Children love to spend time in the shower. But have you ever think about the unfiltered water coming out from the shower head is clean and safe for them? For example, hard water can be harsh on your baby’s delicate skin and even the adults. So, in this post, we are going to walk through the important of using filtered water for bath and also find out which are the best shower head filter for hard water that you could use to make sure that the water is clean and safe for everyone to use.
Is the Water Safe for Taking a Bath?
It’s a lot of fun giving your baby a bath. Imagine how you feel when you see your baby giggling as you run water off his/her delicate skin. After that, you wrap your baby with one of these best hooded baby towels.
Everything you use for your baby are well thought of and you made sure they were safe. But how about the water you use to give your baby a bath?
Have you ever put any thought on the impact of hard water (contained lots of impurities) will have on your baby body and delicate skin?
A shower head filter is essential for cleaning out impurities in the water and make the water safe for use. Below we have list out our best picks for shower head filters for hard water that you could use to make sure the water is clean and safe for your baby to use for a bath.
But before we move it that, let's have a look at what is hard and soft water.
What is Hard and Soft Water?
Whether you have hard or soft water depends on your water source. But what is the difference between the two?
Hard water contains minerals such as chalk, lime, calcium, and magnesium. Because hard water contains essential minerals, you’d think it is the best choice of water to drink.
Furthermore, it tastes better than soft water. However, our water source also contaminated by other materials which may not be healthy for us.
Aside from that, hard water is not the ideal water for use in cleaning. In case you are not aware, hard water is responsible for dingy looking clothes, dishes with spots and residues.
That is why we soften the water we use. As a matter of fact softened water either contains less or no minerals. Drinking it is probably cleaner and safer than hard water, but it does not provide us with essential minerals, though.
Also, soft water is suitable to those who do chores. With fewer impurities in the soft water means that this water is friendly to appliances like a humidifier, water pump and any home appliances that uses water as part of the operation. Residues left by hard water can clog the water inlet or pumps in any appliances.
By using a shower head filters, you are already softening hard water and it’s safer and healthier to use for bath.
The Importance of Using Filtered Water for Bath
Giving your baby a bath is important, but did you know that the water you use to wash your baby could be the same ones that causes problems?
There are many benefits of using filtered water, and here are only three of them. What is important to take into consideration here is that using one of the best shower filters we picked are meant to minimize the health risks.
- Bacteria and Other Microorganisms. If you take a moment to look at the showerhead, you will see that there is a buildup inside. For that reason, most people use a pin to loosen the trapped particles inside each hole to let the water spray properly.
But that buildup (also called biofilm) contains bacteria and other microorganisms. As soon as you use the water from an unfiltered shower head, it’s likely that the water that comes in contact with the skin contains microorganisms that may cause harm. - Chlorinated Water. The water we use contain chlorine and there is a good reason for that, it disinfects the water. But for all the good that it does, chlorine in the water poses a health hazard too.
Chlorine itself it not harmful, but when it comes in contact with organic matters, it forms new chemicals. These chlorine by-products may increase the risk of cancer.
You may not drink tap water, but during shower, you and your baby could inhale the chlorine by-products. Already, there are studies done that shows the harmful effects of chlorinated water on babies.
These includes increased risk of heart problems, cleft palate, and brain defects. - Hair and Skin Care. People who use filtered water reports that they generally feel better than when they were using unfiltered water. Some reported that the dry and irritated skin improves or were gone with the use of filtered water.
The same thing also happened with hair. Filtered water helps minimize or removes occurrence of dry and frizzly hair, and scaly and irritated scalp.
Everyone Benefits
All parents wanted the best for their children and making sure things that they use are clean and safe is important. For instance, to name a few, picking one of these best cribs and mattresses, or even the best hooded towels for use with your precious little angel is a few good example to start.
The same is true for making sure the water for bathing is clean and safe.
The best part of using from one of these shower head filters featured here is that you, and everyone else also benefits.
Neutralizing Chloramine
One of the things you can expect too is that the filtered water you use will have less or no odor.
While you may not smell the difference, most parents report that as soon as they returned to unfiltered or such as when changing the cartridge, they could feel the difference.
One thing that you need to be aware of is that a by-product of chlorination is chloroform. Now, we know that chloroform is a carcinogen. Another toxic chemical by-product is chloramine.
For that reason, there are shower heads filter in the market being marketed with vitamin C.
At this time, we are not sure what to make of it, so pending more research on its effectivity, but here’s what we know.
The use of any of the above shower head filters can greatly reduce health risks, but it may not be sufficient to remove chloramine, for instance.
As an option, you may consider first dissolving a tablet of vitamin C in the water tub before giving your baby a bath. Vitamin C helps in neutralizing chloramine.
Summary
All the above shower head filter for hard water are excellent choices. Whichever one you pick is sure to reduce the amount of contamination in the water you use for bathing your baby.
One of the things you can expect is that the filtered water you use will have less or no odor. While you may not smell the difference, most parents report that as soon as they returned to unfiltered or changing the cartridge, they could feel the difference.
As you can see, using one of these best shower head filters for hard water not only benefits your baby but everyone else. Furthermore, shower head filters turn hard water into soft water, which is friendly to the water appliances as well as cleaning.
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