When the weather turns hot, or when you’re on vacation, swimming is a popular way to relax and cool off. But did you know that your hair can pay dearly for the time you spent in the pool and hot tub? It’s not really known how long chlorine stays on your hair. But it’s said that if you can still smell it on you, it’s still on your body.

How is Your Hair Affected by Chlorine?

Chlorine will leech all of your hair’s natural oils from it, leaving your hair damaged, dry and rough. This natural oil is necessary for leaving your hair healthy and smooth. It also can cause chemical reactions inside your hair, changing its natural color, causing the ends to split and weakening the strands.

Preventing Chlorine Damage to your Hair

Even though it’s not possible to totally prevent chlorine damage, particularly if you’re in the pool every day, there are some things that you can do to lessen the damage to your hair.

  • Wet It First – Your hair will soak water in quickly. If your hair is web prior to entering the pool, you’ll prevent some of that chlorinated from getting absorbed.
  • Wear a Cap – Wearing a cap is one of the best ways you can prevent damage from chlorine, since your hair won’t get wet. Caps are great ways to go swimming and enjoy yourself without the damaging effects of chlorine. Wetting your hair before putting the cap on will help create a much tighter seal.
  • Precondition your Hair – Leave-in conditioners are a swimmer’s best friend. These can help with preventing absorption of chlorine. You can also combine this with wearing a cap. This will protect your hair and help you moisturize it while swimming.
  • Use Oil – Using something such as coconut oil before getting into the pool and putting your cap on will help with preventing chlorine damage. The oil will repel water and prevent chlorine absorption.
  • Shampoo When Possible – Once you are able to, make sure that you are shampooing your hair. This will help you with getting the damaging copper chloride from your hair.
  • Strengthen Your Hair – One of the best ways to defend your hair is to keep it strong. Make sure that you are doing what you can to keep it healthy and strong. Eating foods high in protein can help. Keep on the lookout for any split ends. To avoid this problem, trim your hair. if you don’t notice any change in your hair’s natural color, it means you’re doing everything possible to keep it healthy.

Tips for Repairing the Chlorine Damage

Now that you know how to prevent chlorine damage, what if you didn’t use any of these tips and your hair is full of chlorine? Below are three tips that you can use to repair it.

Immediately Rinse Out Your Hair – To reduce the damage that has been done to your hair and help it recover, immediately rinse it after swimming. Don’t allow the chlorine to sit in or on your hair. If you’re seriously worried about damage, there are special shampoos that you can buy that are made for removing the chlorine.

Gently Comb It – Wet hair often will tangle and using a brush will be more prone to damaging it. Wide-toothed combs are the ideal choice for gently detangling and smoothing your wet hair.

Use Hair Clarifiers – These can remove the harsh chemicals that can be hiding in your hair. Even though there are clarifying shampoos on the market, you also can use a rinse made with apple cider vinegar for removing chlorine.

Look at Your Scalp – Along with damaging your hair, it also can dry out your scalp. If you are noticing that you have a severely dry scalp and you have damaged hair, look for products that can moisturize your hair and scalp.

There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy going swimming in the pool during the summertime or even to stay in shape throughout the year. But remember how much damage that chlorine can do to your hair. To avoid these problems, use the tips found here to keep your hair looking and feeling soft and healthy.

You use swimming to help you stay healthy. Make sure that you are doing what you can to keep your hair strong and healthy too by protecting it from chlorine.