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If you have hard water in your home, you know it. Your clothing has a film on it and so do your dishes and appliances.
Your skin and hair suffer from hard water, too. That’s why your skin always feels like it has a soap film on it after showering or bathing and your hair feels slimy, slick, and stringy.
Hard water has lots of minerals in it; mostly calcium and magnesium. It’s also got copper, sulfates, iron, and other deposits in it that wreak havoc on your hair. Depending on where you live, the filtration system you have for your home, and other factors, you can have negligible hard water issues or they can be extreme.
Here’s the thing: if hard water is leaving a film on your dishes and clothing, and skin, imagine how it’s damaging your hair. Hard water exposure leaves that same film on your hair, preventing your poor tresses from getting nutrients and moisture. A barrier of hard water mineral deposits on your hair and scalp will—over time—cause your hair to become weak and brittle.
Signs of hard water damage include the following:
- Dry, itchy scalp and skin
- Hair that feels slimy or greasy even after washing
- Dull, limp, lifeless hair
- Staticky hair
- New or worsening dandruff
- Dry skin and hair patches that are irritated
- Hair that breaks off or has flyaways
Since most homes have hard water, it’s a common issue that you may experience yourself. You can do a few things to help manage your hard water problems, including putting in a filtration system for your whole home or putting in a filtered shower head in the bathroom. But these solutions can be expensive and may not entirely protect your hair and scalp from the minerals present in your water.
So, what can you do? We’re here to help you out! Introducing the best shampoos for hard water in 2023. Pick and choose the one that works best for you and allows you to have beautiful, soft, and manageable hair and a scalp that’s free of dryness, dullness, and itchiness.
Our list consists of the very best shampoos that can help keep your hair in great health even if your home has hard water. We cover the best shampoos based on quality, not price, so don’t be surprised if you see a few shampoos on our list that are super affordable and easy to find!
So, if you’re ready to take the stress out of your hair and give it new life, read on. You’re sure to find a shampoo for your thirsty, dry tresses and give your hair new life.
1. Blu Atlas Classic Shampoo
Our top choice for shampoos that are great for tackling hard water is this super natural and deliciously scented shampoo. Not only is this shampoo made of 99% natural ingredients, it’s transformative not just for the hair, but for the scalp.
Here’s how this shampoo works, and why it’s tops on our list: first, jojoba protein saves the day by relieving individual strands of stress caused by hard water and other factors. Second, saw palmetto works to thicken and strengthen hair, and helps prevent hair strand loss.
Then, the aloe vera in this shampoo focuses on the scalp, nourishing and cleansing it to help remove hard water scum and residue. Finally, coconut surfactants work to scrub away any leftover residue that hard water stubbornly leaves behind.
As a bonus, this shampoo is also vegan and plant-based, making it even more of a winner in our eyes. Also available in a delicious coconut apricot scent, this classic shampoo is one you’ll want to use every day for all your hair care needs. Use it with Blu Atlas Conditioner for the very best results.
2. The Ordinary Sulphate 4% Shampoo Cleanser for Body and Hair
When you have hard water, it doesn’t just affect your hair. It takes on your whole body and is relentless about it. Get rid of the itchy-feeling skin and powdery residue associated with hard water exposure by using this shampoo as both a hair cleanser and a body wash.
Other shampoos and body cleansers are on the market that help slough off the residue left behind by hard water, but The Ordinary uses a gentler formula that really impressed us. Before turning to this shampoo as your main hair care solution, test it a few times to see if it further irritates your scalp and hair and never use it on open wounds or sores.
Use this shampoo on its own or in between using your favorite shampoo. If you have really sensitive skin or skin that’s allergic or sensitive to sulfate, then use this shampoo, body, and hair care cleaner with caution. In other words, it works great, but make sure your body is used to it before turning it into your full-time cleanser.
3. Aveeno Apple Cider Vinegar Blend Shampoo
We love apple cider vinegar, and here’s a fun fact: once the vinegar dries or is washed off, it no longer carries any scent. Even so, you don’t need to worry about any unwanted scent in this shampoo since it smells decadent. One of Mother Nature’s best kept secrets is apple cider vinegar, which is good for you inside and out, and exactly why this shampoo is on our list!
We love this brand and it’s easy to find in your local drugstore or grocery store, making this an affordable option if you need regular hair care against hard water damage. Apple cider vinegar works to restore the hair and strip it of the magnesium and calcium deposits that build up over time. The shampoo is also free of the harmful additives we see in shampoos all the time, including dyes, sulfates, and parabens.
If you need an affordable, gentle, and practical approach to tackling dull hair issues caused by hard water damage, then this may be the shampoo for you! Let this be your shampoo of choice when your hair starts to feel and look weighed down and lifeless.
4. Malibu C Hard Water Wellness Shampoo
We love a good vegan shampoo that’s not only healthy for the hair but healthy for all our sentient beings as well. This shampoo is designed with hard water hair in mind and allows you to feel great about your tresses as well as the environment.
According to the brand behind this shampoo, 85% of homes have hard water. This means you’re not alone in your hair care woes. Also, the makers of this shampoo have a lot of knowledge when it comes to treating this common household ailment. You won’t suffer from hard water on your hair and body when you have this shampoo on your side.
As the name of this shampoo suggests, vitamin C is the leading ingredient in this detoxifying shampoo. You can use this shampoo daily to treat your hair and prevent future hair damage before it gets worse. Or you can turn this into a weekly treatment along with a weekly hair treatment mask from the same brand if you have especially rough and stringy hair from hard water abuse.
5. Suave Charcoal & Aloe Vera Clarifying Shampoo
Here’s a shampoo product we’re super excited about adding to our list, and for several reasons. First, we love that this bargain-brand shampoo has a hard water treatment cleanser. Secondly, we’re excited about what’s in this beautiful bottle!
Charcoal is well-known for being a great cleanser because it sucks out toxins and impurities in the skin (and even inside the body), so it’s great to see this ingredient in a shampoo. It’s perfect for removing all the things we don’t like in our hard water, including those horrible sulfates. Aloe vera, a fantastic ingredient in the best shampoos for hard water in 2023, is a great cleanser and helps soothe and calm an angry and irritated scalp while the charcoal does its job of removing all the hard water film in your hair.
All this at a great price point! You can find this shampoo at your local grocery store along with other products of the same brand. Use this shampoo along with its conditioner as your go-to pair when your hair is showing obvious signs of stress and needs some relief.
6. Love Beauty & Planet Delightful Detox Charcoal & Bergamot Sulfate Free Shampoo
We’re sensing a trend in charcoal as an ingredient to battle hard water buildup, and we’re all for it. Here’s another option to consider if you want to give a charcoal solution a try, and we love that this shampoo has bergamot in it as well as having no sulfate in its preparation.
Bergamot not only adds a unique scent that will give your tresses added glamor, but it also helps make hair thicker, fuller, and stronger because of its fatty acid content. This means your hair will be less frizzy and look healthier, shinier, and happier every time you use this shampoo. If your hair is dry, brittle, and prone to tangling, this shampoo can be a lifesaver.
While it seems like you have to have a tough-acting shampoo to tackle the several layers of residue hard water leaves behind, this shampoo proves all that wrong. Use this shampoo for your hard water-riddled hair when your strands need a boost and you want to give your hair volume even as you’re treating it.
7. Biolage Clean Reset Shampoo
When it comes to treating hair that’s been wrung through the wringer and left to fend for itself, sometimes a do-over is the best solution. Introducing the number seven contender on our list of hard water treatment shampoos for 2023, designed to reset your hair and give it a new life.
We love that this is a vegan and plant-based shampoo, which means it’s gentle enough to treat your hair while being able to get your tresses back to good health. This brand is among the salon favorites on our list and worth the splurge if you really want to tackle your damaged tresses.
What makes this shampoo so great is the way it works: this paraben-free shampoo balances out the scalp so hair can grow healthy and strong straight from the beginning. The shampoo also hydrates the hair after deeply cleansing it to keep strands bright, shiny, full of volume, and give it lots of bounce.
This is a shampoo worth trying if you’ve been struggling with straw-like hair that’s been hard to style for far too long, and if hard water is one cause of the issue. With continued use, you can see your tresses show sure signs of growth and begin to look like a new head of hair.
8. Kaleidoscope Miracle Drops Shampoo
If you’re not dazzled by the packaging and design of this shampoo, you’re going to be dazzled by the way it works. Not many shampoos that tackle the ill effects of hard water are intended for thicker, curlier tresses, but we’ve found one.
What makes this shampoo so great are the miracle drops that are in it. These moisturizing drops are added to help reduce buildup on the scalp by dissolving said buildup. Coconut milk and honey work to not only hydrate your poor, irritated scalp, but they also help nourish and hydrate your thirsty tresses as well. Aloe vera and avocado oil also come into play to make sure that any moisture you get in your hair stays in your hair.
As a bonus, this shampoo smells absolutely divine and leaves hair bouncing and shiny without weighing it down. Although this shampoo is intended for more coarse hair, it can be used on normal to thick hair as well. If you have fine or thin hair, this may be a shampoo to use sporadically to reinforce hydration on an as-needed basis.
9. Ion Purifying Solutions Hard Water Shampoo
Sometimes you need a hard-hitter for your hard water problems. This shampoo is primarily used by people with hair damaged by hard water who want healthier locks and a less irritated scalp. Ion Purifying Solutions Hard Water Shampoo is vegan and free of the ingredients many other shampoos have that may further irritate hair.
Safe for color-treated hair and to use as a daily cleanser and clarifying shampoo, this product is intended to help reduce the buildup on your scalp and hair so your hair is easier to style and care for. If you have well or hard water in your home and your hair health is increasingly getting worse, then give this shampoo a try.
What really sold us on this shampoo is how its main goal is to help clarify hair and make it manageable without using overly harsh ingredients. Safe for all hair types and colors, this is a basic hard water shampoo that can be used as your daily cleanser or in between using another cleanser with ingredients you also love.
10. Color WOW Dream Filter Pre-Shampoo Mineral Remover
Do you love your existing shampoo but wish you didn’t have to worry about hard water? Do you just want to have something on-hand that you can use to strip unwanted minerals from your hair when you stay in someone else’s home, at a hotel, or when you travel out of your hard water-free home? If so, then this is a shampoo product for you.
This isn’t quite a shampoo, though. It’s a pre-treatment that’s designed to remove the minerals and deposits of hard water before you shampoo. And while we’d wager that also using a hard water shampoo is beneficial, we’ve taken our curiosity to the next level and given this unique hair care product a try. And we have nothing but praise!
Simply use this pre-treatment on your tresses before you shampoo to give your hair a stronger defense against the hard water your hair gets exposed to. It’s a hair detox that promises to work within three minutes for brighter, softer, more manageable hair! We love that this pre-treatment shampoo cleanser isn’t just for people who suffer from hard water damage, it works for people who have to worry about chlorine-bleached hair or salty sea hair too.
Consider this a hair care product you won’t want to travel anywhere without. You never know when your hair is going to need a little boost of confidence and to have a little mineral stripping done. You’ll maintain your color-treated tresses longer and simply enjoy softer, easier to manage hair from this fun little product.
11. Drybar One-Two Punch Water-Activated 2-in-1 Hair Wash
We’ve added this shampoo to our list because of its convenience factor as well as its effectiveness in battling the aftermath of constant exposure to hard water. It’s a powder—How cool!—that turns into a foamy and sudsy cleanser like magic as soon as you introduce water.
Simply sprinkle a quarter-sized amount (or however much you desire) of this effective cleanser into your hands and add water, then run this cleanser through your hair. Your hair will love the infusion of aloe vera juice for hydration, coconut milk for a soothing and nourishing effect, and strawberry seeds for their antioxidant protection.
Paraben- and sulfate-free, this is a gentle and vegan formula for not just protecting your hair against hard water damage, but also for protecting the environment by being an eco-friendly product with less waste. It’s completely without scent, so if scents aren’t your thing, then this is the ideal shampoo and conditioning cleanser for your needs.
We love the way this shampoo is used and how it doubles as a conditioner, and we think you’ll also love it. Explore this two-in-one cleanser to see if it’s right for your hair-washing needs, and you just may never turn back to a liquid shampoo formula.
12. Native Limited Edition Gummy Bears Moisturizing Shampoo
We can hardly resist a shampoo that has gummy bears in its title, and this candy–inspired shampoo not only smells delicious, but it’s also hydrating. We’ve added this shampoo to our list of the best shampoos for hard water in 2023 because it’s free of so many potentially harmful additives. Enjoy not having silicones, parabens, and sulfates when you use this shampoo.
We love the simple construction of this vegan and cruelty-free shampoo. With only 10 ingredients in total (including citric acid for putting a pH balance back into your strands), we know you’ll love having this durable shampoo gel in your arsenal of products to tackle even the worst signs of hard water damage to your hair.
This shampoo is great for all hair types and can be effective in keeping your hair nice and hydrated at all times. Use this as your go-to shampoo for when you want your hair to look and smell amazing, or simply make this your daily hair cleanser. Either way, your tresses will thank you.
As a bonus, this shampoo is available in other equally delicious scents: try coconut & vanilla or sweet peach & nectar!
13. Aveda Cherry Almond Softening Shampoo
Imagine a shampoo that not only makes your hair nice and smooth, but it also smells amazing. That’s what you get when you combine the power of this cherry almond shampoo with its naturally glorious scent. Just a quarter-sized amount of this shampoo will do the trick to make your hair both clean and fortified: you don’t need a lot to get the job done.
We’ve added this shampoo to our list simply because we like what this shampoo can do for hair on top of how yummy it smells. Plus it’s the first on our list that includes cherry blossom and almond extracts to help heal, repair, and cleanse hair.
Both cherry blossom and sweet almond oil work to soften and strengthen hair from the roots to the tips. If you want to give your hair a sweet-smelling experience while restoring it from the inside out, this is a product worth investing in.
You can use this shampoo when your hair suffers mostly from a rough texture and frizz as a result of exposure to too much hard water. This is a great stand-by shampoo cleanser to have on hand when you have occasional exposure to hard water and need to give your hair a thorough cleanse. You can also use this shampoo to smooth your tresses if you’ve been swimming or have exposed your hair to lots of heat.
14. Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo
Consider this shampoo like therapy for your head and hair. Tea tree oil works wonders to soothe and repair an itchy scalp while stripping away the nasty residue that hard water leaves behind in your hair. We’ve placed this shampoo on our list because it’s from a brand many people know and trust, and it’s the first that contains tea tree oil.
If your scalp is angry and irritated and carries odors from being out of balance, then this tea tree-infused shampoo can be very helpful. It’s great to use to soothe your scalp and leaves behind a cooling sensation that feels amazing. The addition of peppermint makes this shampoo even more soothing and relaxing at the end of a hard day.
This shampoo is called an invigorating cleanser for a reason: it leaves your head and hair feeling sensational and gives you noticeable results from the very first use. Since it can be strong when you first use it, it’s wise to start with it only every few days until you’re used to it. In the end, you may consider this the shampoo you reach for first when you’ve had a stressful day and you want to relieve your hair of any grief from hard water issues.
The best way to choose a shampoo that works great for you is to write down the issues you worry about the most with your dry scalp and hair and seek a shampoo and conditioner that can meet your needs best. Since so many shampoos promise to ease your hair woes after exposure to hard water damage, this list should help you choose the very best shampoo for your tresses!
You can even customize your experience by choosing more than one shampoo. This way, you can treat your hair on your mild days while also giving your locks needed care and stress relief when they’re extra frizzy and dried out.
Choose a budget and start shopping for the best hard water shampoo for your hair. The sooner you start repairing your strands from their hard water stressors, the sooner you can start enjoying light, bouncy hair again. If you need help, your hairdresser will help you pick the right shampoo for your hair—and don’t forget to also use conditioner for optimum results!
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