no issues - at all. It might be something else, so what is your routine now? Any protein in your products? What are you using?

I think it might really depend on what your hair is used to. I went from a soft water home to a hard water home and my hair didn't like it all. I would speculate that those who have grown up with hard water and whose hair is used to it, yeah, they probably don't have any issues. But for those who aren't used to it, it's entirely possible that they will experience issues if they suddenly have to deal with hard water. It could be something in the OP's routine, but it could easily just be the water. Which will require some routine tweaking.

[missrandie]

I think I may have to try some of these suggestions too. I grew up with high quality well water AND a water softener, so I never had hard water issues until I moved to Davenport, then to San Antonio. I would say that San Antonio has been far worse for hard, chlorinated yuck.. and my skin hates it. Every time we go back home, I treat every shower like a spa day vacation lol.. so soft, so clean! haha

[lapushka]

I think it might really depend on what your hair is used to. I went from a soft water home to a hard water home and my hair didn't like it all. I would speculate that those who have grown up with hard water and whose hair is used to it, yeah, they probably don't have any issues. But for those who aren't used to it, it's entirely possible that they will experience issues if they suddenly have to deal with hard water. It could be something in the OP's routine, but it could easily just be the water. Which will require some routine tweaking.

Yes, but in this case it pays to rule out the routine, as the other options will be exceedingly expensive for her!

[Anje]

For what it's worth, $1300 is kinda high-end for a water softener. Not that your landlord can't decide what he will or won't use, but that's a "Culligan with service" sort of price. Pick one up from Sears and do the plumbing yourself, and you're looking at something more like $500 or so, plus the materials to connect it. (I don't know how much an independent plumber installing it would cost. Maybe $200?)

[gthlvrmx]

There are shower filters at Home Depot that you attach to your shower head thing for hard water. You have to replace the filter every 6 months or so, whichever amount of time it says on the box or when you see it stops working, but they can help with hard water. I don't know if they can help with well water though. You can also buy a chelator like Ions Well Water shampoo for your hair.
You can try club soda to get rid of calcium deposits I think. There used to be an article on here about it that said club soda rinses help with swimming but I used it for our hard water. Also, ACV rinses might help. You can also use distilled white vinegar for a rinse. I don't think club soda, ACV, and the distilled white vinegar chelate your hair, but they do help.

[xcrunr2go]

The quote I got was for a softener & neutralizer as I do have high iron levels. Of course then you have to factor in the salt bill per year which is around $250 I think. Lately I've been only washing no condition because washing only gives me more body but it's probably not the best routine. I'll water only several days in a row then break down after my hair starts to smell usually after 2-3 days. I haven't been oiling at all because the water doesn't rinse anything out very well. Seems like my water saps any & all moisture from my hair so I'm doing a moisturizing shampoo & deep conditioning treatment from Yarok Hair as we speak (https://www.yarokhair.com) I absolutely LOVE their products! Pricey but worth it for all natural/organic ingredients. I used purified water to wet & rinse my hair I will post my results shortly. :heart:

[endlessly]

I've had hard water my entire life up until the last few months and while my hair was definitely a bit more on the dry side, I just deep conditioned a lot more and did strengthening treatments. However, that being said, now that our house has soft water, I'm using a lot less conditioner - I used to go through a bottle in 1-2 months and now it took me 5 1/2 to go through my last one! - so I am saving money that way. Also, my hair is noticeably thicker according to the rest of my family and sadly, it certainly wasn't considered "thin" to begin with, so I'm having significantly less shedding.

Bottom line, if you aren't planning on staying there, then I don't really see that it's worth the investment - especially considering the landlord doesn't seem to be willing to chip in much! I'm sure he (or she) would want you to invest in a water softener as the value of the property would go up and make it easier for them to rent in the future, though!

[Deborah]

The water in my town is very hard. I used to have a shower filter, but I did not notice any difference in my hair. Now I just end with a heaping teaspoon of citric acid powder dissolved in 40 ounces of cold water, which I dump over my hair at the end, and do not rinse out. This helps a lot.

[xcrunr2go]

OMG my hair feels 1,000 times more soft & moisturized after washing & deep conditioning w/the purified/distilled water!!! Now I know my problems stem from my water....

[AutobotsAttack]

I have hard water too, and I've found that as long as I have and/or use a chelating shampoo my hair tends to be fine. Sometimes I just boil about 4-5 gallons of tap water and then pour them into empty water bottles for my wash days however that does get tiring lol. So it really just depends.

[xcrunr2go]

Chelating shampoos dry my hair out even more!! I can't even think about touching them w/my water or my hair turns to hay.