Requesting Advice - Surfing and Swimming Gals, tell me your secrets!

[gus]

So if I'll be honest, this is one of the "mane" reasons (sorry, that pun had to be made) I joined LHC, because I haven't found any good answers to this question and I'd like some expert advice.

For those of you who surf and swim in the ocean - how do you protect your hair?

I used to surf all the time when I was a kid, and my hair back then was fairly damaged but I didn't care much. Now that I'm trying to treat my hair more gently, I want to avoid doing huge damage to my hair - trouble is, I've moved back to Southern California and really want to start surfing again.

So to all you surfers and ocean swimmers out there - do you just wash your hair as soon as you get out of the water? Braid it tightly while you're surfing? Has anybody experimented with wearing a swim cap (which might look silly, but it's the Pacific Ocean - everybody's in full bodysuits, a swim cap won't look too out of place) and putting conditioner in the way people swimming in pools have recommended?

Let me know, I miss the ocean!

[starlamelissa]

Braid your hair, apply a silicone serum, and wash it post swim. Long hair is meant to be enjoyed.

[DinaAG]

i wash my hair with water only to soak it without chlorine and then add olive oil/coconut oil to it pre every swim

[ejking2]

In a summer camp I went to as a child, we were required to wear rubber swim caps in the pool. They pulled my hair terribly! I stay away from those.

Before I go swimming (not often), I wet my hair, slather it in conditioner, and bun or braid it. After swimming, I give it a good rinse as soon as I can, and maybe use more conditioner. I wonder whether oil would work better than conditioner. :confused:

[Dragon]

You have already been given some great advice. I'd also subject you do more frequent conditioning treatments and experiment with not using shampoo every wash and try co washing instead.

[Natalia]

Im not an ocean goer or even a swimmer but when I know i'll be showering in a bad water area I pre-oil and do a braided bunt o keep it safe and out of the way. Kinda turns into a deep treatment if I leave it in, otherwise I CO it out.

[butterfly_dream]

Well, I do scuba-diving…
I pre-oil my damp hair with olive or coconut oil and I do a top knot to hold it out of the way.
Once finished my diving activities, I do CO washing.
It works fine. ;)

[sarahthegemini]

Sorry to hi-jack your thread gus, but these responses have led me to this question .. wouldn't slathering hair with conditioner contaminate the sea/wildlife? I was in the sea 3 days in a row and didn't do anything to my hair, I just deep conditioned afterwards. I was worried I'd end up poisening sea life :o

[tigerlily.]

Sorry to hi-jack your thread gus, but these responses have led me to this question .. wouldn't slathering hair with conditioner contaminate the sea/wildlife? I was in the sea 3 days in a row and didn't do anything to my hair, I just deep conditioned afterwards. I was worried I'd end up poisening sea life :o

No it wouldn't, that's too small an amount. I'm from the South West England but now live in London, and growing up in the countryside I can tell you streams and rivers are typically affected by human sewage, animal slurry and runoff from roads. A lot of beaches that I can think of on the South coast have emergency or storm overflows on the beaches. The quality of water is typically worse after heavy rainfall. That is the sort of thing with the potential to contaminate water, not a leave in on your hair :)

[tigerlily.]

If I could edit my last post I would, but I should have mentioned that the majority of sewers in the south west are combined sewers, meaning they carry sewage and surface water from drainpipes and roads. A storm/overflow drain is there for when the sewers are full, and they are used to prevent the sewage from being forced back up drains and back into peoples homes. They aren't needed often, usually after a very heavy rainfall.

[gus]

Butterfly_dream, thanks very much for the response! I appreciate everyone's tips, of course, but I wanted to know specifically about treatment for ocean-related activities, so your idea was very helpful. (Although it looks like I might be the only surfer-girl on the LHC!)

And I agree about the idea of the conditioner contaminating the ocean - it won't to anything more than, say, sunblock would, and anybody who tries to spend any time in the ocean without regularly applying sunblock is going to have a tough time the next day!

[sarahthegemini]

No it wouldn't, that's too small an amount. I'm from the South West England but now live in London, and growing up in the countryside I can tell you streams and rivers are typically affected by human sewage, animal slurry and runoff from roads. A lot of beaches that I can think of on the South coast have emergency or storm overflows on the beaches. The quality of water is typically worse after heavy rainfall. That is the sort of thing with the potential to contaminate water, not a leave in on your hair :)

Thanks for the clarification tigerlily :)

[sarahthegemini]

Butterfly_dream, thanks very much for the response! I appreciate everyone's tips, of course, but I wanted to know specifically about treatment for ocean-related activities, so your idea was very helpful. (Although it looks like I might be the only surfer-girl on the LHC!)

And I agree about the idea of the conditioner contaminating the ocean - it won't to anything more than, say, sunblock would, and anybody who tries to spend any time in the ocean without regularly applying sunblock is going to have a tough time the next day!

I tend to over think things when it comes to potentially harming wildlife :p

Advice I was given on a previous thread about hair + sea water was basically to soak hair with water before going in the sea (to limit how much salt water is absorbed), use a leave-in conditioner, heavily oil, rinse and deep condition when you've finished :)

[twinklingbell]

Well, I don't know how to surf (yet!) but I love to swim!:) Every summer I go to the beach. (I'm at the beach now actually.) I just kinda braid or bun my hair,wash gently with shampoo and conditioner after the beach. I tried not to once, and...well lets just say it didn't go well. My hair was very dry and my scalp was very ichy! :(
Anyway, this sounds like great advice on this thread! I never thought to wet/condition my hair before hitting the beach/pool. I'm gonna try that tomorrow!
Like ejking2, swim caps have always pulled/snagged my hair, assuming I could even get them on my head in the first place! :p