Effects of hard water on hair?

[TropicalBreeze]

What are the effects of hard water on hair? I have noticed breakage in the crown area and the back of my hair. I'm also dealing with brassiness with my hair. I don't colour it, I don't blow dry or flat iron my hair. And I don't use a lot of product. Our soft water tank broke earlier this year and we are finally get it replaced next week. I'm wondering if my breakage and brassiness is attributed to having hard water? Anyone have any info the effects of hard water on hair? Thanks in advance.

[Linda K]

Mine didn't get past my shoulders w/o regular "Malibu Treatments" (Monthly).
Google it - I believe you can use Fruit Fresh at home ... water deposits dry it out. You may find your hair drying much quicker and feeling "lighter" as well ...

[Honestwitness]

I have a clear vinyl shower curtain liner. With that, I can easily see what hard water does to any surface with which it comes in contact on a regular basis. First there are spots. Then there is a film. That is mineral buildup. The same thing happens to my hair.

Also, last winter, we used a stainless steel pot to simmer water on the stove for humidity in the air of our house. We just kept adding more water, and letting it simmer all day and evening long. We did turn it off at night, for safety sake. But next morning, we would add more water and turn on the burner again and let the process continue all day. After a few weeks of that, the pan had a very thick calcium build-up. It was so ugly and thick, we thought the only solution was to throw the pan away.

But, I thought, maybe we can get rid of at least some of that hard, brittle, white build-up with some kind of acid treatment. I did some research and found that lemon juice is pretty hard on calcium. For instance, one can pretty much dissolve the hard outer layer of dentin on one's teeth by sucking lemons repeatedly for an extended length of time. So, I poured a "bloop" of ReaLemon juice out of the bottle into the water in the pan and went away and forgot about it. Next time the water got low, I added more water without even looking in the pan.

However, next day, I decided to dump out all the water and wash the pan, hoping maybe I could scrub and scrape all that gunk out of it. Boy, was I surprised! The pan was clean and shiny, like the first day we bought it!!! We were able to keep the pan and still use it for cooking.

Ever since then, I keep a bottle of ReaLemon in the shower and an empty plastic cup. About once a month, I mix up some diluted RealLemon in the cup and pour it over my hair between shampooing and conditioning. I let it sit for a few minutes, gently massaging the lemon juice mixture into my hair. Then rinse and condition.

At any time I feel my hair is becoming lifeless and dull, I use the RealLemon mixture again.

Others use vinegar for this treatment, but I hate the smell of vinegar. It stays in my hair, even after rinsing thoroughly and air drying. So, instead I use lemon juice.

[Lilli]

When my softener conks out, my hair turns brassy, and then sticky and dull. I have a chelating shampoo for these times.

[Orangerthanred]

I don't really know. I used to have hardwater when I was little, and my hair was really nice even though the water wasn't. But my hair was straight and really tough, I never got one split end no matter what.

I suppose hardwater can make your hair sticky, flat, and damaged. My hair was always kind of flat.

[Ramille]

I never thought about the effect of our Florida hard water on my hair, but I know that in order for my dishwasher to work right I have to use a chemical called Lemi-Shine which helps with the calcium buildup. Also, I used to have a water distiller. The collection of mineral deposits on the pan bottom was unbelievable. Maybe you could rinse your hair with distilled water?

[ladonna]

We have the worst hard water, my DH has to drain the calcium out of our hot water heater every couple month's. I can always tell when it needs to be drained because my hair start's feeling dry and dirty all the time.