Differences Between Hard Water and Soft Water for Gray Hair

An Ultimate Guide: Key Differences Between Hard Water & Soft Water for Gray Hair

When it comes to the health of your gray hair, your water can be a major factor, so it helps to know the differences between hard water and soft water for gray hair.

If you’ve ever noticed your hair feeling dry and brittle after a shower, it could be due to the type of water you’re using. Hard water and soft water have different mineral compositions that can affect your hair in various ways. Understanding the difference between the two can help you care for your hair and prevent issues.

Hard water is water that contains high levels of minerals, such as calcium and magnesium. These minerals can build up on your hair, leaving it feeling dry and dull and, in some studies, more prone to breakage.

On curly hair, hard water can disrupt your curl pattern, cause frizz, and a decrease in definition. On silver and gray hair, it can cause frizz, dryness, and buildup that can discolor your hair.

On the other hand, soft water is treated to remove these minerals, making it gentler on your hair. By using soft water, you can help keep your hair healthy and hydrated. Soft water doesn’t come without some issues to be aware of though, and we’ll get into that later.

So, let’s get into what all this means for the health of your silver locks.

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Defining Water Hardness

Definition of Hard Water

Hard water is water that contains high levels of dissolved minerals such as calcium (lime) and magnesium, and some will also contain copper and iron. As water moves through rocks and soil, it gathers minerals, which build up in the water. Hard water can leave mineral stains on your fixtures, create mineral buildup in your plumbing, and stain lighter colors of hair like silver and gray with a green, yellow, and even red or brown tint depending on the mineral content (e.g. iron tends toward orange and brown, copper toward green).

For perspective: Groundwater that has moved through limestone is often hard.

Definition of Soft Water

Soft water, on the other hand, has been treated to remove these minerals. This is done through a variety of methods, such as using a water softener and/or filtering system. Soft water is free of the mineral deposits that can cause damage to your home and appliances, and is often preferred for its gentle, refreshing feel.

In a home water softener, salt is often used to soften the water, it works through the process of ion exchange. The mineral ions in hard water are exchanged for sodium ions, which creates softer water.

For perspective: Rain is usually softer water, since it has not yet picked up the minerals like groundwater has.

Mineral Content

The mineral content of your water can have a huge impact on the health of your hair.

Hard water can cause buildup on your scalp and hair, leading to dryness, brittleness, and possibly breakage over time. Calcium and magnesium are what make water hard, and some water may also contains iron and/or copper, which can stain gray hair.

Soft water has most of those minerals removed, so there’s less mineral buildup on your hair and scalp. It isn’t mineral-free, though. Softeners swap them for sodium, and soft water can leave hair flatter and prone to product buildup.

Overall, the mineral content of water is an important factor when it comes to your hair’s health.

Effects of Hard Water on Hair

Because of this high mineral content, hard water can cause a variety of issues for all hair types.

• Dryness and Brittle Hair

Minerals in hard water can block the conditioning action of conditioners, leaving hair feeling dry, rough, and difficult to manage. Water that is high in chlorine can also strip some of your hair’s natural oils, which adds to the dryness. Over time, hair can become more brittle and prone to breakage, though research on how much hard water weakens hair is mixed.

• Dull Hair

If your silver hair has lost its shine and looks dull and lifeless, hard water could be to blame.

• Lack of Lather

A key indicator that your hair has hard water buildup is your shampoo not lathering up. This is because the minerals in hard water react with the surfactants in your shampoo, preventing them from creating a rich bubbly lather.

• Buildup and Damage

Over time, mineral buildup can make your hair rougher and more prone to tangling, frizz, and staining.
If your hair is already damaged from sun, heat, or chemical processing, this buildup can be even more extreme because damaged cuticles trap minerals more easily.

• Itchy and Flaky Scalp

Some people notice an itchy or flaky scalp with hard water. Mineral and product residue left behind may play a part, but research on this is limited.

• Staining Gray Hair

If you have gray, silver, or white hair, minerals in your water, especially iron and copper, can tint it green, orange, brown, or yellow, and a mineral film can make it look dull.

• Faster Yellowing and Oxidative Damage

Iron and copper from your water can also deposit in the hair itself. Lab studies show that copper absorbed from tap water speeds up the oxidative damage caused by UV light and by coloring and bleaching, and that chelating ingredients reduce it. Silver hair has little melanin to buffer that damage, so mineral buildup may make it more prone to yellowing. Learn more: The Science of Gray Hair Yellowing

Overall, if you’re experiencing any of these issues with your hair, it’s worth considering whether hard water could be to blame. If you live in an area with hard water, you may want to invest in a water softener or use a chelating or clarifying shampoo to help remove mineral buildup. I’ll get more into that below.

Effects of Soft Water on Hair

When it comes to hair health, soft water is generally considered to be gentler on hair than hard water. Here are some of the effects of soft water on hair:

• Greasy Hair

Soft water can cause your hair to hang onto products that you use on your hair. This can lead to your hair feeling producty or greasy.

• Lack of Volume and Shine

Due to difficulty rinsing products away completely, soft water can leave hair looking flat and lifeless, especially wavy and curly hair, and product buildup can dull its shine.

• Gentler on Hair

Soft water doesn’t leave the mineral film that hard water does, so it can be gentler on hair. It isn’t mineral-free, though, because softeners swap calcium and magnesium for sodium or potassium. 

• Conditioning Benefits and Drawbacks

Soft water can be very conditioning for hair, leaving it feeling soft and silky.

The flip side is it can cause buildup of cleansing and conditioning products. Think about how much you must rinse just to get soap off your hands or skin if you have soft water. Your hair needs that same thorough rinsing to help keep the surfactants and conditioners from building up on your hair strands and your scalp.

While soft water may have some downsides like causing loss of volume and shine; overall, it is considered more beneficial for hair health than hard water.

pH of Hard Water vs Soft Water

Aside from its mineral content, hard water is often slightly alkaline, with a pH above 7. Soft water tends to sit closer to neutral. Normal, undyed, undamaged hair has a pH of 4.5 to 5.5, which is more acidic than any tap water, so a slightly acidic conditioner or rinse after washing helps bring your hair back to where it likes to be.

This is one reason apple cider vinegar can be so helpful for clarifying in hard water. Because it’s acidic, it helps dissolve mineral deposits like calcium carbonate and lowers the pH of your hair.

On the other hand, a product like Malibu C Undo Goo can help with soft water. The shampoo has a pH of 9 or higher, which temporarily lifts the cuticle and helps release the product buildup that tends to collect on the hair. Follow it with a conditioner to bring the pH back down.

If you want to read more about pH and Hair I have this Ultimate Guide on pH and Hair.

How To Determine Your Water Hardness:

The quickest way is to look for visual cues around your home and on your hair. For an actual number, see the testing options further down.

Visual Cues of Hard Water

• Skin may feel dry or tight, and people with sensitive skin sometimes notice more irritation.
• If you have keratosis pilaris (KP), like I do, you may find the bumps feel rougher when your skin is dry, which hard water can add to.
• Your hair feels dry, your curls might be limp and frizzy, and your silvers could be an odd color for no other apparent reason.
• Soaps and shampoos may not lather well.
• White, chalky lime and scale buildup forms around your appliances, faucets, and shower heads, and it’s difficult to remove.
• A rusty red ring around the inside of the water tank on your toilet, this can be a sign of a high iron content.

Hard Water Where You Live

In the US, it is commonly estimated that around 85% of households have at least moderately hard water.

According to the US Geological Survey

“General guidelines for classification of waters are:

• 0 to 60 mg/L (milligrams per liter) as calcium carbonate is classified as soft
• 61 to 120 mg/L as moderately hard
• 121 to 180 mg/L as hard
• More than 180 mg/L as very hard.”

If you want to know your local water hardness, you can contact your local water authority, usually you can find this information on your water bill, or you can contact your city for more information. If you have a well, your city or county can test your well water for you.

Or you can buy your own at home test kits to test your water in your home.

Solutions for Hard Water

If you have hard water, you don’t have to suffer from the damage it can cause to your gray hair. Here are some solutions you can try:

1. Whole Home Water Softeners & Filters

Cost: $$$$$

While this is the most expensive and least accessible solution for most, a water softener is what actually removes calcium and magnesium from hard water. Softeners work by exchanging those minerals for sodium or potassium ions, which makes the water soft. Whole home filters treat all the water coming into your home, but most reduce sediment and chlorine and don’t remove calcium and magnesium, so a softener is the part that softens the water. Both can be expensive, but they are a long-term solution to hard water.

2. Shower Filters

Cost: $$$

Shower filters mostly reduce chlorine and some metals like iron and copper. They don’t remove calcium and magnesium, so they won’t soften your water, and you will still need to clarify. They can be a helpful add-on, especially if your water is high in chlorine, iron, or copper, and they attach easily to your showerhead.

I avoid filters with added vitamin C, since vitamin C treatments can discolor silver hair. Learn more here.

3. Hard Water Washday Product Suggestions

Cost: $

Make sure your shampoo isn’t too stripping and drying (consider a sulfate-free shampoo for your every washday). Pick moisturizing and conditioning conditioners and leave-ins to help keep your hair conditioned, protected, and healthy. You may even prefer conditioners with shampoo-soluble silicones in them for slip, detangling, and manageability.

Look for conditioners labeled as “moisturizing” or “hydrating.” These usually contain glycerin and panthenol to help hold moisture and reduce breakage.

4. Chelating Clarifying Shampoo Routinely

Cost: $

Chelating clarifying shampoo is designed to remove buildup from your hair, including minerals from hard water. These shampoos contain ingredients that bind to minerals and help rinse them away, so your hair feels less dull and weighed down. Clarifying shampoo can be used once a week or as needed depending on how often you wash your hair.
Chelating ingredients attach to minerals and metals on the hair strand and carry them away. Look for chelating products marketed for hard water.

Chelating Ingredients:

• Calcium Disodium EDTA
• Citric Acid
• Disodium EDTA
• EDTA
• Pentasodium Pentetate
• Phytic Acid
• Potassium Citrate
• Sodium Citrate
• Sodium Gluconate
• Sodium Phytate
• Sodium Polyphosphate
• Tetrasodium EDTA
• Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate
• Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate

In lab studies, a shampoo containing trisodium ethylenediamine disuccinate (EDDS) reduced copper uptake from tap water.

Please note, chelating ingredients are used in formulas for more than adding chelation to the hair. Some of the ingredients are added for formulation purposes in the product and will not affect your hair. While there are exceptions to this rule, like SEEN’s shampoo, which contains two chelating agents and is great for helping prevent mineral buildup, you want to aim for products that are marketed clearly for clarifying, like Chelating Shampoo, Clarifying Shampoo, Hard Water Shampoo, and so forth, to make sure the product is meant to clarify.​

5. A Simple Vinegar Rinse

Cost: $

A vinegar rinse is a natural way to help remove hard water buildup from your hair.

1. Mix a quart of filtered water and 1/4 cup or less of apple cider vinegar.
2. Apply it to your hair before shampooing. You can mix it in a bowl and soak your hair for a few minutes, then run the mixture through your hair. Or pour it on your hair and let it soak for a few minutes.
3. Follow your rinse with shampoo and conditioner to rebalance the pH of your hair.

The vinegar can help dissolve mineral buildup and leave your hair feeling soft and shiny.
Hair tips: If you have low porosity hair, vinegar may cause your hair to become extra dry, so follow with a deep conditioner after your shampoo.

6. Bottled Water

Cost: $

If you don’t want to invest in a water softener or filter, you can use distilled or reverse osmosis (RO) water to rinse your hair. Distilled water is free of the minerals that can cause hard water buildup on your hair, and RO water has most of them removed. Many grocery stores have refill machines that dispense RO water, which can be cheaper than buying bottles. Most other bottled water still contains minerals, so check the label.

It’s not the most cost-effective solution, but it’s an easy alternative.

NOTE: This should be a given, but make sure you are not using bottled mineral water. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Solutions for Soft Water

If you have soft water, you may be wondering what products you should be using to keep your hair healthy and strong. Here are a few solutions that can help you maintain your hair’s health and beauty.

1. Rinsing Out Products

Make sure you are thoroughly rinsing out your shampoos and conditioners so they don’t build up.

2. Soft Water Washday Product Suggestions

• You may want to consider using volumizing products. Soft water can leave hair feeling flat and lifeless, and products that add volume can help achieve your desired look.
• Make sure your shampoo doesn’t contain silicones, because these can be harder to rinse out. Pick lightweight and volumizing conditioners and leave-ins to help keep your hair conditioned but not weighed down. You may even prefer silicone-free conditioners to avoid buildup.
• For added volume, look for styling products labeled as “volumizing” or “thickening.” These contain ingredients that can help hair not get weighed down and be more voluminous.​

To wrap it all up, the hardness of water can have an impact on your hair’s health and appearance.

• Hard water’s high levels of minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, can leave a residue on your hair and scalp, causing dryness, tangles, dullness, and sometimes discoloration.
• Soft water has most of those minerals removed, so there’s less mineral buildup, though it can leave hair flatter and product buildup more likely.

To keep your silver hair looking and feeling its best, it’s essential to pay attention to the type of water you’re using. Improving the quality of your water can help keep your hair soft, shiny, and free from mineral discoloration. Adding clarifying to your routine will help maintain your shine and beautiful silver color.

If you want to check out my full list of products mentioned in this post head over to my list on Amazon.

I hope you found this post educational and helpful.

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to share.

As always it is about so much more than the hair.

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