If your hair feels dry or rough after washing, your shower water may be part of the reason. Two things in tap water commonly get the blame: chlorine and hard water minerals. They are different problems, and it helps to know which one a shower filter can actually address.
Chlorine and your hair
Chlorine is added to city water as a disinfectant. Many people find that showering in chlorinated water leaves their hair feeling drier, and people with color-treated hair often worry about it dulling their color faster.
This is where a shower filter helps. A carbon filter reduces free chlorine, and a Vitamin C filter neutralizes both chlorine and chloramine. Many customers tell us their hair feels softer and easier to manage once the chlorine is gone, though results vary from person to person.
Hard water minerals and your hair
Hard water contains calcium and magnesium. These minerals can leave a film on hair that makes it feel stiff or look dull.
Here is the honest part: shower filters, including ours, do not soften water. Removing calcium and magnesium takes a dedicated water softener. If mineral buildup is your main problem, a clarifying shampoo or a whole-house softener will do more than any shower filter.
What a shower filter will not do
A shower filter is not a hair treatment. It will not repair split ends, stop breakage, or treat dandruff or scalp conditions. What it does is take chlorine out of the water you wash with, which for many people makes their hair feel noticeably better day to day.
Which filter fits your water?
If your city uses chlorine, the 2.0 Carbon Shower Filter is a strong choice. It uses a system listed under NSF/ANSI 177 for free available chlorine reduction, and it reduced chlorine by 99% in independent lab testing. If your city uses chloramine, the Vitamin C Shower Head is the better fit.
Not sure which your city uses? Our quiz takes under a minute.