You might not notice, but hard water might be causing build up on your hair.

The way to see if water is hard depends on the amount of natural minerals like calcium and magnesium that dissolve in water in contact with underground rocks, being considered “hard” when there are significant amounts of these minerals.

Water hardness depends on where you live. If you live in a location with limestone rocks, water will be harder than an area with granite rocks.

Water hardness is measured in parts per million (represented by ppm) of Calcium Carbonate (whose chemical formula is CaCO3) and also represented as mg/l of Calcium (this means the amount of calcium in milligrams in every liter of water). The greater the amount in “ppm”, the “harder” water is considered.

Hard water does not dissolve well soap or detergent, has an unpleasant taste and leaves limestone deposits in plumbing, washing machines, cooking plates and sometimes taps and showers.

The presence of calcium and magnesium minerals in water does not show any health problems to us.

You can confirm if your water is hard or not on your town hall website, since it is required by law to have access to public water quality values.

Hard Water and Curly Hair

Some ions (electrically charged molecules) of calcium and magnesium will bind to the hair in the same way that conditioner does. These mineral deposits will open the layers of hair cuticles which will make hair look dry, frizzy, with lack of definition, more brittle and accumulation of minerals that might resemble dandruff.

Human hair tends to have a negative electrical charge on hair fibers. As opposites attract, positively charged ions from hard water will bind to the negatively charged hair.

The more damaged hair is (with very high porosity/open cuticles) the more these minerals will bind to hair fibers.

CURIOSITY: In this website we defend the use of low poo shampoo or co wash, which contain non-ionic and cationic surfactants, which mainly have positive electric charges, so, it won’t affect the accumulation of minerals, nor are less effective on the wash because they do not interact with the water molecule. For anionic surfactants (shampoos with sulfates), they are more difficult to wash away from the hair because they interact with the minerals of hard water, not letting foam being created and leaving residues in the hair.

How can I know if I have hard water build up on my hair?

A nice experience you might try, is to wash your hair with distilled water. Distilled water has no minerals and its pH is neutral. If you see from this experience that your hair becomes soft and malleable, then you might have problems with hard water.

The other option is to continuously assess your hair. After you confirm limescale deposits at home, symptoms such as lack of curl definition, no natural shine, a hard feeling on your hair, more frizz, itching and dandruff might be signs of build up of minerals on your hair.

For hair with low porosity, hard water can exacerbate a behavior of a hair with high porosity.

Hair and pH

The scalp pH is ~4.5-5.5, however, hard water is alkaline so it will affect the hair pH.

A more basic pH in the hair will increase the negative charge of the hair fiber, and consequently increase the friction of hair. This increases frizz, breakage and porosity.

It is proven in scientific articles that shampoo and related hair products with a lower pH cause less frizz necause they generate less static electricity in the hair fiber. (SEE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE HERE). To have a more acid pH in the scalp is the best way to have healthier hair, without breakage, with moisture retention and no proliferation of bacteria.

Tips to deal with Hard Water:

In my experience, british water is very hard so my curls look better in Portugal than in England, so, here are some tips for this problem:

• Shower Filter – It’s a nice way to remove some part of the chlorine and other impurities. It is not as effective as a water softening equipment installed directly on every house tap, but it’s a good choice to temporarily remove some excess of minerals. The ideal use for this type of filter should be 6-8 months in order to prevent proliferation of bacteria. You’ll have to buy a new filter (or recharge) when that time has passed.
  • • • • • • • • • You can check here on this link the filter I use and that it has improved my hair after every wash!

• Chelating Shampoos – These agents bind on to minerals, dirt particles and left over shampoos to make a new hair canvas, making a great hair cleansing. The use of a good chelating shampoo prevents the formation of precipitates of calcium and magnesium from hard water, making soluble compounds. These shampoos can be too harsh for curly hair if used frequently and should always be followed up with a good moisturizing mask and conditioner. These shampoos might be labelled as clarifying, demineralizing, chelating or purifying: the trick is to look at the list of ingredients and find EDTA, and make sure they are specifically for HARD WATER, so they’re able to remove the mineral deposits. Some shampoos already have EDTAs, usually at the end of the ingredient list, but they are present in very small quantities so it is best to search for specific products for hard water.

Ingredients to look for in Chelating Shampoos

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • Disodium EDTA (Ethylamine Diamine Tetraacetic Acid)
                          • Tetrasodium EDTA
                          • Pentasoidum Pentetate
                          • Sodium gluconate – more natural, similar to EDTA
                          • Sodium phytate, phytic acid

• Mineral/Distilled Water – Final hair rinse after conditioning with bottled or filtered water has made wonders to me! If you do this and you notice a big difference in your hair, then it’s because you had a big quantity of calcium and magnesium minerals accumulated in your hair. I love this technique and has made a huge difference to me.

• Lemon Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse – These are two effective and affordable homemade remedies. By lowering the hair pH with their low acidic pH composition, the minerals found in hair are released. It is important to add these homemade recipes to mineral or distilled water.
  • • • These recipes work best after the shampoo and before the conditioner.
        • • • • • • • Lemon Juice: Apply half a lemon in 400/500ml of water. You can also add it to your conditioner.
                    • Apple Cider Vinegar: Apply one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 500ml of water. Buy a vinegar that is pure vinegar, with no other added ingredients.

• Install a home Filtration system – There are several filter systems for your home taps that consist of a filter with Activated Carbon, Distillation, Ion Exchange or Reverse Osmosis. They are more expensive, but it is the most reliable and durable way to have softer water. If you do install this equipment for your home taps, you should keep at least one tap without this type of filter, so you can use this water for consumption and cooking, since these filters cause the imbalance of water for these purposes. Check this example here.

Be aware that you just need to do these tips if you have very hard water where you live and if you go often swimming.