How to prevent hard water hair damage? If your hair care routine includes proper shampoo and conditioning treatments yet still leaves your locks dry, frizzy or unruly, the cause could be hard water damage.

While hard water itself isn't dangerous in itself, its effects on both your scalp and scalp skin can lead to issues which if left untreated can eventually result in major hair issues like loss.

Read on to learn more about it!

Hard Water

Groundwater contains high concentrations of calcium and magnesium minerals that make up its makeup, so its nature makes it naturally hard. While many homes use filters to treat their faucets and showers with soft water instead, not all do. How can you tell whether your home has hard or soft water, as well as what issues this might present for hair and skin health?

Dr. Alpana Mohta explained: "These minerals can create numerous issues with hair and skin health, including dryness, itchiness and dandruff. Additionally, hard water can damage hair over time by leaving it more susceptible to breakage."

Are you curious to determine whether the water in your home is hard or soft? A quick test can easily tell. Fill a water bottle one-third full with tap water, adding several drops of pure dish liquid soap. Screw back on the cap, shake for several seconds and see if bubbles or cloudiness appear; otherwise it could indicate too hard water conditions. Similarly, hair and skin problems could indicate too hard conditions as a telltale sign that it needs adjustment.

Common Signs Of Hard Water Effects On Hair

Washing your hair with hard water is both annoying and harmful to its long-term health. Mineral buildup in hard water makes it harder for moisture to enter the hair shaft, leaving your locks dry, brittle, and more susceptible to breakage than they should be.

Can Hard Water Harm your Hair? Yes! Hard water accumulation may contribute to hair loss. A 2016 study examined hair samples taken from women who washed their hair with hard and distilled water; those using hard water had more ruffled hair and higher mineral deposits that decreased thickness compared to women using distilled water for washing purposes.

Hair expert Ghanima Abdullah of The Right Styles elaborated: "If you live in an area with hard water, mineral deposits can easily collect in your locks," she stated. When this occurs, crust-like deposits form that can become very difficult to remove; additionally, this buildup may build up on your scalp and lead to hair loss - though prior to this happening it simply renders your locks more unruly!

Here are seven telltale signs of hard water on hair.

  • Dry hair
  • Frizzy hair
  • Dull hair
  • Hair that's hard to manage
  • Dry scalp
  • Hair that tangles or breaks easily
  • Hair color has faded or is brassy

Protecting Hair from Hard Water Damage

Install a Water Softener

Jake Romano, general manager of John the Plumber, suggests that installing a water softener in your home is truly beneficial - not only to your hair and skin health but also for plumbing systems.

"Water softeners are plumbing devices designed to filter hard minerals out of your water," Romano explained. Your hard water supply connects directly into it and comes out through its output pipe as softened water for use throughout your home. While there are different kinds of softeners available on the market today, their general concept remains consistent: your hard supply becomes soft water for everyone who uses it."

Soft water is gentler on hair as it lacks high mineral concentrations, making installing a water softener an investment in prevention over treatment.

Hair Treatments to the Rescue

After subjecting your hair to hard water damage, the first step should be removing mineral buildup with clarifying shampoo or something similar; next comes replenishing moisture. Some tips for washing hair in hard water are as follows. 

Clarifying shampoo may help with this task but can be very damaging long term; therefore if your locks have already experienced stress from hard water sources it's essential that they be treated carefully and gently.

"If your hair and skin have been compromised by hard water damage, it is crucial to take extra care in managing their care," according to Dr. Mohta. Specifically, use gentle, sulfate-free shampoos and moisturizing conditioners for maximum effectiveness; additionally use leave-in conditioners or serums as extra protection from further damage.

Natural Remedies

“To remove some of the buildup,” Abdullah advised, a vinegar rinse may help. This mixture consists of one part apple cider vinegar to six parts water and should be left on your hair for five minutes before being rinsed out completely. While this will provide some help, a clarifying shampoo may provide greater assistance depending on how hard your water is; additionally a shower purifier would prevent any debris from getting on your head in the first place.

Rinsing with lemon or lime juice mixed with warm water can also help. Both citrus juice and apple cider vinegar have proven their ability to gently remove buildup while restoring pH balance to the scalp and hair.

After that, using natural oils like marula oil or argan oil to create a hair mask may also help restore moisture loss caused by damage. You could also switch up your shampoo and conditioner formulas so they are free of sulfates for even greater effectiveness.

How Does Hard Water Affect My Hair?

Hard water damage could affect hair of all lengths, thicknesses and textures. Its cause lies with minerals like calcium and magnesium present in hard water sources that work against your natural oils from skin and scalp to create hardness in it.

Unfortunately, more frequent showers or baths won't help; even washing your hair multiple times each day won't make a difference - the frustration stemming from water itself rather than routine hygiene practices or hygiene habits is the source of this frustration.

Scalp Dryness

Your scalp contains oil glands designed to nourish and hydrate your locks. However, when washing with hard water, its hardness minerals leave behind a film on your skin that prevents those oil glands from doing their jobs, leaving a flaky and itchy scalp which doesn't provide an environment conducive to healthy hair growth.

Hair Follicle Issues

Follicles are tiny pores in your scalp that allow hair roots to develop into full strands, and each of the one million on your head could potentially be susceptible to hard water issues that lead to itchy, inflamed follicles that contribute to reduced hair growth and could potentially block these openings due to hardness minerals present in hard water supplies. This could potentially result in reduced hair growth potential and lead to decreased overall performance from your strands.

Hair Dryness

When your scalp is parched, so too is likely to be your hair. Hard water makes it difficult for the body to meet hair hydration needs effectively - particularly for long locks - leaving your locks feeling straw-like, filmy or limp. 

Although dryness has many causes, so when suspecting hard water as the cause for itchy scalp and limp locks it is wise to look out for other hard water symptoms as evidence of it's source.

Impacted Appearance

Hard Water's effects can have serious repercussions on the appearance of hair, including dullness and difficulty managing it - leaving it looking frizzy, flat and unruly even after brushing and styling! This issue should not be underestimated!

Hardness minerals may wreak havoc with colour chemicals and lead to more frequent treatments, discolouration and potential damage for hair that has been dyed with colourants.

Dry Hair Damage and Loss

Damaged and/or loss can occur when hair becomes weak due to dry conditions. Over time, this could result in breakage or even loss.

Cleaning Problems

Hard water makes shampoo and soaps less effective and more difficult to lather, while its mineral content affects your rinsing routine and requires additional time and effort for you to fully remove conditioner and other products from your system. As a result, hard water may leave an unpleasant residue behind that impedes any attempt at proper cleansing - this often makes your cleaning problem seem endlessly daunting!