How To Protect Your Hair From Pool Water

How can you have a great time in the swimming pool without the water affecting your hair? There are countless ways to protect your hair from the chlorinated water in your swimming pool. It could be as easy as tying your hair in a ponytail to wetting it with ordinary tap water. Swimming pool water contains chlorine that can affect the quality of your hair, so it’s best to have fun swimming in the pool while also taking care of your hair. Here are some easy ways:

Cover your head with a swimming cap

With this practical tip, you can easily protect your hair while swimming. A cap keeps your hair from getting wet with pool water and keeps it away from any metals in the water. If you’re swimming for athletic reasons, it helps to wear a cap as it will define your technique better.

You can also oil your hair and then cover it with a swimming cap. This will give your hair double protection layers. Not only do swim caps prevent your hair from getting wet in the water, but they also prevent water from entering your ears.

swim cap

Avoid a shampoo

Before entering the pool, do not shampoo your hair as shampoo can make you lose your natural oils that prevent your hair from chemically treated water of swimming pools. The result: You’re left with coarse, brittle and dry hair.

Pour tap water over your hair before a swim

By pouring tap water over your hair before you enter the pool, your hair absorbs fewer chemicals than dry hair in the pool. So, you prevent your hair from the ill-effects of harsh chemicals in the pool. This explains why there are showers in public pools.

Tie up your hair

Don’t leave your hair loose in the pool as it can easily get knotted while you swim. It’s better to tie it up in a ponytail or make a bun. If you have short hair, pin it back.

Make a plait

If you have long hair, braiding it would be best and most comfortable for you too. This does not allow the pool water to penetrate into your braid and thus, the damage is minimized.

Oil your hair

By oiling your hair with coconut, jojoba or olive oil, you help to protect your hair from chemicals in the water. These oils play an important role in sealing hair cuticles and creating a wall between your hair and the chemicals in the water. Before wearing a cap, you should oil your hair. Keeping your oiled hair covered in a cap also helps to keep it from drying in the sun.

Wash your hair after a swim

It doesn’t matter where you swim and how reliable the water of that pool is. You must necessarily wash your hair after each swim so that no metals and chemicals are left behind in your hair that can affect its quality. By rinsing your hair, you will help to maintain its strength and color. You should rinse your hair about four to five times to remove even the minutest trace of chlorine. After this, shampoo your hair well, as often plain water doesn’t do a complete cleaning job.

Condition your hair before a swim

By conditioning your hair before entering the pool, you help your hair cuticles seal themselves and keep them less prone to the harshness of chemicals present in the water.

An Aspirin will help

If chlorine in the pool discolors your hair, the solution to it is to dissolve an Aspirin in water and rinse your hair with it.

These are some time-tested ways of protecting your hair from harsh pool water. Of course, you should also consider the amount of time you spend in the pool each time.