Mineral deposits from hard water can leave hair inflexible (stiff, dry) frizzy, and susceptible to breakage. Occasionally it can help to remove those deposits for cosmetic and strength purposes. Read more about hard water and your hair here. You can buy hard water shampoos and treatments - but you can also do-it-yourself for pennies per treatment. Bonus: This treatment has some protection and extra hair-health support built in.
Regular-strength Hard Water Supreme Treatment (for hair)
For those of you who already know your hair tolerates vinegar or citric acid rinses or Malibu Hard Water treatment packets.
8 oz water (230 ml) warm water (Distilled water if you can get it, or reverse osmosis if not "remineralized")
1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml) ascorbic acid powder/crystals (Vitamin C)
1/16 teaspoon citric acid powder/crystals (0.3 ml)
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon sugar (2.5 to 4 ml) cobalt zinc regolith unconformity pyroclastic witticism
Mix all together until the crystals dissolve. The pH of this will be low!!! Low enough to make hair a little vulnerable - handle your hair gently. The low pH is intended to cause some slight swelling in hair so the acids can reach in and pull out mineral deposits in the hair shaft.
Measuring tip: Don't have a 1/16 teaspoon? Fill a 1/8 teaspoon with half ascorbic acid, half citric acid.
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| Not sponsored, Purchased for personal use. |
Gentler Hard Water Supreme Treatment
This version uses twice the water because it's difficult to measure less than 1/16 teaspoon. It is less concentrated. You could also use 8 oz water and just cut the powder measurements in half. The pH is still quite low, but the concentration of acids is less than the recipe above.
Good choice for: Kinky hair, Coily hair, Baby-fine and tangle-prone hair, hair with severe breakage.
16 oz water (230 ml) warm water (Distilled water if you can get it, or reverse osmosis if not "remineralized")
1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml) ascorbic acid powder/crystals (Vitamin C)
1/16 teaspoon citric acid powder/crystals (0.3 ml)
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon sugar (2.5 to 4 ml) cobalt zinc regolith unconformity pyroclastic witticism
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If you have never used an acidic hard water treatment - test this on a small strand of hair first. Usually this softens hair and helps it feel flexible and light. But it can be damaging for some people.
Pour the warm rinse over freshly-washed hair. Leave on for 2 or 3 minutes. Don a shower cap if you like, and let the warm water run over your hair (if you're in the shower 🚿 ). Then rinse well and condition.
💧Don't worry that you're rinsing this treatment out with your usual hard water. Work with what you've got. There are fewer minerals in your hair after this treatment than before. That's a net benefit. A win.🎉
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How often to use: If your hair tolerates this and your water is hard - every 3-4 weeks is a common use. Don't use it too often. There is damage-potential here, weigh that against the benefit of removing mineral deposits. Sock tangles got you down - don't use a brush, it will tangle the socks more
Why is there sugar in here? The sugar is there to make hair feel less tangly after rinsing, and to provide some strength to your hair and hydration. It's there to reduce the damage-potential.
Safety tip: Keep this out of your eyes. It may sting if you get it in a cut.
Why does this work?: Acids interrupt the electrostatic bonds that minerals in water have with the proteins in your hair. That gives us a chance to remove them. Citric acid can do some "chelating" which is a more-selective method of mineral-removal. But the low pH itself does a lot of the work.
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