Blonde hair + swimming pool = green hair? How to save your hair this summer

Many of us live for the summer months, taking off 2 weeks of annual leave to go and live it up by a swimming pool with a glass of sangria. We fill the suitcase to the brim with bikinis, sandals, new dresses, hair straighteners, make-up, skincare and even a few books to read whilst sitting in the sun. However, one thing we blondes always forget to prepare for is the green hair after the swimming pool. So let’s explore some hacks and products to pack in that case to make sure we aren’t spending 2 weeks with green dip-dyed hair.

The culprit of the green tinge to blonde hair is chlorine. This is a sanitiser added to the swimming pool water in either a powder form, liquid or tablet. It helps kill any algae that seek to grow in this water, dirt, micro-organisms, and most disgustingly urine or faeces.

So what is the reaction that takes place between blonde hair and chlorine to turn the hair green? It is a reaction of copper, magnesium and chlorine, all of which are found in a swimming pool. This reaction sticks to the proteins within our hair molecules and leaves us with an oxidised mineral build-up, OpenWaterHQ. So it is not a reaction specific to blondes, only that blonde hair makes the oxidation more visible and the colour change more drastic.

There is really not much one can do to stop this process from happening, after all we need all these minerals in the swimming pool to keep it safe and clean for us to swim in. This leave us to have to find solutions to protect, prepare and fix our hair after the damage has been done.

Ways to prevent green chlorine hair:

1. Soak your hair in the shower before getting in the pool. This means that your hair molecules are absorbing this chlorine and copper-free water, so that upon entering the swimming pool the molecules cannot absorb as much of the swimming pool water as they would have before. Equally, when you get out of the swimming pool, a quick shower can rinse off any residue from the minerals in the water.
2. After swimming in the pool, your hair wash routine should consist of a clarifying shampoo which removes product build up, impurities and the copper reaction previously mentioned. A good conditioner should be used after to ensure your hair is as healthy and in the same condition as it was pre-swim.
3. Now if you already are seeing green strands come through, a good home remedy for you is to use apple cider vinegar and soak it over your hair. This will bring the PH back to what it was before the copper and chlorine reacted and altered the PH of your scalp. If you don’t have any apple cider vinegar, baking soda can be used efficiently due to the ‘colour-lifting properties’ it holds, allowing your beautiful blonde colour to come back through, Aska.

Just make sure that suitcase has a good shampoo and conditioner packed, rinse your hair before getting in the pool and maybe when you’re in the local supermarket add an apple cider vinegar to your basket for precautionary measures! Apart from that, enjoy your holiday, let your hair down (excuse the pun) and have fun.

Our experts:

OpenWaterHQHow to Get Green Tint Out of Blonde Hair from Chlorine — OpenWaterHQ

Aska, 11 Ways To Fix Blond Hair That’s Turned Green From Swimming In The Pool (glam.com)