Water softener has ruined hair

[Flamingolingo]

I wonder if any of you have the solution to my problem. We installed a water softener a couple of weeks ago, and it’s great, cleaning is so much easier, both my and DS eczema is much much better. The problem is that it’s made my hair limp and lifeless, and the roots go greasy really easily. I normally use a silicone free shampoo for curly hair, and am wondering about what I should be looking at for the softened water. Will it just get better? It’s a total nightmare!

One changes depending upon where I am.
I live in Cumbria and it makes my hair too limp, but when I go to DP in a town further south my hair is great.

It’s definitely the water.

Weird thing is. It CAN change as this time two yrs ago it was the other way around. My hair was great in Cumbria and utterly frizzy and insane in DP’s place.

I can’t fathom it.
I know you can get a water filter jug but how to make water harder......I’ve no clue!

One idea might be changing your use of products, so if you are experiencing flat, greasy hair, maybe skip conditioning unless at ends of hair. More shampoo or a different shampoo for adding body?

I have a filter for my shower as the chlorine In the softened water turns my white hair yellow. Worth looking into filters ?

Thanks - I already only condition when absolutely necessary and I suspect it probably is a case of finding the right shampoo but I don’t know which

Mine is awful since I moved back to the NW from SE, it just seems to be better with a coating of limescale/chalk on it 😂. It goes really greasy now, which it hasn’t done for years.

Ohhh I really thought someone here would have the answer!!

Bumping for the Saturday crowd

I must say I'm a bit confused, with soft water you should be experiencing more lather and a more thorough shampoo in comparison to hard water which tends not to end in limp and greasy hair. Perhaps it's now over stripping the scalp and you're producing more sebum in response? Is it greasiness from not washing properly or greasiness that's coming up quicker than normal? Did you mean you use a shampoo without sulphates or without silicones (shampoo usually doesn't contain silicones, that's the one you avoid in conditioners if you're following some version of the curly girl method).

Have a watch of . Some good tips in there WRT soft water and curly hair.

Thanks! yy to the better lather and shampoo, I’m not sure if getting it out again is the issue, I know when I wash my hands the soap seems to linger for longer too. Yes to deliberately using a sulfate free shampoo - I have the kind of curly hair that can’t handle full curly girl, it’s very fine and soft (some curly hair is much thicker and coarser). It does produce ringlets sometimes, but they are loose. The shampoo in question is the curl jelly wash by Umberto Giannini, no idea if it’s a ‘good’ shampoo but it has definitely been good for my hair for the last 12-18 months. It’s not greasy straight away, but goes greasy in under 24h, so I’m wondering if at the moment the scalp is just going a bit nuts with the oil, and I’m wondering if it will stop...

Moving from a very hard water area to a soft one we've found we can use less of things like shampoo and washing up liquid. I'd start by using smaller amounts.

In that case, yes, try switching to something gentler or you could also try using a lot less of your current shampoo. I have very hard water and Jessicurl gentle lather works well for me but I need to use a lot more than I'd like, I suspect it would work well with soft water on that basis. I have wavy fine hair for reference.

Thanks @botemp for the jessicurl recommendation, will definitely give that a look. And yes smaller amounts will be good for the environment and my wallet too!

Your hair sounds very much like mine, OP, and I've had the same problem since moving to a soft water area. The bad news is, I haven't found a shampoo or conditioner that makes a difference. The only thing that helps is to use a product after drying to give my hair some life and texture.

Thanks @SaskiaRembrandt - for being honest at least if not hope filling . I grew up in a very very soft water area, and I don’t remember having perpetually crap hair there. But I left to go to university, so it could have been crap and I just don’t remember.

What products do you use on your hair?

The best thing of all for my hair seems to be the sea, so maybe a sea salt shampoo will help?

I can't advice too much about water but my semi curly girl routine is:

Child's Farm baby shampoo (the green one)
Tresemme botanique confitioner
Umberto Giannini curl jelly

I've had flare ups with my scalp in the past, and never had a problem since using this.

I moved from a hard water area to soft water about 10 months ago and my hair really suffered! Lots of people prefer soft water for their hair but for mine it just went limp and lifeless and looked plastered to my head!! Good news is, it has got used to it and now looks like my "normal" hair again despite not changing any products or routine. Bad news is it took about 4 months to stop looking terrible and about 6 to start looking full of life again! Maybe a salt spray before you blow dry would help? I found mine was very soft and shiny but not in a good way!

Thanks - I giggled at that being a ‘men’s’ product - are only men ‘manly’ enough for sea salt I wonder?!

You need very much less product than you are used to.

Thanks @PigletJohn, I should know this but I keep forgetting! Maybe just using less will be enough.

I was thinking like @Botemp that it’s a rinsing issue too.

Yes, entirely possible and I hope so!

I've never given much thought to hair, but with washing machines and clothes, when you fit a softener it takes quite a few washes for the residue of soap and fabsoft to wash out. It you put towels in, with no powder, the water foams up and goes grey just from the residue dissolving. Fabsoft put a film of wax on the clothes fibres.

Softened water leaves hair naturally soft and shiny, so, guessing it may work the same as clothes fibres, wash it with mild shampoo and no conditioner for a week and see if it gets less floppy.

I live in an area of very hard water, and you can tell (if you have an eye for it) the women who have a water softener at home.

Thanks @PigletJohn - I did notice a bit of a transition period with the washing machine so that makes sense. I’m hoping it will settle, because the softener isn’t going anywhere - it’s great on keeping away the limescale in the bathroom etc

You Need a lot less shampoo in soft water , it's possible you're using to much and drying your scalp out.