As humans, our hair is generally made from the same kind of stuff as our nails. You might think that, given this, the term “tough as nails” could apply to your hair, but actually, hair can be pretty fragile. Too much wind, too much sun, too much washing, and too much styling, not enough washing, and not enough brushing are just examples of ways that hair can get damaged. Chlorine damaged hair is one of the worst kinds of damaged hair. Luckily, it’s possible to prevent some of the havoc that harsh chlorine can wreak on your hair so that you won’t have to go to the salon for damaged hair treatment.
Your Hair, the Swimming Pool, and You
Swimming might be one of the best ways to tone the body and keep fit, but unless you have a personal, Olympic-sized pool filled with pure spring water infused with lavender oil or something, expect to get some nasty, chlorine damaged hair at a public swimming pool after you take the plunge. After all, the best way to disinfect pool water and give it that nice, clear blue color is to put chlorine in it. Chlorine might ensure that you won’t be swimming in green slime, but it’s still a pretty harsh chemical, and it can really do a number on a person’s skin and hair. –especially your hair.
Chlorine Damaged Hair
Chlorine might kill off bacteria really effectively, but in high concentrations, it’s actually a bit corrosive, and it can also strip hair of its protective oils. This makes your hair much more absorbent and prone to breakage and split ends. Without the oils that keep hair nourished and protected, hair can become really dull-looking and unmanageable.
If you have curly or wavy hair, having chlorine damaged hair can mean that you could be facing a really bad case of the frizzies. If you have light-colored hair, watch out: the chlorine can make heavy metals –like iron, copper, and manganese- in the water stick to your hair and leave it with a sickly, greenish color.
Exposing your crowning glory to this kind of nastiness just once can be pretty bad for your hair, and if you’re on the swim team or swim regularly for exercise, you could be looking at some seriously chlorine damaged hair.
Preventing Chlorine Damage
Just because you like being in the water doesn’t necessarily mean that your hair has to take the hit though; if you’re worried about you hair’s health but still want to swim, here are a few tips to try to keep the tress stress to a minimum:
Before Swimming:
Wet your hair in the shower before stepping into the pool. When you do this, your hair absorbs water that is (relatively) un-chlorinated from the tap or the shower, making it a little harder for your hair to absorb the damaging, chlorinated pool water.
Put a little hair conditioner on your hair before splashing in; this moisturizes your mane and offers a bit of protection from all that chlorinated harshness.
It might look dorky, but using a swimming cap over your hair (after it’s been soaked and conditioned, of course) is the best way to keep your hair from absorbing too much chlorine.
After Swimming:
Rinse, rinse, rinse! Washing that chlorinated water out of your hair in the shower ensures that the chlorine won’t do any further damage.
Try using club soda. This substance neutralizes chlorine; for whatever pool water you might have left in your hair after rinsing it out with regular un-chlorinated water.
It’s also a really good idea to wash your hair with shampoo after swimming. Shampoos with an ingredient called sodium thiosulfate –or antichlor- are the best for this; it gets rid of that sharp, chlorine smell, as well as the green color.
Condition your hair after your swim. Doing this moisturizes your tresses and repairs some of the chlorine damage.
After rinsing, washing, and conditioning your hair, keep being gentle to your hair; don’t blast it with a hair dryer set to max; use the cool setting one your hair dryer, or dry your hair by patting it gently with your towel.
If the damage is really bad though, it might be a good idea to get some professional damaged hair treatment at the salon.
After the Fact: Reversing the Damage
Chlorine damaged hair usually manifests in dry, rough, dull-looking, and brittle locks. It’s not exactly the prettiest sight in the world. Happily though, there are a lot of damaged hair treatments available to disguise and even repair some of the damage. (No, “wearing a hat” does NOT count as damaged hair treatment). There are some cases –as with split ends, which are irreversible- where the best solution is to simply get a haircut to get rid of the damaged hair. Using products with silicon-based polymers can protect the hair by providing a kind of “film” over it, as well as giving it some shine. It won’t fix it though. Damaged hair treatments that don’t involve a pair of scissors will almost always involve intensive conditioning and moisturizing, so try to make sure that you maintain your hair with some deep conditioning at least once a week. For the best damaged hair treatment results, try not to subject your chlorine damaged hair to further punishment with chemical treatments like perms and permanent coloring. It’ll just make it look worse.

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