Soft Water Help!

[myotislucifugus]

Can anyone direct me to info on how to help my hair cope with new super soft water? Hair feels gross, how can I fix this?

The water in my apartment is very soft, and I'm used to really hard water. Will my hair adapt? Is there anything I can do about this?

Or is this really better for me, and I'm just not used to it?

[ravenreed]

Does it feel really slippery? I am not sure, but I think it is better for you. I have really hard water and it does a number on my hair and skin.

[florenonite]

I think soft water is generally better on hair, partially because it's acidic, but you might have to tweak your routine to cope with it. What is your routine like right now? That'll help us to help you change it to deal with the hard water.

[Arctic]

I have very soft water too, but I have never tried very hard water so this water feels normal to me. Mostly people here seem to complaine about hard water which can leave mineral build-up behind.

[spidermom]

It's really better for you. Soft water won't be leaving mineral deposits on your hair. It will probably take some getting used to. I live in a soft water area but visited in a hard water area for a couple of weeks, and I thought it killed my hair; it felt so different. But by the time I was home for a couple of weeks, my hair felt back to normal. How your hair feels with soft water will become normal if you stay long enough.

[Fractalsofhair]

Do you mean "slimey"? I have relatives who live in a soft water area and use a water softener on top of it and my hair feels disgusting when I visit them. However, shampoo bars help since it's slightly alkaline, so it slightly balances it out so I don't have to do a vinegar rinse.

[DMARTINEZ]

It will get better and your will love it! When I first got our softener,it was "different"hair,
but now,I cant imagine having hard or even slightly hard water to wash,bathe or shampoo
with. Give it some time!

Deb

[Fethenwen]

Hmm, I don't really like soft water either. My hair becomes so limp and it gets greasy faster. I use cornstarch those mornings when my hair looks like it needs it :shrug:

I wonder if adding salt to your shampoo could help too.

[myotislucifugus]

It is limp, and clumpy looking like it has a lot of oil in it.

I use CV shampoo bars, right now Cafe Moreno. I'm thinking maybe it is just harder to wash the soap out than I'm used to, and maybe its just there.

I rinsed as thouroughly as I could last night, and did an extra rinse with V05 chamomile green tea conditioner, and then rinsed everything out as well as possible.

My hair feels softer, but limp and clumpy. I just got my hair back to decent looking. Gah!

If its better and I'll adapt, that's great, but right now I feel like I need another shower.

[florenonite]

You know, I think this might be why my hair's been complaining at my shampoo bar recently! Ever since I came back to Scotland (soft water, compared to the hard at home) my hair's been getting greasy really quickly.

Last year and the year before I don't recall having this problem, and in the spring I stretched my washings out to once a week, so I think your hair should adapt. In the meantime, I recommend using arrowroot powder (or something similar, like cornstarch) to hide the greasiness and help your hair adapt. Also try brushing it to move the oil through it, and wear it up if you don't already.

[imposterpockets]

I don't know if this could be related, but a friend of mine had a water softener in her house and due to that she used smaller amounts of everything. Less coffee to make a good pot, less soap required to wash her clothes, etc. Maybe that is part of what you are experiencing?

[spidermom]

Are you opposed to using regular shampoo? I CWC with Natures Gate products most of the time, and the shampoo rinses clean very easily. If your hair feels too limp, try conditioner to length, diluted shampoo to scalp area only, then rinse and don't condition again.

[heidi w.]

If it's too slippery of water itself, then the salt levels are off. There's a problem with the softener then.

I'm unclear if you have a softener that's installed, or naturally have softened water, though.

Here's a link that might have some insight for you:
http://www.ifixh2o.com/faq.htm

Question: Can I do anything to make softened water feel more or less slippery when I’m bathing?

Answer: Yes. Try using the new synthetic body washes and shampoos that do not contain soap if you want to reduce the slippery feeling. Inversely, if you want slipperier bath water - experiment with different brands of soap (Tone is some slippery stuff). You can also adjust the salt setting on the water softener up/down or increasing/decreasing the regeneration schedule of the unit. Using potassium chloride (K-Life) instead of sodium chloride (salt) will help reduce the slick feeling of softened water. Partially bypassing the unit is a common practice used to decrease the softness of the water – it however defeats the purpose of having a water softener in the first place, and is not recommended.

The paragraph above in this link explains how water is softened and when in contact with soaps and conditioners in soaps things can change. It builds for this just-above quoted paragraph.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Do know that with softened water you do NOT need as much soap, especially to foam and lather. Hardened water has minerals and these kill the lathering and to a minor extent cleansing effect of soaps (laundry soap, bar soap, shampoo, etc.) With softened water you need much less soap, and it will tend to lather relatively readily with less 'resistance' shall we say.

You might be using too much shampoo, too.

Another thought is to try a shower head filter and see if that changes anything for you. It probably won't (I can't see quite why it would), but you never know.


You might also contact GladToBeMom. She's one of several excellent scientific types on this site who really know their stuff and can explain things a lot better than I can. I know enough to get myself in trouble and at a dead end of looking stupid.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Hmm, I don't really like soft water either. My hair becomes so limp and it gets greasy faster. I use cornstarch those mornings when my hair looks like it needs it :shrug:

I wonder if adding salt to your shampoo could help too.

Uh, folks Pleeeeeese, do not add salt to hair cleansing products!

It's not a good idea to add salt directly into the hair. Water softeners don't add or remove salt. It's a kind of osmosis or filtration that uses salt to create de-ionized water, sans minerals. Salt is a mineral.

You will be very, very sorry if you add salt to products or directly to hair. I don't care if it's regular table salt or sea salt. Just don't go there.

No, no....:patrol::justy::trainwreck:
(Oh goody, I found a reason to use train wreck -- finally!)

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Looking just now at your siggy pix, OP, I would say you don't need more than a quarter size dollop of shampoo and likely more like a nickel or even a dime.

Try cutting back on the amount of shampoo and look out for ingredients in the shampoo that create a slicker situation when interacting with the water.

Meanwhile, if you have an actual softener somewhere, then that may need to be checked also.

And ask GladtobeMom, too. I'm sure she'll be able to explain it a bit better to you.

heidi w.

[spidermom]

Definitely try shampoo and shower get instead of soap, it's a lot less slimey.