Tips to Protect Chlorine-Damaged Hair

If you are looking forward to hanging out by the pool but are a little worried about how chlorine can damage your hair, do not worry. In today’s article, we will give you some tips on preventing chlorinated hair so that you can enjoy yourself!

When winter arrives, and more people start going to the swimming pool to exercise, few of us worry about chlorine-damaged hair. Gym and spa centres usually recommend wearing a hat. This is not only to prevent the water from getting dirty but also to protect your hair.

How to prevent chlorinated hair

With all the information available today, we should know why pool water contains chlorine. The cause is straightforward: Chlorine is an effective disinfectant.

However, since this is a chemical used for disinfection, it is no wonder that our hair becomes dry brittle and loses its natural shine when we dive into the water. Fortunately, there are several tips to avoid chlorine-damaged hair.

Wear a swimming cap

This accessory is important. It protects your hair by limiting contact with the water. The hats are available in different materials: fabric, silicone, polyurethane and latex. You should be careful with the last one as latex can also damage your hair when you put on and take off the hat several times.

Apply an oil

There is another way to prevent chlorine from damaging your hair if you do not want to be the only one wearing a pool hat. All you need to do is apply some oil such as argan oil, coconut oil or olive oil.

Just rub a little oil on the palms and distribute it in the hair. This makes it more resistant to chlorine.

Another way to protect your hair from chlorine in the pool is to moisten it with cold water before diving. You can also wash it if you want. This simple action prevents your hair from absorbing the water in the pool.

However, it is always best to use this method along with some of the other options above to protect your hair as much as possible.

Apply a hair mask of good quality

Even when using a bathing cap or one of the other options, it is always a good idea to apply a hair mask afterwards. You can buy many options in your local stores, but you can also make your own at home.

These types of masks give excellent results, and you can apply them every day on your hair no matter how often you are at the pool.

How to prevent chlorinated hair when it is dyed

But what can we who dye our hair to protect it?

Those who dye their hair often notice how it turns yellowish or green when they step into a pool. As this article points out regarding the impact on the health safety of the compounds used in the treatment of water in swimming pools, there may be “changes in hair properties, modifications of certain dyes, etc.”

To prevent this from happening, you should use the above advice in practice. However, it is also important that you take the habit of using specific shampoos for your hair type. For example, there are particular products for bleached hair.

Summary

As you can see, it is not that difficult to protect your hair from chlorine. There are many ways to do this, although you should follow some extra measures if you swim often or are only in the swimming pool a few times during the year.

Also, remember to be especially careful if you have recently dyed or bleached your hair. Wait for a week (at least) before swimming or wearing a swimming cap. It is important to prevent the colour of your hair from changing.

Photo by Armin Rimoldi from Pexels