Is all well water hard water? (clarifying question)

[angelfell]

I finally got a hold of some clarifying shampoo the other day, and it made a drastic difference in my hair, which was previously weighed down. However, I know it wouldn't be good to use it too often. I did read somewhere, though, that those who have hard water or use a lot of products should clarifying more often, even weekly. I don't use a lot of products really, other than Biosilk Silk stuff and coconut oil.. but I do have well water. Now, I don't know what minerals are in my well water other than sulfur.. you can reallyy smell the sulfur :p.

So, is all well water considered hard water? And if it is, or if mine is because it at least contains sulfur, should I really clarify weekly? I also CO my length, and only shampoo & condition my scalp, but I do wash it daily.

[ktani]

I finally got a hold of some clarifying shampoo the other day, and it made a drastic difference in my hair, which was previously weighed down. However, I know it wouldn't be good to use it too often. I did read somewhere, though, that those who have hard water or use a lot of products should clarifying more often, even weekly. I don't use a lot of products really, other than Biosilk Silk stuff and coconut oil.. but I do have well water. Now, I don't know what minerals are in my well water other than sulfur.. you can reallyy smell the sulfur :p.

So, is all well water considered hard water? And if it is, or if mine is because it at least contains sulfur, should I really clarify weekly? I also CO my length, and only shampoo & condition my scalp, but I do wash it daily.

I would say yes but there are 2 issues here. To remove that heavy kind of mineral build-up you need to chelate. To remove product build-up you need to clarify. I would not clarify once a week. Most good clarifying shampoos are very strong. The ones that contain conditioning ingredients are less effective.

You can chelate with citric acid which you can buy on its own - there are recipes here - you need very little - or use a lemon juice rinse well diluted or buy a chelating shampoo but you will still most likely need to clarify as well every so often, depending on the chelating product chosen.

ETA: You can also use club soda - undiluted to help with mineral build-up - but it is not a chelator. It depends on what is in your water.

[MJheals]

I just moved to a new place with ridiculously hard well water, so I feel ya here. I'm pretty sure all well water is hard, because it's ground water, which is full of minerals.

The best thing I've found so far isn't clarifying (which really dries out my hair), but lemon juice! I add about a tablespoon+ to a gallon jug of water (I need two jugs to wash my hair properly) until it tastes just slightly sour to me. I don't even rinse with untreated water, I use only the lemon water on my hair. The lemon juice (ie, citric acid, among other things) chelates the minerals in the water, softening it naturally.
And I'm telling ya, even when I had nicer tap water, my hair has never felt or behaved this nice! I get increased shine and slip, it's easier to detangle, and frizziness (even the winter frizzies) seems to be decreased by at least 70%.

Even for people who don't have hard water, I would wholeheartedly suggest this washing method. It's cheap, it's easy (just take the jugs with lemon juice into the shower with you, and fill with water when you need it), and most important, it shows results! :):):)

And for even more tips and tricks, you might want to browse through these threads to see if something else appeals to you.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/search.php?searchid=3390761
HTH:)

[angelfell]

I would say yes but there are 2 issues here. To remove that heavy kind of mineral build-up you need to chelate. To remove product build-up you need to clarify. I would not clarify once a week. Most good clarifying shampoos are very strong. The ones that contain conditioning ingredients are less effective.

You can chelate with citric acid which you can buy on its own - there are recipes here - you need very little - or use a lemon juice rinse well diluted or buy a chelating shampoo but you will still most likely need to clarify as well every so often, depending on the chelating product chosen.

ETA: You can also use club soda - undiluted to help with mineral build-up - but it is not a chelator. It depends on what is in your water.

Ahhh, I see.. that's good to know. So a little lemon juice diluted into some water as a rinse rather than clarifying? Although yes, I'll still do that, too, every so often. Thank you for your help ^-^!


I just moved to a new place with ridiculously hard well water, so I feel ya here. I'm pretty sure all well water is hard, because it's ground water, which is full of minerals.

The best thing I've found so far isn't clarifying (which really dries out my hair), but lemon juice! I add about a tablespoon+ to a gallon jug of water (I need two jugs to wash my hair properly) until it tastes just slightly sour to me. I don't even rinse with untreated water, I use only the lemon water on my hair. The lemon juice (ie, citric acid, among other things) chelates the minerals in the water, softening it naturally.
And I'm telling ya, even when I had nicer tap water, my hair has never felt or behaved this nice! I get increased shine and slip, it's easier to detangle, and frizziness (even the winter frizzies) seems to be decreased by at least 70%.

Even for people who don't have hard water, I would wholeheartedly suggest this washing method. It's cheap, it's easy (just take the jugs with lemon juice into the shower with you, and fill with water when you need it), and most important, it shows results! :):):)

And for even more tips and tricks, you might want to browse through these threads to see if something else appeals to you.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/search.php?searchid=3390761
HTH:)

So then you don't use your regular water at all on your hair? Do you think it would still work if you used it as a final rinse (or near final rinse.. I do the cold rinse as a final rinse)?

[ktani]

Ahhh, I see.. that's good to know. So a little lemon juice diluted into some water as a rinse rather than clarifying? Although yes, I'll still do that, too, every so often. Thank you for your help ^-^!

You are very welcome.

ETA: You have other options too like buying a water filter or using distilled water only (no minerals in it) to wash your hair after chelating.

[MJheals]

So then you don't use your regular water at all on your hair? Do you think it would still work if you used it as a final rinse (or near final rinse.. I do the cold rinse as a final rinse)?

I don't use the water from my shower head at all on my hair, but your water might not be as full of minerals as mine.
The first few times I used it, I used cold lemon water as my final rinse only. I noticed a definite improvement, and my hair didn't really feel bad at all. I just notice a much bigger improvement from only using the lemon water.

I think you'd be fine just using it as your final cold rinse. Give it a go, and if your hair feels right to you, why bother with only using the lemon water?

I'd be very interested to see if the rinse works for you. :)

[trolleypup]

Not all well water is hard, OR heavily mineralized. When I was growing up, we had two wells, one was moderately hard with a lot of iron an manganese as a bonus, the other, a tenth of a mile away, was soft and pure.

[ktani]

Not all well water is hard, OR heavily mineralized. When I was growing up, we had two wells, one was moderately hard with a lot of iron an manganese as a bonus, the other, a tenth of a mile away, was soft and pure.

That is good to know. I have only seen reports about difficulties with hard well water here.