Your fave swim protection routine when swimming in pools, fresh water and salt water?

[Fimu]

I enjoy sunny holidays for swimming and snorkeling. However, my hair is prone to damage, even though I take good care of it. A swimming cap won't work for me because of my long thick hair, and if I wear a large swimming cap, I cannot dive with it during snorkeling. So I only wear a swimming cap if I absolutely don't want to wet my hair on that day.

This is my swimming hair routine so far

* Apply favorite conditioner and oils on my hair before swimming
* Wear my hair in simple Wednesday Addams twin braids, secured with metal-free hairties
* At the end of the day, rinse hair under the shower in the hotel
* Detangle with favorite conditioner
* Air dry
* Oil on damp/dry hair
* I clarify my hair once I'm back from holiday (usually 2 weeks)

[Simone_Fatale]

I lather my hair in a deep conditioner, secure it in a bun or braids and wash it out at the end of the day, apply some leave in and air dry. I do try not to get it wet though but it's just impossible most times.

[rosenester]

I do a braided bun secured with medium claw clips. This is one of the few times I make a ponytail with elastics at the start and end of the braid as well to make sure it stays put no matter the activity. This way I can release the braid to let my scalp dry and rebun without manipulating my hair much when damp. When I return home, I wash and do a deep conditioning treatment. I usually swim in salt water or lakes/ponds/rivers. Rarely a chlorinated pool, I would probably not allow my hair in a pool at this point and get a swim cap if that was a regular option.

[ETJ CURLS]

When I used to swim at the pool a lot, I would thoroughly soak my hair in regular water first and tie it up in a tight bun before putting it under a swim cap. My hair was quite long at one point, and I never had an issue fitting it under the swim cap. I couldn't swim with it loose as 1. I was always going for speed at the pool and drag would have slowed my down and 2. Braids just pull out of my hair when swimming.

I would then rinse it very thoroughly afterwards (in hindsight, I should have been shampooing after, not just rinsing, to get the chlorine out; I believe I did suffer some breakage from this) and apply conditioner, although my hair never turned green at the bleached parts so I guess I was doing something right.

If at the beach, I would always put conditioner in first, swim with my hair loose in the ocean, and rinse again when done. Sometimes I would reapply conditioner before heading home, and sometimes I would wait and shower properly later to get the sand out. My hair always looked amazing after being soaked in ocean water.

[KokoroDragon]

I haven't swam in salt or chlorine water, but I live next to one of the Great Lakes so I have a lot of opportunities to swim in fresh water. Usually I just do an english braid and wash my hair when I get home. Sometimes I'll oil my hair as well, especially if I'm going to be swimming in a smaller, less clean lake.

[ravin_de_csupo]

I just learned to swim two years ago (pools were empty during covid). I developed a regimen mostly based on my teacher’s long hair. I currently still swim up 3 times a week. On swim days I usually do the following:

1. **Pre-swim**: Saturate hair with water and conditioner (silicones preferred). This step helps create a barrier against chlorine and reduces its drying effect. I do this on my way to the gym/pool, so it has time to soak and lock in.
2. **Post-swim**:
- **Co-washing**: Rinse hair thoroughly first thing in the shower. Apply Second application of conditioner to hair. Let conditioner sit while cleansing the rest of body. When finished rinse out conditioner as thoroughly as possible.
- **Moisturize and Seal**: If my hair feels dry after co-washing, I usually apply a light protein moisturizer and seal with castor oil or coconut oil depending on the temperature outside.

I was interested in the efficacy of my routine so towards the end of the year I sent a few strands to a hair analyst. I’m very curious if the regimen above was good enough to prevent chlorine damage. I won’t know until after the holidays though.

[Fimu]

I was interested in the efficacy of my routine so towards the end of the year I sent a few strands to a hair analyst. I’m very curious if the regimen above was good enough to prevent chlorine damage. I won’t know until after the holidays though.

Thank you for sharing your tips! To which hair analyst have you sent your samples?

[ravin_de_csupo]

Thank you for sharing your tips! To which hair analyst have you sent your samples?

Sorry! The name of the shop is GoosefootPrints - Hair Analysis. This is where I found the link: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/p/my-shop-for-hair-analysis.html.

I’m not sure how many have heard of her, but she does an awesome job of recommending products based on the chemical makeup. I followed her post, https://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/your-hair-on-chlorine.html, when I was first deciding on what to put in my hair to protect it.

I think she has a YouTube channel too!

[shelomit]

I had the opportunity to experiment some with this over the past summer, since I finally got access to a pond about fifteen minutes from my house! I'm allergic to chlorine so it was glorious to be able to swim regularly again.

Personally, although I used to regularly do this in the past, I didn't find that pre-treating my hair made much of a difference for how quickly it recovered from the pond water. The best method seemed to be wearing some type of braided hairdo, right after getting home from the pond, rinsing my hair out thoroughly with plain water while still in the braid. (I've done plain braids, crown braids--definitely the most comfortable swimming--and braided buns. I'll untuck the tail of the crown braid or take down the braided bun in order to rinse it. My hair is long enough that, in a single braid, I've had it accidentally wrap around one of my thighs while swimming! But I still sometimes swim with my hair that way just because it's faster to set up.) I let it dry partially while still in the braid, and when half-dry take it out of the braid and finger-detangle. I'm certain I miss some amount of pond gook in my hair with this method, but it addresses the central problem of my hair getting extra-tangly while being soaked in the pond water.