Ever felt it’s impossible to find haircare that actually works? If you’re constantly trying new products and your hair is still dry, frizzy, and hard to manage, you may be suffering from hard water hair damage.
When you’re dealing with fading color, dehydrated tresses, or a dry and itchy scalp, it could be your tap water causing your problems. And it’s not just your hair that’s hurting, your skin is also affected by the water you wash in.
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As a Trichologist, I see a lot of clients with hair damage from hard water. Here’s what I tell my clients about dirty water, clean hair, and the best solutions for hard water hair damage:
What is Hard Water?
Tapwater is categorized as hard or soft depending on the kind of dissolved minerals it contains. Over 85% of homes in the US have hard water, and if you live in Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Tampa, Phoenix or San Antonio, you have very hard water.1 The softest water areas can be found in New England, the Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii.
You can easily test your home for water hardness with a commercially available test kit or with this simple home2 test:
- Fill a clean bottle one-third full with tapwater
- Add a few drops of a detergent-free soap like Castile
- Shake vigorously
If your water is cloudy or milky, that means you have hard water. Softer water will create lots of bubbles and foam, with the rest of the water clear underneath.
How Does Soft and Hard Water Affect Your Hair?
While hard water can be bad for your hair, it’s not inherently bad for your health – humans actually benefit from drinking mineral-rich water.
Here’s how your hair will react to soft and hard water depending on your hair type:
🚿 Soft water can tame and smooth coarse hair, but may leave fine hair feeling weighed down. That’s because it’s harder to rinse out hair products where your water is soft. You need to use less product in soft water areas because it’s easier to create a rich lather.
🚿 Hard water can help degrease oily hair, but may leave colored or curly hair dry and frizzy. It can also fade your hair color faster. You may find yourself using more shampoo because it’s harder to get a good lather.
A 2015 study3 found that hair samples washed for 30 days in very hard water showed a ruffled appearance with evidence of mineral deposits. The hard water also caused a decrease in the thickness of the hair strands of the 15 participants.
It’s not just your scalp and hair that dry out from hard water. Your facial and body skin may also feel tight and itchy. The good news is that there’s a lot you can do to help your hair and skin cope with hard water.
How to Treat and Prevent Hard Water Hair Damage
You can easily mitigate many of the effects hard water has on your hair. Here’s how to take the best care of your hair in hard water zones:
1- Use a Gentle Shampoo
First things first – always use a clean, sulfate-free shampoo like Wash that won’t strip your hair. Sulfates are used in many shampoos – even ones that claim to deliver moisture. If your current shampoo contains sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate it’s time for a change. Sulfates may create a nice creamy lather, but they also over-cleanse your hair.
The American Academy of Dermatology also recommends avoiding sulfates, especially if you have rosacea. You should also check your shampoo for other potential irritants like artificial fragrances, colors, or additives like parabens, and phthalates.
Related: three of the most harmful ingredients in shampoo that everyone should avoid.
All Arey products are designed to be gentle on your hair and skin and are always free from harsh chemicals and potential irritants. We subscribe to the Credo clean standards so our haircare is always free from phthalates, parabens, artificial fragrance, sulfates and gluten. They are also always vegan and cruelly-free.
2 - Hydrate Your Hair
Helping your hair deal with hard water means using haircare that puts back the moisture your water is taking out.
If you have hard water hair damage, it’s important to use a moisturizing conditioner like Smooth to hydrate your ends. You may also consider a combination leave-in conditioner and heat protectant like Mend to add moisture and protect your hair from heat-styling up to up to 450°.
Related: how to safely heat style your hair without over-drying.
3 - Wash Your Hair Less Often
Since hard water can dry out your hair, it’s a good idea to extend the time between washing. Even the gentlest shampoos can dry out your hair if you’re washing every day. The easiest way to keep your hair fresh for longer is to use a good-quality dry shampoo like Wait A Sec®.
Wait A Sec® is lightly tinted so it won’t give you chalky tresses. It absorbs excess oil and delivers our Mela-9® Complex’s pigment-boosting ingredients directly to your roots. I recommend my clients use it on their clean, dry hair immediately after washing and styling so Wait A Sec® can work proactively to keep hair fresh for longer.
Related: How to choose the best dry shampoo.
4 - Detox Your Scalp Skin
Hard water can dry out and unbalance your scalp skin the same way it dries out your hair. That can lead to itching, redness and flaking. Your scalp may try to compensate by producing more natural moisturizers (sebum) which can leave you with greasy roots and lank locks. A good way to balance out this hard water damage is to regularly detox your scalp with a moisturizing scalp exfoliant like Scrub.
Scrub gently dislodges buildup from dead skin cells and sebum that get trapped around each hair strand on your scalp. Scrub helps restore moisture that hard water can strip away by nourishing and hydrating your scalp skin and hair roots.
Related: Trichologist tips for your healthiest scalp.
5 - Consider a Water Filter
Whether it’s naturally hard or soft, chances are that your tapwater also contains chemicals that can affect your hair and skin. All public water systems add Chlorine or Chloramine to kill any dangerous microorganisms that could be lurking in the water pipes. Both of these can have a drying effect on your skin and hair.
Here are some of the effects chlorine and chloramine can have on your hair:
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- Your hair becomes dry and brittle
- Your scalp dries out, and can become flaky
- Hair dyes work less well
- Blonde hair becomes green or greenish-tinted
According to Ryan Babenzien, CEO of Jolieskin Water Filter company, “unfiltered water can leave mineral deposits on the scalp and hair, leading to dryness, dullness, and potential buildup.” He comments that the combined effect of hard water and chlorine can be worse for thick hair, “the thickness of your hair, which is normally a major win, is actually a bit of a pain in this case because thick hair is better at trapping foreign contaminants than thin hair.” The result is weighed-down hair that can appear limp and dull.
By filtering your water with an in-shower filter or a whole-system water softener, you can easily protect your hair from the effects of hard water and harsh chemicals.
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Jay Small is a sought-after hair stylist and Trichologist in Los Angeles with over 22 years of experience. His clients consist of high-profile business and creative leaders. He trained as an apprentice to the owner of Paul Mitchell and worked in education and product development for Paul Mitchell Systems. Jay is incredibly passionate about the creative process both in terms of styling hair and developing effective products.
REFERENCES:
How to Give Yourself a Scalp Massage for Hair Growth