Clorine

[Cap93WL]

I haven't swum in a while so I don't really remember what to do with my hair, I'm also on a trip so I only have conditionar and some olive oil/castor oil mix. Any suggestions? :-)

[Kayla112509]

Before swimming I usually wet my hair and put conditioner in it, this way the chlorine water has a harder time getting in! If you have a swim cap that is made of silicone, it keeps a lot of the chlorinated water out, and the conditioner in. The silicone caps (as opposed to the latex caps) don't pull on your hair as much, so it doesn't damage it as much. Latex caps are killer on my hair.

[gthlvrmx]

Club soda rinse after you are done.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=115

[RapunzelKat]

Welcome, Cap93WL! Here's a method my stylist suggested, which has worked great for me. My hair is dark blond at the roots, fading to golden blonde, and has never turned green using this method:

Soak your hair in the shower before swimming. A lot of public pools have a shower right near the pool you can use :) Condition your hair thoroughly, and don't rinse it out. Braid or bun your hair while it's still wet and conditioned. If you have a swim cap, you can use that too for the very best protection.

Go ahead and swim! :D If the pool is really, really chlorinated (like if you can smell it really, really strong), limit the time you're in there. Having your hair wet and having the conditioner on there helps prevent the chlorinated water from penetrating your hair, but it won't last forever so it's best to be cautious.

After you swim, rinse your hair again VERY thoroughly, right away! Then condition it again and rinse once more. You're good to go!

If you have darker colored hair, this might be overkill ;), but if your hair is light and especially if it's bleached you can't be too careful. Hope this helps, and have fun! :D

[sun-kissed]

Last summer I took to coating my hair is coconut oil, wetting it, putting it in two low pigtails, braiding, and tying them off. The coconut oil would put a barrier between the chlorine and my hair, and the braids kept my hair from getting tangled. I didn't swim as much as I usually do last summer, but when I did it worked really well. In the past my blonde hair has turned green from exposure, and thankfully that did not happen in the least using the steps described above.