When swimming...

[Kherome]

What do you do with your hair?

I've purchased a swim cap but the thing makes my head feel like its being squeezed like a melon. Perhaps it's just something to get used to?

[Larki]

Maybe? I used to swim six days a week competitively and never minded the cap - but that was before I started caring about my hair, too. :p But yeah, I would just put my hair in a bun with a cloth-covered hair band and put the cap on. The cap should keep your hair almost entirely dry so there's really no need to worry about chlorine (some nape hair will probably be exposed, but that's about it as long as it's a silicone cap)

[Vanilla]

I've never used a swim cap before. I usually braid and soak my hair with a leave in conditoner before getting in the pool.

[endlessly]

Back when I used to swim (several years ago, in fact), I didn't wear anything to protect my hair, which is something I deeply regret. Ideally, I should have coated my hair in conditioner, braided it, and then tucked it into a swim cap because that's the best way of protecting it, but considering how young and naive I was when it came to protecting my hair, I couldn't be bothered at the time. Now, if I were to go swimming, I would do things very differently.

As for the issue you're having with the swim cap, I believe there is a swim cap made for those with very long hair - it has more material in the back for a bun - and I think it's sold online somewhere, but I'm not sure what it's called.

[cat11]

whatever you do dont put coconut oil all over it and put it in a bun with an acrylic fork and think it will be fine I did this last summer and OH THE AGONY OF THE TANGLES

*stalks thread for better idea*

[JadedByEntropy]

A lot of pools require you to wash your hair before you enter because its bad for the pool if you cake oils and conditioner on your head first.

[FallingDarkness]

On slightly damp hair, I'd put on some coconut oil, and then put it in a braided cinnabun, which dealt with the tangles, and I'd clarify afterwards.

[cat11]

A lot of pools require you to wash your hair before you enter because its bad for the pool if you cake oils and conditioner on your head first.

Ive never been to a pool that does this that would suck

I would totally just pretend because uhhhh I do what I want and as a person who has an at home pool and was on swim team for years growing up I've never heard of this

[picklepie]

It's standard where I live to ask people to wash hair and body with a soap shower. Of course many people don't. But it damages the pool filters. Saturating your hair with freshwater, then putting on a swim cap, is the advice I most often hear from swimmers-- your hair ready has absorbed the freshwater so will be less vulnerable to the chlorine. If it's an outdoor pool, sun seems like just as much of an issue, and a cap will help with that too. I have a long-hair silicone cap in my Amazon shopping cart but I haven't bought it yet. :)

[Chromis]

I have a swim cap by Speedo made for long hair: http://www.speedousa.com/silicone-long-hair-cap/style-7510036

Mine is a fetching shade of silver that makes me pretend I am an alien lifeform, especially with silver goggles too. :alien:

I will admit, it does still feel a little like a head strangler, but the extra material is super helpful. It does seep around the edges a bit, especially at the nape, but most of my hair stays pretty dry.

[Scarlet_Heart]

I don't worry too much. I french braid it and forget it. When I get home I shampoo and do a little extra oil after. :)

I hope whatever you're doing, you have lots of fun!

[Crystawni]

I pre-oil and put it up into a well-wrapped cinnabun fastened with a Flexi 8 XL. It's the only way I've found that keeps everything in place with a lot of diving and underwater swimming thrown into the mix.

[cat11]

It's standard where I live to ask people to wash hair and body with a soap shower. Of course many people don't. But it damages the pool filters. Saturating your hair with freshwater, then putting on a swim cap, is the advice I most often hear from swimmers-- your hair ready has absorbed the freshwater so will be less vulnerable to the chlorine. If it's an outdoor pool, sun seems like just as much of an issue, and a cap will help with that too. I have a long-hair silicone cap in my Amazon shopping cart but I haven't bought it yet. :)

I second the fresh water, my mom always told me to do that growing up :) When we got in the public pool we'd go to the little showers first for our hair (well I would, she never bothered with hers cause it was short but told me to)

[Remi]

I pre-oil and put it up into a well-wrapped cinnabun fastened with a Flexi 8 XL. It's the only way I've found that keeps everything in place with a lot of diving and underwater swimming thrown into the mix.

This is what I've done too.

[Larki]

If you used a flexi, wouldn't it rust if you didn't use a cap? And if you did, I'd think it would stretch the cap and poke holes in it...

[Crystawni]

I'd say if they're undamaged, the flexis are sealed enough, or else they'd rust in the constant humidity here, let alone in my oiled or damp hair.

[teela1978]

everyone here seems to like the silicone swim caps. I don't love them, they feel too tight to me. I prefer the cheapo latex kind. They're a bit stretchier and not as insanely tight around my head. They do tend stick to hair more which can suck. I think getting it wet with fresh water is the biggest priority to getting in the water.

[Anje]

everyone here seems to like the silicone swim caps. I don't love them, they feel too tight to me. I prefer the cheapo latex kind. They're a bit stretchier and not as insanely tight around my head. They do tend stick to hair more which can suck. I think getting it wet with fresh water is the biggest priority to getting in the water.

The cheap latex ones we had to use for swim team were waaaaayyyy too tight for my head; they always gave me headaches. My silicone one was better that way. Not great (I didn't have a long hair one and cut my hair to shoulder from bsl hoping it would help, without much success), but stretchier. Most of the problem is me having a 59cm head, I think.

[eadwine]

I am not much of a swimcap person so I would just bun the hair at home like I always do, wet it in the preshowers, and swim like that I guess. Then wash when I get home. I have never minded my hair, back when I swam as a young'un it was still short!

But now that I am looking at that option for a sport for me as running and cycling are out,... I have a LOT of flexis, I read in this thread that it is ok for swimming with? I would prefer that really, but I would like to hear more :)

[cathair]

everyone here seems to like the silicone swim caps. I don't love them, they feel too tight to me. I prefer the cheapo latex kind. They're a bit stretchier and not as insanely tight around my head. They do tend stick to hair more which can suck. I think getting it wet with fresh water is the biggest priority to getting in the water.

Seconding this. My silicone cap is so thick and inflexible compared to a normal latex one. Once I put goggles over the top I'm surprised my eyes don't pop out of my head. However a latex one won't last long if you use it with conditioner or oil, probably. Although you can pick them up on ebay for much less than a silicone one, so does it matter?

[Radioduck]

I hate swim caps, so I just make a braided bun on the top of my head, swim, and then go home and have some oil in it.

[Laur]

One thing people might try is a lycra swim cap, if your hair is getting loose and going nuts in the water. It won't keep the water out of your hair, but it does a VERY good job of keeping your hair contained and tangle free while you swim. And it's much less head-squeezy and hair-grabby (my two big complaints with latex and silicone caps).

Also definitely soak your hair down with fresh water before you get in the pool, and then if you can, use a swim spray (acetic acid and water - you can make this easily with vitamin C crystals and a spray bottle - 1 tsp to 16oz water) before shampooing your hair to neutralize the chlorine. It really does help! I use the swim spray on my whole body and hair, and then shower like normal, and I never smell like pool afterwards like I used to before I started using the spray.

[Kendrix]

I don't swim in chlorinated pools, but when my family goes out on the lake, a crown braid works REALLY well. Water used to make my braids tangle and fall out, but the crown braid saved my lake day! In the ocean, my hair doesn't mind a little salt, but conditioner before going in helps to keep tangles to a minimum so I would do both in the future. Condish+well pinned crown braid.

[Gamma Vector]

I generally do mine in interlaced braids, after I soak it full of ACV rinse. I've never bothered with a swim cap. After I swim, I make sure to condition my hair really super well. Never once had an issue, even with my bleached ends.