I'm new here, so this will be my first (of hopefully many) posts.
I recently just started swimming again. I have long hair that I'd like to keep in good condition and I know the chlorine can be harsh on it. I was wondering if any one can recommend a combination of shampoo and possibly swim cap that can help me not damage my hair while swimming. I do currently have a swim cap, I just can't figure out how to get it on my head and cover the entire thing. Maybe I just have a huge noggin and a small swim cap.
The first thing I did when I came here was do a search of the forums and no results were found. Any links, advice or otherwise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Meridius
For years, I bought that shampoo for swimmers, can't remember the name but it is something like Swimmers Shampoo. It wasn't overly expensive, but not cheap either, for a small bottle. I ran out of it and needed something once, and grabbed Pert Plus and used that. Not only did it clean my hair, but my hair felt better than with the special swimming shampoo. I checked the ingredients on both bottles, and they were essentially the same (although I don't know the proportions of those ingredients).
Ever since I was in the Army, I keep my hair pretty short. But after swimming in an overly chlorinated pool, I can still get some tangles in it. So far what I do seems to be working.
When I started swimming I had very long hair. Somehow the more often I swam the shorter my hair became - must have shrunk.
Anyway I have very fine hair which likes to get destroyed and years ago someone told me about soaking your hair in the shower and put your cap on it before you get into the pool. Since the hair has absorbed all the water it can, it will absorb a minimum of water from the pool. I then shampoo and rinse using a swimmers chlorine stripping shampoo and conditioner.
All I can say is it has worked for me for 30 years.
:2cents:
I am a guy with long hair. I wear a silicon cap, and usually don't pre-wet my hair beofre I put the cap on. My local pool has pretty good water chemistry.
In "bad" water, I will pre-wet my hair, and if it is really bad, I have been known to put some conditioner on it before the cap.
I usually don't shampoo after swimming, just rinse and run.
Well, that was certainly worth 2 cents, eh?
I have short but colored hair its blonde. I use a swimcap and 2 different shampoos for colored hair. I wash it twice right after I get back from swimming. Should I use a conditioner? Some advice would be great.
Sincerely, Swimminggirl
I'm in the chlorine pit a gazillion hours every day . . . and have long hair . . . I've found that soaking it in fresh water, then double capping prior to submersion works best.
Apres pool, AVEDA is best - talk to the people in your local shop -- they will tell you which products are best for your situation.
I find I have to condition, condition. Talk to your hairdresser. I use a chlorine out shampoo,then I condition everytime. Also before I swim I apply Bain de terre recovery serum for extra protection. It is a constant problem.
One thing I haven't seen discussed here is NOT using the blow drier - that is towel dry and let the air do the rest. I'm in the pool a lot, laps and teaching, and since I'm older than 40, I have colored hair. My hairdresser is surprised by the good condition of my hair, and yes, I keep the color - yes, I wear a cap!
Even though I've been using a swim cap, I've lost all of my color, I'm gonna have to have my color redone. I use patene pro-v shampoo and I wash my hair twice after swimming. Someone told me about the shampoo to get the chlorine out, where do you find that shampoo?
Sincerely, Swimminggirl
.... Someone told me about the shampoo to get the chlorine out, where do you find that shampoo?....
Try this page at Kiefer.com
I believe "Ultra Swim" has been around a long time, but there are a lot of other similar products now as well.
I have short hair that is in pretty good shape for the amount of chlorine it has gotten but I have heard putting on a leave-in conditioner before hand as well as wetting the hair before putting on the cap works well for longer hair.
As for caps, I use lycra and they work well but I've never swam with long hair so I'm not much good in that department.
Alison
