Helpful Solutions: 4 Ways Hard Water May Be Affecting You

Hard water affects many homes. In fact, it is estimated that 90 percent of homes are affected by hard water. Yes, hard water is common, but it should not be. The following are 4 ways hard water may be affecting you and also a few temporary solutions for dealing with this problem.

1. Hard Water Affects Your Hair

Hard water contains a heavy amount of mineral deposits. Your hair is highly absorbent and will get contaminated by the minerals in your water. You might notice that your hair feels brittle, dry, or even sticky.

Until you can correct this problem, you may be able to fix this issue by using an apple cider spray rinse. Mix 3 tablespoons of unfiltered apple cider with about 8 ounces of water. This should help condition your hair. 

2. Your Skin Is A Victim, Too

Your beautiful skin is in danger, too. Your skin is also very absorbent, just like your hair. When you take a warm or hot shower, your pores open, which allows the minerals to latch themselves onto your skin. The minerals form a thin layer on your skin and are able to feed on the moisture that your skin produces to stay soft and elastic. So you may have a problem with hard water if your skin feels irritated or dry.

You can try to take quick showers with less soap. And try to lightly oil your body as soon as you get out of the shower by using an organic oil like coconut oil or olive oil. These suggestions should alleviate some of the hard water damage you are experiencing.

3. Hard Water and Your Clothes

Hard water can also damage your clothes, no mater how good your washing machine is. Your clothes will absorb some of the minerals from your water. Clothes washed in hard water will suffer visible effects. You may notice that your clothes look dingy or feel hard or stiff. 

Hard water also makes it harder for your detergent to clean your clothes. You may notice that some stains or dirt patches stay on your clothes. Your clothes might even have detergent buildup that will not come off during your regular cleaning cycle. Hard water can also cause discoloration.

You can try using a water conditioner with your detergent. You can buy this at your local grocery store. Or, you can add a cup of white vinegar to the wash cycle. This will help protect your clothes from the damages of hard water.

4. Your Water Pipes Are In Danger

This is possibly the last problem you may have, as it takes some time for hard water to affect your piping. The minerals in hard water are harmful enough to cause clogs or damage the lining in your piping over time. 

You can try pouring down a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar and 3 tablespoons of baking soda to remove some of the minerals. This solution will help but cannot reach all the areas affected by hard water.

The aforementioned suggestions can be helpful. But to alleviate the problem, you need to fix the water. You should have a water softening system installed in your home. So talk to a water specialist about installing a water softening system as soon as you can.