Swimming with hair in braids

[angenoir]

I have a question for the ladies who braid.

Are there any ladies who swim regularly while in braids? If so, what is your pre-swim and post-swim regimen to help keep your braids from slipping? To keep them looking fresh and to keep them from looking dry and hard?

Also, what kind of braids hold up best? Human hair or synthetic?

TIA

 

[angenoir]

Bumping... this is going to be part of my work out in two weeks and I'd appreciate some tips!

 

[Nonie]

I have bad memories of chlorine and my hair. It was partly my fault because I didn't really wash it off after swimming (That's what happens when you go to boarding school and don't have Mommy around to remind you of the little important things you must not overlook) but ever since, I have not been very fond of getting my hair into the water. So I wear double swimming caps, Saran wrap, you name it. I will even swim for a while with my head out of the water. The caps are not 100% water proof but I never get into a pool without trying to take every effort not to get my hair wet. Yes, there's stuff like Nexxus Aloe Rid you can use and yes, I do use them after swimming but letting my braids just hang is something I never do.

If I didn't have a cap, I'd probably braid them in a cornrow coming forward so that the tail end is at my crown and then fold it over and pin it to the side or tuck it under.

 

[TemiLnd]

If I didn't have a cap, I'd probably braid them in a cornrow coming forward so that the tail end is at my crown and then fold it over and pin it to the side or tuck it under.

LMAO... this is sooo funny. Im trying to picture myself with my braids all forward and all i see is a cone head. sorry Im not making fun Im just picturing myself.

My ans: If you are a braid washer I dont think getting your braids wet is bad. i have read many times that actually wetting your hair before entering the pool helps prevent chlorine penetration. I am no expect but I wet my braids then spray with a leave in. When I get out, I wash and wash....

 

[angenoir]

I have bad memories of chlorine and my hair. It was partly my fault because I didn't really wash it off after swimming (That's what happens when you go to boarding school and don't have Mommy around to remind you of the little important things you must not overlook) but ever since, I have not been very fond of getting my hair into the water. So I wear double swimming caps, Saran wrap, you name it. I will even swim for a while with my head out of the water. The caps are not 100% water proof but I never get into a pool without trying to take every effort not to get my hair wet. Yes, there's stuff like Nexxus Aloe Rid you can use and yes, I do use them after swimming but letting my braids just hang is something I never do.

If I didn't have a cap, I'd probably braid them in a cornrow coming forward so that the tail end is at my crown and then fold it over and pin it to the side or tuck it under.

Thanks for the tips! Nonie, I was in boarding school too and we had to swim and our hair...
I'll try to get a better swimp cap than the one I have now.

LMAO... this is sooo funny. Im trying to picture myself with my braids all forward and all i see is a cone head. sorry Im not making fun Im just picturing myself.

My ans: If you are a braid washer I dont think getting your braids wet is bad. i have read many times that actually wetting your hair before entering the pool helps prevent chlorine penetration. I am no expect but I wet my braids then spray with a leave in. When I get out, I wash and wash....

Thanks TemiLnd

 

[Nonie]

LMAO... this is sooo funny. Im trying to picture myself with my braids all forward and all i see is a cone head. sorry Im not making fun Im just picturing myself.

My ans: If you are a braid washer I dont think getting your braids wet is bad. i have read many times that actually wetting your hair before entering the pool helps prevent chlorine penetration. I am no expect but I wet my braids then spray with a leave in. When I get out, I wash and wash....

Girl, it's that chlorine penetration that I'm not going to toy with.

Are you laughing at me? :robert de niro in some movie:

Actually the do I'm talking about isn't so bad. It looks like this from the back (ignore the loose twists at the nape) and then at the front the braid looks like a side-directed cornrow (kinda looks like the top cornrow in the middle pic). I've actually worn that do to work and got a lot of compliments on it. (When I wear braids again I'll style my hair that way to show you.)

 

[TemiLnd]

Thanks hun - Im always looking for new ways to style my braids. i like to have fun with them.

 

[Nonie]

Angenoir, I rather than just wetting them before you swim--which to me seems like it would just invite more water into your hair... (Wasn't there something in Chemistry about this? Some attraction between similar molecules?...Hydrogen bonding? Gosh my Chem is almost non-existent! but hey, I did many years ago before some of you were born, so there! ) Anyway, I was saying, rather than just wet them, I'd coat them with a serum or some other sealant so that water has a hard time penetrating them.

 

[angenoir]

Thanks Ladies!