Hard Water 101 @welshiecurlgirl

I recommend using a chelating shampoo instead of the listed alternatives, it is easy to mess up hair if you don't have the proper pH. A chelating shampoo will be the proper pH and is effective.

Taken from:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkZHgkDIM-6

The showerstik is the only shower head that can actually filter out the minerals that I know of, regular shower heads can help remove chlorine but will not make water soft.

Hardness prevents soap from lathering by causing the development of an insoluble curdy precipitate in the water; hardness typically causes the buildup of hardness scale (such as seen in cooking pans). Dissolved calcium and magnesium salts are primarily responsible for most scaling in pipes and water heaters and cause numerous problems in laundry, kitchen, and bath.

Symptoms of Hard Water include:

Stiff, dingy laundry
Mineral deposits on dishes and glassware
High soap usage & need for fabric softeners
Extra work to remove soap curd on bathtubs & shower stalls
High energy costs, possibly due to scale build-up in pipes and on appliances
Scale build up in sinks, tubs, faucets & appliances

Taken from:

https://wqa.org/Learn-About-Water/Perceptible-Issues/Scale-Deposits/

Map of Hard Water in the USA (USGS):

General guidelines for classification of waters are:

0 to 60 mg/L (milligrams per liter) as calcium carbonate is classified as soft
61 to 120 mg/L as moderately hard
121 to 180 mg/L as hard
More than 180 mg/L as very hard.

Taken from:

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/hardness-water#overview

4 comments

My thoughts:
The most important thing to remember about hard water is to avoid natural soaps.
All of the alternatives in this chart are harsher than the chelating shampoos.
Most water is hard water, it's normal water. Don't borrow trouble if what you are doing is working.
Personally - I use that Malibu C hard water wellness shampoo as my regular shampoo because it's gentle, my hair likes it. But had well water, used Deva CARE low-poo for years with no issues.
- Like Texas water (at least where my friend lived in San Antonio, I've also visited El Paso) is very hard, difficult for washing hair. I used 10 parts water : 1 part apple cider vinegar when I visited there, my relatives used stronger rinses but since I didn't have the stuff to test for pH I went with a more diluted mixture since I was in a pinch. It was my only time encountering hard water, I was pretty unprepared haha. Where I live the water isn't that hard so I've never had trouble or felt the need for a water softener. All water is going to have some hardness to it ~~unless you have a water softening system~~ [false], it becomes a problem depending on where you live.
  I actually agree, I wouldn't personally use the alternatives because you can mess up the pH easily but I thought maybe a no-poo person or someone needing something real fast might want to try it. I would recommend using a chelating shampoo instead, you don't have to worry about the pH and messing up your hair. I should probably make that clearer in the post.
  
  Yeah and "softened" water isn't the same as soft water. I just think of our water as mineral water, it's not pollution, it's minerals. But my god soap is awful in the hard water, just locks dirt onto surfaces. I learned the chemistry of this, but synthetic detergents have been A -OK , it's really only the lye soap (almost all bar soaps, and some liquid soaps) that feel so awful and can be actively harmful to hair and skin in hard water. It's funny to me because literally most of the world cities & 85% of the US water supply is hard water. It's not some mysterious problem, it's the norm. Soft water is unusual.
  I can vouch for that Malibu C stuff for any kind of buildup. I keep a liter of the Hard water shampoo (gentle, low sulfate) and a small bottle of the undo goo (harsher) for clarifying occasionally. I do also agree if hair is droopy or acting weird, clarifying is a best first step.
  (Also both of those pictures are of beautiful hair, LOL)