7 Ways Hard Water Is Affecting Your Hair
If you’re worried about hard water hair loss and other problems caused by water hardness, read on through the following article to learn more about these issues and how to correct them.
Hard Water Causes Hair Loss
Water itself isn’t necessarily the culprit. It’s the number of minerals like calcium and magnesium inside that cause problems. Scalp calcification is the process through which your scalp absorbs more calcium than it should. The calcium blocks blood vessels, which in turn become stiff.
As you can imagine, this greatly reduces blood flow throughout the scalp. Loss of blood flow decreases the nutrients your scalp and hair get, having a major impact on them. Your hair gets deprived of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that it needs to grow and stay healthy. Now that you know the basics of how hard water hair loss occurs, let’s talk about all the problems in detail.
Dry Hair
Having dry hair isn’t just an aesthetic issue. Dry hair also impacts the strength of each hair strand in time. Numerous conflicting studies have appeared about this issue over time, with the most famous being the one from NCBI.
While the study does indeed deploy the scientific method, many critics have pointed out that it took place over a small period of time. As we said earlier, hard water doesn’t impact the hair directly. A flaw in their study was that they immersed hair follicles in water instead of bathing the entire scalp of a subject to determine the effect.
Ask anyone who has showered in hard water and they will probably mention the fact that their hair seems dry. Minerals in hard water produce a chemical reaction with soap and shampoo. The result is that minerals build up on your scalp. And moisturizers won’t be capable of penetrating this mineral buildup.
Dull Hair
It is yet another problem that’s caused directly by hard water minerals. Again, you won’t notice this immediately.
It’s something that occurs after months or even years of continuously bathing in hard water. But make no mistake. Once calcium and magnesium start coating your hair, it will lose its vibrancy. The buildup gives it a dull, matte appearance.
Less Hair "Body"
The next problem caused by mineral buildup follows in the steps of the previous one. As the buildup gets bigger, the weight pulls your hair down. While you can use volumizers and shampoos specialized in increasing volume, their effectiveness shrinks in time.
Reduction of Hair Color
No, we’re not talking about using hair colors. We’re talking about your hair’s natural color. Sure, this is a stretch, since the problem occurs after years and years. But it does occur, as some beauty salons also talk about the connection between hard minerals and discoloration.
Weak Lather
Hard minerals coming in contact with shampoo causes a chemical reaction, as previously stated. The reaction prevents water molecules from interacting with the shampoo to form more lather.
As a result, you will find yourself using more shampoo than necessary. And you might even consider buying more expensive shampoo to counteract its effects. However, even the best shampoos lose their effect in time when mineral buildup becomes too strong.
Difficulty Washing Out Shampoo
Ironically, the lather that does form gets stuck on your scalp. And because it’s much harder to get it off, it further increases the problem of scalp calcification.
The Hard Water Hair Loss Solution
No, we won’t recommend hair implants. Instead, we are going to show you something that addresses hard water directly instead of just its effects.
Water descalers are the relatively new technology that reduce water hardness. How does a water descaler work? In layman’s terms, it reshaped hard mineral crystals through electronic impulses.
What does this mean? It prevents them from sticking to surfaces. This includes your scalp, hair, and even pipes. It’s like a two-in-one system that protects your household’s plumbing and appliances, but also your hair and skin.
Water descalers greatly improve water quality without adding any sodium. Unlike softeners, they keep your water drinkable while still giving you the full benefits of softened water. Apart from reshaping mineral crystals, the descaler also eliminates limescale, which is a breeding ground for bacteria. Thus, it will also give you healthier water.
How Does a Water Descaler Benefit Your Hair?
Since mineral particles no longer stick to surfaces, you’ll effectively get rid of scalp calcification. This means more voluminous hair, less hard water hair loss, and a healthier scalp overall. Your shampoo will form more lather, saving you money in the long run. And because you’ll be using less shampoo and water, you’ll also become more environmentally friendly.
Other Water Descaler Benefits
A water descaler offers you streak-free dishes, cleaner showerheads, taps, and better-looking clothes.
It effectively reduces soap scum, and it prevents limescale buildup in your pipes, washing machine, dishwashers, heater, toilet bowl, etc.
Without even realizing it, you’ll probably save up to $1000 per year. How so? You’ll be using less soap and shampoo than you did before because lather forms more easily and soap scum gets washed away flawlessly.
Without limescale covering your pipes, your water heater will also work better. With reduced effort, comes a smaller electricity and gas bill. Furthermore, since hard minerals no longer stick to your appliances, you will also enjoy them for a longer time without repairs or replacements.
The Bottom Line
A water descaler brings many benefits for your hair and so much more.
Since water quality in the US is questionable at best, we would recommend a descaler to anyone. Now you might think that a water softener is also a good option. It is, but it has certain downsides that descalers simply don’t.
There is one catch, though. A water descaler is not and isn’t meant to replace a filter. If you live in an area with water pollutants, a descaler won’t help you.
Its sole purpose is to solve the hard water issue, not get rid of pathogens, sediment, chemicals, etc. However, electronic water descalers can help you solve plenty of other problems.
