Swimming and hair protection

[bluesnowflake]

We have a mandatory swim unit in phy. ed. (ugh!) and I was wondering about the best way to protect/care for my hair. It is thick and waist length and tangles easily when wet. Unfortunately, swim caps are not an option- apparently our teacher doesn't allow them. We are allowed 10-15 mins to shower, dry, and get dressed again. This is much shorter than the ime it normally takes to shower/condition/detangle my hair after swimming, much less let it dry. Any hair protection tips or good tricks to keep it from tangling?

[deko]

Try some very coney condish before you swim and rinse it off as soon as you can. Wash your hair and maybe give it an SMT or some other deep treatment.

Cones help the hair tolerate hard enviroment.

[TinaDenali]

Before you get in the water, jump in the shower and get your hair completely wet and pile on a coney conditioner, as deko said.

Then, I'd suggest doing two braids and tie those together with a few hair elastics. So, it will look like one braid down your back, but doing two braids will help it all to stay together and not get as tangled.

Hope that helps!

[enfys]

Unfortunately, swim caps are not an option- apparently our teacher doesn't allow them.

I may be reading too much into it, but since you say apparently, is this something you heard directly from your teacher or is it hearsay? Could you say your scalp is sensitive to chlorine and the pool water would give you a rash? Something like that?

I very rarely go swimming but I got this: http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Sun-Swim-Gym-Water-Resistant-Protective-Masque_16321/ and it didn't give me any problems. I wore a shower cap over the top but they are never really water tight and I'd rather protect my hair twice! If you can get hold of something similar it could be good.

[ktani]

We have a mandatory swim unit in phy. ed. (ugh!) and I was wondering about the best way to protect/care for my hair. It is thick and waist length and tangles easily when wet. Unfortunately, swim caps are not an option- apparently our teacher doesn't allow them. We are allowed 10-15 mins to shower, dry, and get dressed again. This is much shorter than the ime it normally takes to shower/condition/detangle my hair after swimming, much less let it dry. Any hair protection tips or good tricks to keep it from tangling?

Try club soda! If you read the report linked here, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=115, you do not even need to shampoo! It will save you time and you can shampoo and condition if you like at home.

[little_cherry]

How about oiling your hair prior and then wetting prior to jumping in, then CO-ing the oil with a non coney conditioner in warm water followed by a club soda rinse like Ktani mentioned?

[ktani]

How about oiling your hair prior and then wetting prior to jumping in, then CO-ing the oil with a non coney conditioner in warm water followed by a club soda rinse like Ktani mentioned?

Oiling hair before swimming without a swim cap is going to pollute the pool water for sure and may be prohibited or discouraged. However, one could soak hair in club soda before swimming as well as after.

[Toadstool]

I used to put conditioner in my hair before swimming, but was admonished by a lady in the changing rooms who pointed out that it would pollute the water.

[Dragon]

When I swim, I find two plaits which I tie at the top and the bottom of the plait helps to prevent tangles. Also I agree with a very coney condish before you swim and rinse it off as soon as you can may also help or you could oil your hair, then put it in plaits. I also agree with maybe saying your scalp is sensitive to chlorine and the pool water would give you a rash. And a deep conditioning treatment when you get home.

[Sopotito]

Try club soda! If you read the report linked here, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=115, you do not even need to shampoo! It will save you time and you can shampoo and condition if you like at home.

Thank you for the advice and the thorough article Ktani!

I go swimming every sunday at my local pool and last time I tried to follow the instructions I had learned from this and other swimming/chlorine related threads here at LHC.

However, we do not have club soda here in Finland. After some research I found out that cub soda consists mainly of carbonated water and a mineral salt, for example sodium bicarbonate (which is the same thing as baking soda):

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_ingredients_in_club_soda

So this is why I came to the conclusion that a mild baking soda rinse after getting out of the pool would be more or less the same than using club soda. Please correct me if I'm wrong and if the carbonated water really needs to be there as well.

At least the last time I went to the pool I had excellent results by using the following routine:
1. wet hair in the shower thoroughly with tap water
2. braid hair into two braids and tuck them inside a swimming cap made of silicone
3. get into the pool and swim
4. calrifying with very mild baking soda rinse (1 teaspoon into one cup (2,5 dl) of water
5. rubbing 1 tablespoon of virgin coconut oil thoroughly into hair and sitting at tha sauna for about ten minutes
6. shampooing with mild shampoo mixed with 1/3 oils (maybe olive, avocado and hemp) and a dash of ACV, strong rooibos tea and 100% cranberry extract (for the acidity).
7. conditioning with a conditioner mix, into which I had added about 1/3 oils (I think sesame, almond and avocado?) and a dash of ACV, strong rooibos tea and 100% cranberry extract (for the acidity).
8. plopping when soaking wet for 5mins, then finishing with Frizz Buster Gel recipe from LHC member Gladtobemum which contains 1 part coconut oil and 6 parts aloe vera gel.

-> I had wonderful, silky and soft hair that felt really moisturized and the curl formation was superb, with big fat clumps forming fairytale-like corkscrews! I loved it <3

But I'm still wondering about the baking soda... So please if anyone knows if I can replace the club soda with the mild baking soda rinse I would really appreciate your comments. Thank you in advance!

[Sopotito]

I'm sorry I don't know how to edit my post, so I have to add another...

Just wanted to add, that temperatures here in Finland are at the moment way below zero (lately they have been vrying between -4&#176;C and -14&#176;C), so if anyone knows how I could protect my hair on my way home I'd love to receive any ideas on that, too.

It's only a 5-10 minutes walk, and I wear a hat of course, but the ends of my hair are fully exposed to the cold air whan I go out and by the time I get home they've usually frozen :(

Of course I treat them very gently if they freeze and try not to touch them and let them air dry at home. But maybe there's something more I could do to protect them?

[krissykins]

I'm sorry I don't know how to edit my post, so I have to add another...

Just wanted to add, that temperatures here in Finland are at the moment way below zero (lately they have been vrying between -4°C and -14°C), so if anyone knows how I could protect my hair on my way home I'd love to receive any ideas on that, too.

It's only a 5-10 minutes walk, and I wear a hat of course, but the ends of my hair are fully exposed to the cold air whan I go out and by the time I get home they've usually frozen :(

Of course I treat them very gently if they freeze and try not to touch them and let them air dry at home. But maybe there's something more I could do to protect them?

Have you tried putting your hair in a bun or something under the hat?

Welcome to LHC!

[Sopotito]

Have you tried putting your hair in a bun or something under the hat?

Welcome to LHC!

Thank you! The bun is a good idea to fight the cold, but I'm afraid it will ruin the curl/ clump formation. Maybe I should just dry the hair as much as possible when leaving the pool, make the bun and then re-wet the hair when I get home, and apply leave-in etc at this stage?

[ghilliegirl_an]

If you can use swim caps(I can't they give me horrible headaches and my hair ends up wet anyway) there is absolutely no reason a phys ed teacher can tell you they're not allowed. Get your doctor to sign a note saying that you need to wear a swim cap due to dry/itchy scalp, the gym teacher can't do anything about it then, plenty of girls in my school do this to get out of swimming although our gym teacher allows swim caps and I don't see why any teacher wouldn't.

-Ashley

[krissykins]

You will get a different kind of curl from wearing your hair in a bun, but curls nonetheless. I love me some bun curls!

ETA: oh yes, you can just re-wet it when you get home and do the leave-in and whatnot from there. That should work well.

And I agree with ghilliegirl_an, get a doctor's note if you must!

[Sopotito]

I'll definitely try the bun tomorrow for my way home then :)

What about the baking soda rinse to replace the club soda, any ideas on that?

Also after reading how alkaline baking soda can be, I'm wondering whether I sould add an ACV rinse to my after-swim routine to counteract the alkali. And should I do the ACV rinse right after the BS rinse, or after the sauna or after washing my hair, or at the very end of the routine?

And bluesnowflake, I agree with the others that you should definitely get a doctor's note to be able to use a swimming cap!