If your water contains chlorine & chloramine fluoride and you get dry skin or fuzzy hair after taking a bath, a Vitamin C shower filter can work for you. Vitamin C shower filters neutralize chlorine and chloramines from water, saving you from dry skin, brittle hair, and burning, red eyes.

However, if your water contains other impurities and contaminants, a Vitamin C shower head filter might not be right for you. Why? Because Vitamin C filters can’t do much about other impurities besides chlorine and chloramine fluoride.

In this article, we’re going to look at everything Vitamin C shower filters. We’ll discuss how these filters work, the benefits that they have to offer, and the best Vitamin C shower filter out there.

Read on if you’d love to have youthful skin and vibrant hair.  

What is a Vitamin C Shower Filter?

A Vitamin C shower filter removes chlorine and chloramines from water by neutralizing them. Several studies have established that ascorbic acid, the scientific name of Vitamin C, can react with chlorine to neutralize it, with 1,000 mg of Vitamin C enough to fully de-chlorinate up to 40 gallons of water.

Chlorine and chloramines are found in your tap water because city administrations use them to kill or inactivate harmful microorganisms in public water systems. If left untouched, these unhealthy substances can cause diseases such as stomach bugs, diarrhea, and rash, among others.

However, while chlorine and chloramines solve one problem, they create another. People who take a bath with chlorinated water often complain of dry skin, brittle hair, and bleeding lips. Chloramines, upon reacting with water, produce ammonia, which can cause burning, red eyes.

A Vitamin C shower filter prevents all these problems by eliminating both chlorine as well as chloramine. Most Vitamin C filters can only do that. Some, like this multi-stage Aqua Earth Shower Filter, can remove other contaminants, too, though they cost more than single-stage Vitamin C filters.

How Do Vitamin C Shower Filters Work?

Vitamin C shower filters use one of two ways to neutralize chlorine in water. One of the ways involves the usage of ascorbic acid. The other, meanwhile, relies on sodium ascorbate to neutralize chlorine.

Both the methods are considered safe because a) they do not lower the levels of oxygen in the water and b) vitamin C isn’t dangerous for aquatic life at the levels used for neutralizing chlorine.

First Method: Using Ascorbic Acid

To neutralize chlorine using ascorbic acid, one gram of the acid is needed for every 1 mg of chlorine per 100 gallons of water. Here’s how the reaction goes:

Ascorbic Acid + Hypochlorous Acid → Dehydroascorbic acid + Hydrochloric acid + Water

Keep in mind that this reaction will be ultra-fast. The two newly forced acids, DHA and HCL, are both mild in comparison with hypochlorus acid. This means neither of them has the ability to cause much harm to your hair or skin.

Second Method: Using Sodium Ascorbate

Does your tap water contain high levels of chlorine? If so, one of the best ways to bring those high levels down is select a Vitamin C shower filter that has sodium ascorbate. Here’s how the  reaction of treating sodium ascorbate with chlorine will go:

Sodium Ascorbate + Hypochlorous Acid → Dehydroascorbic acid + Sodium Chloride + Water

If presented with both the filters, we suggest you choose the one with sodium ascorbate. Know why? The first reaction will produce sodium chlorine, a salt which is much more innocuous, and therefore less toxic, than hydrochloric acid, which might be weak but is nevertheless an acid.

Benefits of Vitamin C Shower Filter

The benefits of Vitamin C shower filters aren’t limited to the neutralizing of chlorine and chloramines from your water supply. These units can also freshen up your skin, moisturize your hair, and leave you in a good mood, too. Let’s discuss all these benefits in more detail:

1)   Reduces Chlorine in Your Water Supply

According to an estimate by the CDC, there are up to 4 milligrams per liter of chlorine in your water supply. A chlorine shower filter can bring these levels near zero by reacting with chlorine and converting it into a weak acid, saving you from dry skin and rough hair.

2)   Boosts Collagen Production in the Skin

Upon reacting with chlorine, Vitamin C is oxidized into dehydroascorbic acid. The good news is that researchers have linked DBA to collagen and elastin production in the skin. Collagen and elastin are both proteins and help the skin stay youthful and free of any fine lines or other aging signs.

3)   Improves Your Mood

According to Mayo Clinic, lower than normal Vitamin C levels in the body are linked to the feelings of fatigue and depression. Various studies have also been able to establish the link between elevated levels of Vitamin C in the body and a cheerful mood state.

4)   Protects Your Hair from Damage

Did you know that chlorine sucks natural oils from your hair? That’s not the worse part. Researchers have found that chlorine, by causing chemical reactions in your hair, might change hair color, cause split ends and weakens hair strands. Vitamin C showers can thus save your hair by neutralizing toxic shower water.

5)   Saves Your Eyes from Infection

Our eyes have a natural tear film in front of the cornea (the transparent part of the fiber layer). This film keeps germs and dirt particles from entering the eye. However, when you take a bath with chlorine for extended periods, the tear film gets damaged. This leaves your eyes more vulnerable to infection.

Drawbacks Of Vitamin C Shower Filters

One of the major drawbacks of Vitamin C shower filter is that Vitamin C doesn’t get enough time to neutralize the chlorine. This means the reaction – which will neutralize chlorine into hydrochloride – might complete by the time water hits your head, exposing your skin and hair to chlorine.

Secondly, even if Vitamin C does its job, its limited shelf life will pose an issue. After your Vitamin C filter processes a certain amount of gallons, you’d have to remove the inner Vitamin C cartridge or residue and replace it. This will increase the shower’s long-term running costs.

Finally, Vitamin C shower filters are not effective when it comes to heavy metals, toxins, bacteria, viruses or sediments. The only contaminant they can neutralize is chlorine.

So if your home’s water supply has other contaminants, what you may need is a multiple stage shower filter.

Conclusion

Vitamin C shower filters might be the best choice for you if you use city water and are currently dealing with dry skin, hair loss, and eye problems. It can neutralize chlorine from water to save you from all these issues.

However, as we stated above, if your water has other contaminants besides chlorine, you might be better off with another shower filter.