From plumbers and home economists to epidemiologists and dermatologists, experts have one message about the effects of hard water: watch out!
Hard water is tough on dishes and fabrics, causes build up and damage to your pipes, and may contribute to a number of serious diseases. It’s also really bad for your hair and skin.
Grungy Dishes and Heavy Metal Hair
The term “hard water” means that your water supply has a high mineral content. It’s formed when water rises up (“percolates”) through deposits of chalk, gypsum or limestone which contain calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates.
This mineral rich water causes scaly buildup on appliances and plumbing fixtures, stains sinks and bathtubs, fades clothes in the wash and leaves white stains on your dishes when they come out of the dishwasher.
When you shower or bathe in hard water, the high amounts of calcium and magnesium will leave your skin feeling dry and chapped, and your hair both slimy and brittle. Can it get any worse? Well, actually…
Don’t Drink the (Hard) Water
While hard water is definitely rough on your appearance, if you drink it unfiltered for long
periods of time, hard water’s impact on your insides can be much worse.
A report from the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows that drinking hard
water can erode wellbeing and even shorten your lifespan.
Among the most disturbing findings, hard water might:
- Increase risk of cardiovascular disease
- Impair normal growth and development
- Contribute to reproductive failure
And if you live in the U.S. and much of the U.K., there’s a high probability your region has some level of hard water.
“Only 15% of the United States has naturally occurring soft water. The remaining 85% of us get to fight the daily battles of hard water with spotty dishes, limescale buildup and appliance inefficiency,” says the Homewater101 website.
Among the U.S. Cities with the worst hard water problems are Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, San Antonio and Tampa. In England it’s London, Newcastle and Oxford.
Water softness in Australia varies. While Victoria and Tasmania have the softest water, sections of Southern and Western Australia have the hardest.
Beauty Experts Weigh In
Hard water makes hair “less pliable” (aka: hard to comb, brush, and generally style) and also strips the brightness from color-treated hair so that it fades faster, according to Allure magazine.
Vogue UK weighs in on hard water’s impact on both hair and skin. “If you’ve ever felt that no matter how much you moisturize your skin, or how dutifully you care for your hair, neither feel quite as you’d like them to, hard water could be to blame,” writes Daniela Morosini.
“Aside from leaving something resembling tectonic plates atop your cup of tea, limescale and hard water can play havoc with your skin and hair… From exacerbated eczema to lifeless locks, hard water can be the culprit for a myriad of beauty woes.”
Quick Fixes For Hard Water Woes
If you’re feeling the effects of hard water, here are a few things you can do NOW to reduce the impact.
First, skip the long hot baths and showers. If you can stand it, take short tepid showers instead. It’s common sense: the less time you spend exposed to hard water, the less damage it can do.
Who wants to hang out in a lukewarm shower?
(Sidenote: hot water is super drying for skin and damaging for hair cuticles, so even though your soul might love steamy showers that last half an hour, your beauty regime doesn’t.)
Next, and this may seem counterintuitive, don’t hop out of the shower or bath and begin vigorously rubbing your head and body with a towel believing that you’re rubbing the minerals off. This approach just leads to irritated and flaky skin.
Instead, go gently and blot your body dry, adding moisturising cream while the skin is still damp. This helps prevent minerals from settling whilst locking in suppleness.
Use Your (Shower) Head & Fix the Problem Long-Term
Ultimately, what you’ll need to do is to invest in a filter to remove harmful minerals from your water.
There are heaps of options for physically removing minerals from your water, with varying price points to match. These include systems that filter the water throughout your entire home, or simple shower head fittings.
Aquasana, Culligan, Delta, Kohler, Moen and Pelican are just a few of the well-known brands that make filtration systems and shower heads – with the latter being a great option if you’re worried about price, with most under $100 and many below $50.
Hard Water Homework
To dig deeper, check out Water Filter Magazine’s “Best” list for 2020, which lists its experts’ top 14 filters (many of which don’t even require tools to install), and (assuming we haven’t convinced you) explains why they’d make a winning addition to your home.
We’ve written an article about how pH affects your skin and hair too, whether that’s the pH of your tap water or beauty products. It’s an excellent read for really understanding the root cause of bad hair days and the reasons why certain shampoos and conditioners seem to work miracles for some, while wrecking havoc for others.
Hair Care That Takes Dodgy Tap Water In Its Stride
Looking for shampoo and conditioner bars that can handle hard water?
You’ll be pleased to know that our new range of pH balanced shampoo bars are specifically designed to combat hard water alkalinity and work from the very first wash; no slimy residue, transition period or tangles. Better yet, they’re low waste, all natural, long lasting and travel friendly.
Planet says thanks!
Check them out here and give a hard pass to hard water.
Originally Published on Beauty and the Bees AUS
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