Hair truth or myth?

I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the challenges that women with Sisterlocks who live in the South have. I do not know whether this is a permanent change to my blog or just a topic I will focus on until the next new topic comes along...

Q. Is it true that Texas has hard water?

I've heard Texas has hard water, especially when I went to college in West Texas. At the time I and my friends wore relaxers. Showering and putting on box perms in our dorm rooms were both horrible experiences we thought were related to the water. It wasn't so much the roughness of the water or the realization that we used massive amounts of soap or shampoo just to lather. It was more that we all started looking at each other's hair, noticing that we all had the same texture: very, very rough, and coming to the conclusion that it must be something in the water. (In fact, I lost significant inches of my hair within a few semesters of living in that specific area. I moved to that area with hair that was growing and regularly maintained by my hairstylist.)

A. Yes. Most parts of Texas do have moderate hard to hard water. (In fact, according to my research, hardest waters were measured in streams in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, and southern California.) I looked at water quality reports specifically for Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Angelo, and San Antonio. (You can too. Every city is required to make public their water quality reports annually.) So...what the heck am I talking about, and why should you, a natural hair wearer or Sisterlock wearer, care?

What am I talking about?

As I explain this, please note that hardness of water does not mean the water contains harmful chemicals that should not be consumed by humans or that the water itself is unsafe to drink. Water is hardened by naturally occuring elements, which experts say are harmless as far as consumption is concerned.

Hard water is water with a high dissolved mineral content, while soft water has a relatively low concentrated of dissolved minerals. Hard water contains high levels of calcium, magnesium and iron. I have found that the general guidelines for classification of waters range from soft, slightly hard, moderately hard, hard, and very hard.

Who cares?

You, my natural hair wearer, should.

Greater amounts of soap and shampoo are needed to clean, and hard water doesn't rinse as well as soft water. Calcium, magnesium and iron coat your hair (and the follicles). This buildup makes your hair dull, unmanageable and very dry. Soap residues also remain, leaving hair less shiny. This is in addition to the natural hair type you have being less shiny on its own and tending to be dry. This is in addition to Sisterlocks wanting to hold on to everything....like lint and shampoo....on its own and already needing to rinse Sisterlocks many more times in areas with soft water. This is in addition to shampoo drying out your hair. How much more difficult do these issues become when you live in an area with hard water?

According to my research, moderately hard, hard, and very hard water contain minerals in sufficient amounts to make water softening a viable option.

What can you do to combat the fact that you live in an area with hard water?

To get rid of hard water, either you alter your water or perform extra treatments to your hair to counteract the state of your water. If your water is too hard, you can purchase a water softener. Otherwise, you can use an extra clarifying shampoo and nourishing and moisturizing conditioner to restore health to your scalp and life to your hair. (Remedy information from Livestrong.com). If you are a newbie with Sisterlocks, you know that for now a nourishing creamy conditioner is not the answer until you are farther along in the locked process. At the natural hair event earlier this month, Miss Jessie's briefly spoke about hard water, suggesting that women who live in the Texas area get a water softener or, at the very least, use distilled water to wash and spray their hair.

In conclusion, let me give you an example of how the water hardness numbers read. Very hard water has a general classification starting at 180 parts per million. Right now in San Angelo, Texas, the water is 477 parts per million. 477 parts per million. I guess my college friends and I weren't far off the mark years ago when we said that it must be something in the water!