Water softener or filter...does this make a difference?

[Goose]

I live in Texas and I believe I have hard water...I get my hair highlighted (blonde) and it never lasts, it always turns brassy/yellowy...Ugg...Regardless of the products I have tried.

Has anyone had any luck with a water softener or shower filter? Please recommend which one you have tried and had good results with.

I tried the Sprite water filter for my showerhead (Lowes) and it has made absolutely no difference in my hair changing color or in the overall health of my hair.

Help please ladies...I love to do CO washing with Suave Coconut but my hair still turns brassy...so its making me think its my water.

I need opinions....Should I get a filter/softener or keep searching for a product (hopefully cone-free conditioner) that will keep my highlights fresh when I CO wash? :confused:

[francismary]

Howdy, fellow Texan!

I have the very same problem. Wish I had any answers for you. The tap water here in SA is very hard, and I live in an older home and can't afford a water softener. I've just been trying to shampoo my hair no more than twice weekly, and it seems to have helped in keeping my dyed hair from fading too much. A couple of nights ago I tried washing my hair with conditioner only, and it seemed to work well. Don't know how the twice weekly shampoo or conditioner only routine will work for me once summer kicks in. Pretty brutal heat. :(

[jivete]

I bought a vitashower and have noticed a difference in my hair compared to the carbon filter I bought at Lowes. I don't know if it would help will brassiness, but it definitely makes my hair softer. In fact, I've had a problem with over-conditioning my hair since I bought it.

[heidi w.]

Not sure if this link is overly helpful, but according to it, brassiness can be caused by minerals in hard water.

Also other factors are not having enough lift in highlights according to this article and perhaps the improper shampoo choice for preserving color.
Well first let's talk about the causes of it. The causes are minerals in the water, oxidation from the sun, and if your hair's overly porous, it can pick up different things in the environment. So if your hair starts to get brassy, you also may not have been lifted light enough to begin with. So if you're not lifted light enough, and the hairdresser uses a toner on you and the toner wears off, then what's left might be a brassy tone. So just make sure that when you speak to your hairdresser, you're very descriptive about the color blond that you want.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4986102_prevent-brassy-blonde-hair.html
this lady has a video included and I suspect this is the text of that video that I'm quoting from, which is in text below the video.

There are other texts and videos that might interest you on other subjects.

Can't vouch for this lady or her info nor can I say I know much about color. I always had a professional stylist do my color in days of yore.

Now I didn't install a shower head filter to preserve color. I'm au naturale. I now own a house and have a water softener too. The area I'm in has very hard water and I'm glad I'm spared the dry, scaley skin.

I like the softener and only use the shower head filter for a final rinse of my full hair wash. I normally shower under the rainwater spout of my handheld, which also has a hard, pulsing action option.

So I can't offer much on the hair color part of either or both of these improvements to water quality.

One is definitely cheaper -- the shower head filter, and fairly easy to install usually on an average shower head. It can be harder on a closed system hand-held, though.

The water softener is a financial investment to install -- minimum $400 US (goes up to about $800) for the unit and doesn't include cost of install on the incoming water pipe line, which I'd say runs around $200. The salt for a unit is relatively low.

If you install a water softener unit, afford the best unit you can afford, and be sure you get a unit that can handle 4 people in the household, minimum. This is a bigger concern on a water tank installation (which is not part of installing a water softener, but if you ever have to install or replace a water tank, then get enough volume for 4 in a family, at least, as this helps in a house sale).

heidi w.

[jera]

I bought a vitashower and have noticed a difference in my hair compared to the carbon filter I bought at Lowes. I don't know if it would help will brassiness, but it definitely makes my hair softer. In fact, I've had a problem with over-conditioning my hair since I bought it.

I'll have to try that. Hard water dries my hair so much. :(

[suicides_eve]

In Maryland we have high iron and hard metals in our well water. Blondes turn strawberry blonde and those fiberglass showers get stained funky red.. Anyway i bought a shower head filter for $20 from Home Depot online. Man! it made a world of difference! Soap scum was reduced, the red tint dissipated and our skin got so much softer. It would deffinalty be something to look into if your not up for shelling out $$$