How Hard Water Can Damage Your Skin

Washing your face and showering daily are supposed to help your skin feel clean. Unfortunately, your water might be causing your acne breakouts instead. If your pipes have mineral buildup, you might be washing your face with hard water, which can adversely affect your skin. Here is a guide to help you understand what hard water is, how it causes acne, where it comes from, and how to address it.

What is hard water?

Hard water has a high concentration of minerals like magnesium and calcium. The name hard water does not describe the texture or feel, but rather its chemical buildup with the presence of these minerals.

To the untrained eye, hard water is almost indistinguishable. It’s potable and doesn’t have any discoloration or smell. You could be using hard water for everything from your daily skincare routine to your morning brew, and you may not even know it. But when you have hard water, you may have unwanted effects on your hair, clothing, and skin. For this article, we will focus on the impact of hard water on your skin.

Is hard water what causes your acne?

Hard water causes acne in two ways.

The minerals in hard water can react with the chemicals in your soap and shampoo products, which results in your skin not being cleaned properly. Hard water can also leave behind some unwanted minerals on your skin. While you might think that these minerals are good for your body, they absorb much of the natural moisture and oils from your skin.

Hard water also doesn’t wash off soap, shampoo, and skincare products as effectively. This means that the leftover chemicals from these products could remain on your skin for longer than intended, which causes your skin to dry out. This can disturb your body’s natural hydration levels and pH balance which could then cause acne breakouts.

If you already have dry or sensitive skin, hard water only worsens it.

What causes hard water, and how can you tell if you have it?

The leading cause of hard water is unfiltered or improperly filtered pipes. Setting up a filtration system in your home can help remove these unwanted chemicals from your water supply, eliminating hard water. Additionally, this can also prevent other chemicals and bacteria from coming into your water.

Before setting up a proper filtration system, you first need to know if you have hard water. Here are three ways you can tell if hard water is running through your pipes:

Spots and stains on silverware and glasses

When you have hard water, spots tend to show up on dried silverware after washing. These spots are mineral deposits left over after water dries up. If these spots show up, it’s usually an indicator that you have hard water.

Lack of soap lather

When you combine soap and water, and it doesn’t lather, then that means you have hard water. This is because the minerals in hard water make it harder for it to absorb soap, which reduces its effectiveness at cleaning.

Weak water pressure

Pipes can develop internal mineral deposits, causing them to clog up. This then restricts the flow of water, causing weaker pressure.

What can you do to address the effects of hard water on your skin?

The best thing you can do to prevent hard water from damaging your skin is to address the root cause of the issue–the water itself. Having your pipes cleaned or installing a water filtration system is the best way to address the effects of hard water on your skin.  

Note that not all hard water is composed of the same concentration of minerals. You can test water hardness yourself using a test kit or consult your plumber.

There are a few ways to remove hard water and its effects. The first method is boiling hard water before using it, removing some of its hardness. However, this is a time-consuming process and will only work for certain types of hardness.

Some showerhead models automatically filter out the minerals found in hard water. If your showerhead doesn’t already do this, consider installing a filter in your shower and your faucet, too. These filters are compatible with most models and are typically easy to install.

To remove the mineral deposits from your pipes entirely, you can consider investing in a high-quality water softener. These can prevent mineral buildup in your house’s plumbing. However, water softeners can be much more expensive than the others listed and require regular maintenance.

Acne can be caused by internal factors, such as an unhealthy sleep schedule or diet. Yet, external factors like hard water can cause breakouts and other unwanted effects on your skin. If you are experiencing acne, eczema, or dry skin, identify ways to heal your skin on the inside and external conditions you may be facing.

Our natural acne remedy, Acne Be Gone, can be a part of your healthy skin regimen. This natural herbal supplement contains extracts from herbs like Rehmannia and Peony, which help clear up skin and reduce bacteria and inflammation in the skin.