Guest Post - Soft Water vs. Hard Water Hair Care

Healthy Living Natural Beauty

    Today we have another guest post "Soft Water vs. Hard Water Hair Care" by Heidi D. Dempsey.  If you have been having trouble with your hair and having to wash it frequently check out Heidi's article to see if your issue could be hard water vs. soft water.  Her bio is located at the end of her article.  Please feel free to leave any questions or comments at the end of her post. 

 

 

    

 




















Soft Water vs. Hard Water Hair Care Want soft, manageable hair? Get a water softener! Many of us wash our hair and clothing without much consideration of the water. We tend to use whatever we have available—hard water or soft water (if we have homes with water softeners). However, if you live in a community that gets hard water, it might be doing a number on your hair. It’s true! Our hair undergoes constant strain from the elements, pollution, things like central air, or dry winters, chemicals in the air, and more. However, thewater we bathe in can actually add to hair damage. Pollution has long been a problem and now we have things like central heating and air conditioning that can dry it out. If you add hard water to the equation, the chemicals contained within can actually dry your hair out further and even dull the color over time—causing the actual hair strands to dry out like dry grass and split at the ends beyond repair. Why is hard water so damaging to hair? Hard water contains a significant level of chemicals—including calcium and magnesium where soft water contains none at all. The main disadvantage of hard water is that it’s simply harder to get things clean with it, and we end up using more soap, detergent, shampoo, and cleaning products as a result, which ends up costing more money and more environmental pollutants. If your home water system is a hard water system, you’re not alone. Approximately eighty-five percent of American residents States do their laundry and wash their hair in hard water. However, the water has the same effect on your hair as it does on your taps and shower faucet—eventually causing a build-up of hard, scale and diminishing the brightness. Hard water has the same reaction on hair, leaving it difficult to manage due to fly-aways, frizz, and causing it to dull over time due to scale buildup. The same layer of calcium and magnesium is deposited on our hair and skin, and can end up clogging our pores and creating dryness and itchiness. As a result, households with hard water systems tend to wash their hair more often, which causes drying and split ends. If you live in a home with a hard water system, you can prevent hair damage by purchasing hair treatment products specially created for dry and damaged hair. Why is soft water so gentle on hair? On the other hand; if your home water system is a soft water system you will notice how shampoo suds much easier. Due to the lack of chemicals, those who live in households with soft water systems tend to wash their hair less often, and enjoy clean, smooth, fresh skin because it doesn’t clog our pores with chemicals and leaves skin free to breathe and hair soft, bright, and easy to manage without added hair products. As a result, soft water systems end up saving households a lot of money on beauty products such as shampoo, face cleanser, body wash, soaps, and cleaning products such as clothing detergent. Not only do we feel clean longer, clothing also lasts longer and retains brightness. So when it comes to hard vs. soft water usage… Hard water is best for:

• Street cleaning
• Watering gardens
• Brushing teeth (because it contains added calcium)

And soft water is best for:

• Bathing or showering
• Washing dishes
• Using in coffee machines
• Doing laundry
• Shaving
• Washing the car

About The Author Heidi D Dempsey is an environmental advocate, a dedicated mom of two boys, a loving wife, and a staff writer for ApronAddicts.com, a website dedicated to the love of cooking and looking good while you do it! You can often find her getting creative in the kitchen as she whips up something yummy in one of her flirty, color coordinated aprons.

 Pictures courtesy of Pinterest.