How to protect your hair from chlorine

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Protect hair from chlorine in the swimming pool with these easy tips

Tired of having dry, damaged hair after swimming in a chlorinated pool? As a competitive swimmer, I?ve been in many different pools and not all were sanitized with just chlorine.

I?ve swam in a pool sterilized with so much bleach my eyebrows turned blonde. Doesn?t sound so bad right? Except that I?m a natural brunette. I?ve swam in pools with salt water and pools filled with so much chlorine it made my eyes burn standing 5 feet away.

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Still, I managed to protect my hair from chemicals and keep a full head of long, healthy hair.

Here are five simple tips to protect hair from chlorine and keep your locks healthy and chlorine-free.

Tip 1:

Rinse hair thoroughly with fresh water before jumping into the pool. How does this help? Well, your hair acts like a sponge. It will absorb as much water as it can hold. So by rinsing your hair with fresh water first, you leave less room for chlorinated water to soak in.

Tip 2:

Apply a conditioner prior to getting in. Spray-in or leave-in conditioner, it doesn?t matter. Both will do the trick. Applying conditioner to your locks beforehand will help create a barrier against harmful chemicals.

Tip 3:

Wear a swim cap. I know these rubbery hats are not very attractive (and make you look like a cone-head), but trust me, they work. I wore one every day for 18 years, and my hair looks and feels just fine. On a side note, if you like swimming as a form of cardio, wearing a swim cap minimizes drag, helping you swim more efficiently. Look on the positive side: swim caps make you look serious, are more stylish than decades ago, and when you take it off, your hair is healthy.

Tip 4:

After getting out of the pool, immediately rinse your hair and wash it with a clarifying shampoo. This specific kind of shampoo not only cleanses, it also helps strip your hair of any other harsh chemicals that cause damage to your locks. Actually, using a daily clarifying shampoo is a good idea even if you’re not in the pool every day? it helps cleanse your hair of the impurities it’s exposed to throughout the day.

Tip 5: Re-apply a leave-in conditioner (or don?t completely rinse out all the conditioner). This will help keep your hair hydrated throughout the day and act as a barrier against sun, pollution, etc.

So if you?re headed to the pool, no need to fret!

Using these five tips to protect hair from chlorine will put more bounce in your hair and your step!