Swimmers Hair... need advice!

[AwesomelyNappy]

This summer, i'm going to be swimming at least twice a week (i'm taking a swimming class) and i need to know what to do with my hair before, during and after i swim. Any frequent swimmers, please help me! here are my questions.....

is it necessary for me to clarify after each swim to get all the chlorine out of my hair? What is the best Post-swimming shampoo or treatment for my hair?

Is there something i could put on my strands before i hit the water to protect it from the chemicals?

Is there a "water" protective style i could wear?

I may be vain for asking, but is wearing a swim cap really my only choice for protection? (i dont like how it looks on me but i dont want to go bald from the water chemicals either!)

Also, should i even be concerned with this? Are the chemicals in the water really that bad for my hair? I dont know, but something about being in the sun after having chlorine (and who knows what else) in my hair just dont seem healthy for my ends. I just dont want to damage it and loose any progress this summer. TIA!!!!!

 

[CAPlush]

I don't exactly know as I haven't been swimming in years without braids, but I just purchased the Nexxus Phyto Organics line Kelate shampoo which is supposed to be good for swimmers.

Also, I had to swim 2x a week for a swim class years ago and I just shampooed my hair with Creme of Nature afterwards. I don't believe it will be necessary to clarify after every swim. I did not know anything about hair at the time, but that summer my hair grew like a weed and looked nice too.

 

[AwesomelyNappy]

I don't exactly know as I haven't been swimming in years without braids, but I just purchased the Nexxus Phyto Organics line Kelate shampoo which is supposed to be good for swimmers.

Also, I had to swim 2x a week for a swim class years ago and I just shampooed my hair with Creme of Nature afterwards. I don't believe it will be necessary to clarify after every swim. I did not know anything about hair at the time, but that summer my hair grew like a weed and looked nice too.

Thanks CAPlush! I thought about getting pixi braids in my hair over the summer, but i'm scared the pool water will get trapped in there and cause breakage or something. I think if maybe i rinse my hair out really good under the shower after i swim that maybe it will be ok, but i dont know much about swimming+hair... i'm still researching...

I hope that this summer my hair grows like a weed too! I've got quotas to make! Maybe doing something physically active like swimming will help! I'll def. try the Nexxus Phyto Organics line Kelate shampoo and the Creme of Nature shampoo if i dont wear the braids. thanks

 

[winterinatl]

I swam with relaxed hair for years. I was on swim teams in middle and high school, and a lifeguard and swim instuctor throughout college. After I tore up my hair and then grew it back some, I learned a few lessons.

1) Your hair will get soaked. The cap is only meant to hold your hair in place and keep it from tanlgling. My mama tried for years to get around it; alas if you inted to do some real swimming you can't. Your head must be down in the water for you to execute your strokes properly, and the hair will get wet.

2) That being said, you can prepare your hair two ways: A) saturate with a cheap conditioner (watery consistency), B) saturate with tap water. Do both before you put on your cap. The idea is to get the hair to soak up good stuff and be "full" before it can take up the crappy water. I mostly used water as a guard because I was in and out so much, plus the conditioner made it tough for the cap to stick.

3) when you get out, shampoo. Yeah, I know, we just put a lot of conditioner in and all, but with some hard swimming I just never trusted that my hair hadn't gotten chlorine in it. Sometimes the conditioner made it so the cap would slide off and then it would all be washed away in the pool. So...I would shampoo with UltraSwim, which you should be able to get at almost any drugstore. It's good and cheap. This is formulated to remove chlorine. I would recommend a moistuizing poo afterwards, and a conditioner.

Now, as a guard I was in the pool 4 hours a day and had to go from wet to style to wet to style again, so I NEVER dried my hair, and rarely ironed it. I would slap in some leave in and put in in a ponytail with some Let's Jam and call it a day, letting my hair wave up.

You won't be in the pool as much, but you get the idea. Do a DC every week, and you should be fine.

 

[AwesomelyNappy]

I swam with relaxed hair for years. I was on swim teams in middle and high school, and a lifeguard and swim instuctor throughout college. After I tore up my hair and then grew it back some, I learned a few lessons.

1) Your hair will get soaked. The cap is only meant to hold your hair in place and keep it from tanlgling. My mama tried for years to get around it; alas if you inted to do some real swimming you can't. Your head must be down in the water for you to execute your strokes properly, and the hair will get wet.

2) That being said, you can prepare your hair two ways: A) saturate with a cheap conditioner (watery consistency), B) saturate with tap water. Do both before you put on your cap. The idea is to get the hair to soak up good stuff and be "full" before it can take up the crappy water. I mostly used water as a guard because I was in and out so much, plus the conditioner made it tough for the cap to stick.

3) when you get out, shampoo. Yeah, I know, we just put a lot of conditioner in and all, but with some hard swimming I just never trusted that my hair hadn't gotten chlorine in it. Sometimes the conditioner made it so the cap would slide off and then it would all be washed away in the pool. So...I would shampoo with UltraSwim, which you should be able to get at almost any drugstore. It's good and cheap. This is formulated to remove chlorine. I would recommend a moistuizing poo afterwards, and a conditioner.

Now, as a guard I was in the pool 4 hours a day and had to go from wet to style to wet to style again, so I NEVER dried my hair, and rarely ironed it. I would slap in some leave in and put in in a ponytail with some Let's Jam and call it a day, letting my hair wave up.

You won't be in the pool as much, but you get the idea. Do a DC every week, and you should be fine.

About the cheapie conditioner and water (which sounds like a great idea)... would VO5 moisture milks work? Also, would you recommend wearing the cap even with the conditioner? In other words, if i wear the conditioner and tap water in my hair, do i have to wear the cap? I guess for best results i'll have to give it a try.

About drying.... that was another question i forgot to ask in my original post... how to dry hair after swimming. So i guess you would airdry then? That sounds like a good idea... better than taking my blowdryer with me every day. Do you recommend wearing braids while swimming?

one more thing...About growth , did you notice a lot of growth when you swam regularly?

 

[bluwatersoul]

Ive been swimming 2x a week for the last few months, in box braids. I put suave conditioner and some light oil in my hair and put it into two french braids under a cap before i get in. when I get out, I use ultraswim, then dc. For my hair I fund it really important to moisturuze after swimming and exposure to chlorine. I think my hair is enjoying the extra attention so far.

 

[tyte curlz]

i agree with winterinATL my mom has been swimming since junior high and was a competitor later on in life and as a permie she would always saturate her hair in conditioners like VO5 and Suave and then put her hair in like two or three french braids under a cap and would swim for hours on end ALL the time and her hair was in great shape. Now that shes natural she does the same thing but applys A Lot more moisture after washing her after swiming. HTH

 

[hrtbndr21]

I swam with relaxed hair for years. I was on swim teams in middle and high school, and a lifeguard and swim instuctor throughout college. After I tore up my hair and then grew it back some, I learned a few lessons.

1) Your hair will get soaked. The cap is only meant to hold your hair in place and keep it from tanlgling. My mama tried for years to get around it; alas if you inted to do some real swimming you can't. Your head must be down in the water for you to execute your strokes properly, and the hair will get wet.

2) That being said, you can prepare your hair two ways: A) saturate with a cheap conditioner (watery consistency), B) saturate with tap water. Do both before you put on your cap. The idea is to get the hair to soak up good stuff and be "full" before it can take up the crappy water. I mostly used water as a guard because I was in and out so much, plus the conditioner made it tough for the cap to stick.

3) when you get out, shampoo. Yeah, I know, we just put a lot of conditioner in and all, but with some hard swimming I just never trusted that my hair hadn't gotten chlorine in it. Sometimes the conditioner made it so the cap would slide off and then it would all be washed away in the pool. So...I would shampoo with UltraSwim, which you should be able to get at almost any drugstore. It's good and cheap. This is formulated to remove chlorine. I would recommend a moistuizing poo afterwards, and a conditioner.

Now, as a guard I was in the pool 4 hours a day and had to go from wet to style to wet to style again, so I NEVER dried my hair, and rarely ironed it. I would slap in some leave in and put in in a ponytail with some Let's Jam and call it a day, letting my hair wave up.

You won't be in the pool as much, but you get the idea. Do a DC every week, and you should be fine.

I second everything she said above.

For after care leave-in conditioner is your friend. You don't have to shampoo wash your hair after every session just rinse out well or co-wash and apply a leave in and an oil or moisturizer afterwards. If you feel like the pool chemicals are extra strong maybe try a diluted swimmers shampoo. I haven't had any experience with them, a good rinse did it for me but it's there if you need it. I know some pools are heavy handed with the chemicals.

If you can get your hair braided that would be even better, that will cut down on manipulation and your strands won't be pulled by the latex in the swimcap.

Strangely my hair grew a lot during swim season, I guess it was the moisture and the leave-in I put on everyday after swimming. Have fun in class.

 

[winterinatl]

Okay, let me see if I get all your questions:

About the conditioner, it's helpful to your hair but maybe not practical...and yes, please still wear the cap. It helps "contian" everything, if you will. Don't worry about lookin' like a tard all serious swimmers wear them so you will look serious too Without the cap, your hair will lose all the good stuff you gave it and you will saturate with chlorine water....which can be remedied by the Ultra Swim shampoo.

You have several options.

Scenario one: You don't have conditioner but you have a cap. Put reg water in your hair, ring out a bit. you may put in a loose braid to help get it under the cap. (An easy way to put on the latex cap: put hair at top of head. Turn cap inside out. Fill with water. Now, holding the pregnant cap ABOVE you head with both hands, let the tip of the filled cap touch the crown of your head, and quickly pull it down. The force of the water helps it keep its shape and helps push it down).

After you swim, shampoo with Ultra Swim and then Moisture poo, then condition. Dry in a bun, braid, twist, or clip style. Specially cause you will get in again in another day or two...

This scenario is better for really active swimmers who are sure to have heads under water, submerging often, and jumping in the pool (b/c cap will have an easier time staying on).

Scenario two: On DRY hair, pile on a VO5 type conditioner. Ring out extra. Braid or band to help keep under cap. make sure you don't have too much on, especially on your skin (you want something for the cap to stick onto). Put on cap, and swim. It might want to slip and come off and be a general pain if you are very active underwater....but if you are waiting in line a lot for the instructor to tell you "it's your turn..." and you use the kickboard a lot or are doing assisted floating, where your head is not submerged alot, this will be better.

After, rinse, shampoo with moiture poo (if your hair did not submerge you can skip the Chlorine removal step) and condition, stlye.

And lastly,

Scenario three: Dry hair under the cap. This was my favorite bc the cap always stayed on. I was very careful (in college) to ALWAYS use the Utlra Swim and moisture poo, and conditoner. But I don't really recommend it for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I noticed growth but then again I wasn't clocking my hair like that then. It stayed between shoulder and armpit length.

I think having my hair wet with conditioner in it all the time helped it grow, and not using heat.

But, as i said before, as a kid I ruined my hair by not washing rinsing religiously and DC ing. That's what a gheri curl plus chlorine will do to ya. My hair went from mid back length to chin length.

 

[ladybug71]

Thanks for posting this. I have signed up for swim class and have had three lessons so far. The first time I just wet my hair and coated it with a little conditioner. My hair started looking brittle so I bought a swim cap. Silly me thinking the cap was going to keep my hair dry My hair was soaked, but it stayed in place. After each of my classes, I have either washed or co-washed and used cholesterol conditoner because I am scared that the chlorine is going to take a toll and derail any progress. But I am enjoying the class, good exercise!