Growing out hair - questions??

[Electric Sky]

Hi! I just joined here, after I'd been lurking for a while. :p

I've been keeping my hair short for quite a while because I have hard water and the only way to keep the damage off was to cut it off every 6 weeks or so. I really want to grow my hair out, so is there any suggestions for keeping my hair healthy even though I have hard water?

Also, I keep seeing that sillicone is bad for your hair... why, exactly?

Thanks! :)

[LawyerGirl]

Welcome! I don't know much about hard water, but you will find tons of info on these boards!

[wantslonglocks]

Welcome! I'm new here too, as well as have hard water. Hope to see some replies.

[litlepick]

I'm new too, but from what I gather cones tends to build up on hair and make it heavy or greasy... somebody correct me if I'm wrong

[HairColoredHair]

Welcome!

Hard water: There's many options for this! You can install a filter on your shower head... they aren't too horribly expensive... rinse your hair with distilled water (the sort you purchase from the store), or try "Miracle Water", which adds citric and ascorbic acid to the water to remove mineral and metal harness. Or you could try chelating shampoos periodically!

Silicone is not necessarily bad. Silicone coats the hair. For some people this lends strength, slip, and shine, meaning that 'cones are very GOOD for their hair!. For others the cones can seal out moisture, or cause hair to become brittle. It can also weigh down very fine hair. To 'cone or not to 'cone is personal preference. Usually you have to try a fully 'cone free regimen to decide what you like/need and it may well change! You never know! :lol:

[Crazy Lady]

I remember hearing that rinsing your hair with something acidic will help counter the effects of hard water. There are a few ways to do this. You can dilute vinegar, which I do, or use lime juice, lemon juice or citric acid. Lemon juice can be drying, though. Just mix a tablespoon or more of one of these with a cup of water or however much you need for your hair type and length. Some people don't rinse this out, but I don't think that affects the results. Try it both ways, anyway.

Silicones coat the hair strands, keeping moisture from entering and leaving. For some people this is good, for some it is bad. The only way to know whether or not they are good for you is to try some cone-free products. I suggest that you try a few kinds before deciding you don't like it because there is a lot of variety between products. Make sure to clarify before switching from products with silicone to products without it unless the cone-free shampoo has sodium/ammonium laureth/lauryl sulfate.

Welcome to the LHC :)

[Unnamed]

Welcome!

Hard water -- I think others have said, but the main things I know of are a filter on the shower head (not terribly expensive, either!), rinsing with distilled water, and citric acid.

We have a whole house filter (not softener, but even just the filter does help), and citric acid/ascorbic acid are ingredients in most of the products I use, and I'll often do a rinse* with the CA. (*or similar--currently I'm actually using the VO5 grapefruit condish in place, and it seems to be working pretty good.)

For me, personally, distilled water never did much (ends still dried hard from the minerals), and it seems like something in our water causes vinegar rinses to cause horribly tangled, dry hair, even with a low dilution. Those do work for others, though! It'll mostly be experiment and see what works.


The silicones thing is really individual, and it's mostly a matter of testing to see which one (silicones or no silicones) is better for your hair. They can build up, causing dry/coated/meh ends (but this can be fixed with clarifying with a stronger shampoo or some use a mix of baking soda and shampoo). Silcones coat the hair. For some this is good, as it locks in moisture, and their hair loves silicones--and some absolutely need them. For others, it can lock out the moisture, and can actually cause drier hair. I don't know if it's my hair or the hard water, but my hair does better without, but it's also okay with 'em.

[Electric Sky]

Thanks for the responses and information, guys! I'll definitely try the vinegar rinse, and I'll look into filters :)

I think my hair likes sillicone. I believe a while back I tried a Jason conditioner without sillicone and it got pretty dry from it. But I started using Pantene and Aussie products and it's softer now.

[suicides_eve]

get a filter they are cheap $20 home depot online- i have iron in the water round here and it would turn my bleached hair red *yikes*

i don't like silicone b/c it zaps the curl or wave right outta your hair.. well mine and many others on the board.


Welcome!

[MAO]

You can do what I do- buy distilled water at the store and use a pitcher to get some as a final rinse whenever you wash. :twocents:

[Carolyn]

Lots of us have to deal with hard water. The shower filter is a great idea and that seems to have helped a lot of LHCers with hard water problems. You'll have to experiment with vinegar and/or citric acid rinses and see how they work for you. A gallon of distilled water is cheap and available at grocery stores. I found that worked well for me. I'll warn you that soap based shampoo and hard water can be enemies. I really wanted to like shampoo bars and Aubrey products but they were a total disaster with my well water.