The pool: "I'm scared, y'all."

[Wildcat Diva]

Well, it's all planned. We are going tomorrow to our recreation center pool. (South Texas you
know...even in Winter we get 80 degree F days). We are joining, so I bet we will swim once a week. We is our family, me, DH , and three sons: ages 9, almost 11, and 13. It's a family bonding thing, plus exercise.

It is a bit different from most city pools: SALT WATER . Interesting, huh.

i am armed with waterproof hair toys, plan to bun, will pre-oil and apply conditioner before swimming.

I will CO and shampoo bar afterward. Probably CWC.
I will rinse with citric acid/ filtered water after showering. I'll bring a jug with me for the final rinse.
Since its not a chlorine pool, I don't plan to use any ultraswim shampoo.
i probably won't bother with a swim cap. I'm scared of mechanical damage trying to get it on and off. Also I'm not THAT worried to use a cap. But I do want to avoid damage to my hair.

With it being salt water, do you all have any suggestions to protect my APL hair? Can I expect damage swimming in salt water once a week? I want to enjoy my family time
at the pool, so I want to make this work.

[Dziip]

I think you're pretty prepared.
Of course, salt is drying so you'll need to mostirize.
I don't know how people can wear a swimcap over a bun... I guess it's difficult to put on.

Have a nice family time !

[thirstylocks]

Well, you can try to keep your hair in a bandana and not go underwater!

[hairhair]

Now, this comes with the caveat that I'm a benign-neglect sort of person and I've never been beyond BSL, BUT I think that it's more frequent swimmers who have to worry a lot about chlorine. If it's just a once-off swim, what you're doing should be fine - have fun! :)

The main thing I worry about with my rare swims is preventing tangles, and avoiding breakage while removing the swim style (something in both chlorine and saltwater sort of gums it together). What I do is braid it securely for swimming, then don't remove the braid, even allowing it to dry in place if necessary, until I have it under a running shower with conditioner on hand to remove knots if necessarily).

Have fun at the pool! :)

[starlamelissa]

That is a lot of effort to go to the pool. Especially bringing citric acid in a jug to rinse with!

Before swimming I put my hair in a braid, maybe oiled. After swimming in chlorine I use shampoo from top to bottom. Salt water is nice on my skin and gentler on my hair, I would probably still shampoo it all out. Then condition with a heavy coney condish to work out the knots. All the shampooing and conditioning I do at home. In the pool shower I just rinse myself/hair really quick and towel off.

[Wildcat Diva]

Thanks so much for all your replies! I'll write more later, as we are headed out the door to go.
The weather did turn cool overnight, but the pool is heated. I've slathered on some conditioner, misted with rosewater and made a crappy tanged Cinnabun held with ravenslair aluminum forks. It's not that hard to lug in a jug of
filtered water, what's hard is when my kids try to get me to carry their stuff too. You know, mom is the
mule (also the trash can... "Here, mom." "I don't
want your granola bar wrapper, use the trash can over there!"). Hopefully this is
better since they are getting older.

[Kyla]

The reason many wear a swim cap over everything else is that conditioner and oil can really dirty up the water. I work at a chlorinated pool and don't know much about salt water, so I would ask a lifeguard or someone is they recommend a swim cap to avoid grimy water.

[torrilin]

Y'know, even in a heavy chlorine pool, even with daily swims of several hours a day, my fine hair didn't see tons of chemical damage. I don't swim *as* much as an adult, but I still haven't had enormous problems with damage from the pool.

Why? I would soak it in clean water first.

I also keep my hair braided or bunned for swimming, generally in a style I can sleep in comfortably, so I don't have to worry about taking it down wet. If I am swimming a lot, I do use chelating shampoo like Ultraswim. In this instance, washing your whole head of hair makes sense. Part of the problem with salt water is it can cause mineral build up, so a chelating shampoo should still help. Then use plenty of conditioner afterwards, so that it's easy to detangle your hair with your fingers.

Dealing with pool hair is not some big huge deal. It's the same as every other part of life with long hair... keep it up so it can't get into trouble or tangles, and avoid handling it a lot when wet.

[Vrindi]

You're good to go. I swam in the ocean every day for years with bsl hair. Just keep it moisturized and rinse out the salt! Also, keep in in a style that avoids tangles.

[Wildcat Diva]

Thanks guys! I did CWC with an SMT at the end, then citric acid rinse. I did notice dry ends but they were there anyway before this. also, I used mineral oil as a leave in when damp. Seems fine!

[jeanniet]

If you mean the pool uses a salt system instead of chlorine, the amount of salt is pretty low. My husband swims in a salt pool several times a week, and it hasn't particularly trashed his hair (what he has left, heehee). It sounds like you handled it just fine.

[Wildcat Diva]

Thanks, and I do have some good suggestions from this thread and some other swimming threads on here to thank for that. I really appreciate all the ideas so far.

I'm going to have a look at chleating shampoos, and Jeanniet, you taught me about citric acid rinse before now on another thread, so I've got that in my toolbox as well.

Yes, the pool uses a salt water system instead of chlorine. I am glad.