i've heard that rain water is good for hair...

[annieangel149]

..... so i collected some outside today! i washed my hair like normal and then i poured a jug of rain water over my head! brrrr... it was cold lol! my hair is drying atm! i come from a very hard water area!
does anyone else use rain water on their hair? good results??

[littlenvy]

I live in the city so my rain water would most likely turn my hair green :p But yes, my grandmother always used it and loved it. There are some members here who use it too. Rainwater is WAY softer than regular tap water. Meaning, its good for your hair. :)

[annieangel149]

I live in the city so my rain water would most likely turn my hair green :p But yes, my grandmother always used it and loved it. There are some members here who use it too. Rainwater is WAY softer than regular tap water. Meaning, its good for your hair. :)

cool thanks :) its feeling lighter and more flowy already

[DoubleCrowned]

I used rainwater when I lived where I could collect it. It does wonders for the hair.

If you are worried about pollution, let it rain a little while before collecting the water. The first rain will wash the pollution out of the air.

[Chetanlaiho]

This makes me want to grab a bucket and run outside right now xD (it was raining real hard a minute ago)

[Amber_Maiden]

I used to, when I lived in the country.... But I really didn't see that much difference with my hair to be honest.

[Nathanael]

Hi,

There are in a lot of chemicals (NOx, ...). The rain captures it. So, I don't think it is good for hair.

[kwaniesiam]

You can get shower filters to soften your water.

[Islandgrrl]

Hmmm....rainwater is naturally a little acidic, even without all the pollution that causes acid rain.

I'm pretty sure I'm not wanting acid rain on my hair. :nono:

[Renbirde]

Natural rainwater IS good for hair. The slight acidity (pH~5.6) affects your hair the same way a vinegar rinse does-- it's just acidic enough to close the cuticle, not enough to damage it. That low pH is NOT because of industrial pollutants. The water reacts with CO2 in the air to form carbonic acid, the same stuff used to carbonate soda. It's also the stuff that gives soda water the ability to dissolve mineral deposits on the hair. For comparison, the pH of soda water is usually about 3.7, and 5% white vinegar has a pH of 2.4.

What you think of as "Acid rain" is rain with a pH of less than 5.6 that contains some amount of sulfuric or nitric acids from falling through industrial smog containing SO2, and/or various nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2, N20, NO3, N2O5, etc.). It is NOT good for hair. Neither of those two acids will do your body any good. Areas downwind of industrial areas (this includes areas with lots of motor traffic, not just factory stuff) will have more acidic rain. You should be able to collect rainwater in those areas, if it rains for a while. If you wait for the a bit of rain to go though, most of the pollution with get washed out of the atmosphere, so the tail end of the storm should be reasonably clean.

Now, back to those pH numbers for standard rain water, vinegar, and club soda. Here they are-- pH and the molarity of H+ in the liquid.

Vinegar: pH 2.4= [H+] 0.0039811
Soda water: pH 3.7= [H+] 0.0001995
Rain water: pH 5.6= [H+] 0.0000025

On hair, rain water and clup soda are usually used straight, and vinegar is diluted 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water, or thereabouts.

So, at the usual dilutions:

Vinegar: [H+] 0.0003619= pH 3.4
Soda water: [H+] 0.0001995= pH 3.7
Rain water: [H+] 0.0000025= pH 5.6

The vinegar is still the most acidic thing there. The 'Dumbest hair comments' thread is full of people laughing at the thought of vinegar being damaging-- rain water is even gentler.

/science geek

[homeeduk8tor]

Very interesting thread. I hadn't thought about using rain water but I do like the idea of it!:)