Did you know that hard water can have a severe impact on your hair? But how does hard water affect your hair? Many people aren’t aware of the fact that water can have an impact on the hair’s form, feel, and overall quality.

What is Hard Water?

Hard water usually has high levels of magnesium and calcium, which has negative effects on hair strands. This can leave hair severely damaged and dry. This is why you show be aware of the type of water you have at home.

Compared to soft water that can be found in rainwater or distilled bottled water, hard water can leave stains on your shower or can prevent your soap from lathering. This prevents you from cleaning yourself thoroughly.

Not all water is created equal. We thought for so long that water is water and there isn’t any defining factor that differentiates one from another. However, water is not all the same. The level of hardness varies. This depends mainly on the amount of mineral buildup in the water.

Negative Impact Of Hard Water On Your Hair

Use a water meter or water test strips to check water quality. You have to pay attention to what’s coming out of your faucet because hard water can severely impact your hair strands.

This can make or break the look and feel of your hair. It affects moisture content which spells the difference between your hair feeling soft and supple from being dry and brittle.

• Hard water can make hair less pliable or entirely difficult to experiment with hairstyles with. Your hair tends to be dry, rough, and hard to manage. This can weigh your hair down and make it appear limp.
• The mineral buildup can also mess up dyed hair. This tends to fade quickly with hard water, or you may have discolourations. It’s the ion deposits that contribute to the colour changes or fades that happen with colour-treated and natural hair.

While the hair isn’t soft and luscious, the hair fibres aren’t weakened by hard water.

How to Deal with the Negative Effects of Hard Water

Hard water can mess up your precious locks. You can effectively cushion the negative impact of hard water by using a pre-shampoo treatment. This protects your hair before you take a shower with hard water.

Use a chelating shampoo or clarifying shampoo that helps eradicate mineral or metal buildup from your hair. You should also avoid washing your hair too often because it can strip the natural oils off your hair and leave it dull and lifeless.

However, experts would say that there really is no bulletproof answer to this because hair strands aren’t the same. 

Hard water has a lot of lime, calcium, ions, and magnesium deposits that can leave your hair very dry and brittle. This makes your hair prone to damage or breakage. So, it is still important to wash your hair.