So I've been having problems with the baking soda rinse like a lot of other people that have hard water...I would scratch my head and scratch off the gunk and baking soda water hadn't washed away. I considered buying a shampoo or soap, but I love applying my own essential oils and not having to worry about fragrances irritating my skin. With some research, I have investigated potential solutions to making hard water "soft." I can't buy distilled water or get a nifty filter system as a college student with no car. I don't know if people have already talked about these methods, but let's revisit them henyways if that's the case.
MY FELLOW DREADED FRIENDS, EXPERIMENT WITH ME AND LET ME KNOW IF THIS WORKS FOR YOU!
Potential Solutions
1. Boiling water
So I got this idea from this website: http://inashoe.com/2009/05/shampoo-week-11-hard-water-epiphany/
Apparently Wikipedia says this about hard water: "Temporary hardness is caused by a combination of calcium ions and bicarbonate ions in the water. It can be removed by boiling the water or by the addition of lime (calcium hydroxide). Boiling promotes the formation of carbonate from the bicarbonate and precipitates calcium carbonate out of solution, leaving water that is softer upon cooling.
So I guess we'd have to boil water, cool it, and then dump it over our heads without rinsing with any shower water. Hmm...I'm hoping that permanent hard water is rare...
2 Using Calgon or RLR
I got this second idea from a diaper website: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentbasics.htm#RLR
I don't know if Calgon is available in the U.S., but apparently RLR is. I have very sensitive skin so I am a little hesitant to try this, but I figure if Calgon used to advertise for bathing purposes, maybe RLR is also gentle.
3. Combination of 2&3
I guess this third option might work the best. I'm hoping I'll be able to do just one of the two, but then again my university has gross water.
I hope this gets responses! Experiments need a community to reproduce them
updated by @saraz: 02/14/15 08:50:14AM