If you’re swimming in a pool for any length of time, your hair is going to take a beating.  It won’t be long before your hair is going to look and feel like straw.   So what do you do about it?  Well, here’s what works for me.

First, buy a silicone swim cap.   Yeah, I know they feel weird and are hard to put on, but they’ll help save your hair.   They’re made of several different materials, such as Lycra, silicone, and latex and I’ve tried the latter two.   I highly recommend the silicone cap over the latex.   It’ll cost you just a little but more, but it’ll last a lot longer and it won’t pull your hair out (as much).  

I haven’t tried a Lycra cap yet, but since Lycra based suits don’t last very long in a pool, I can’t imagine a cap would either.   I found latex caps to be very hard to get on, they pull my hair, and they don’t last long before they rip apart.

Second, take a shower before you swim.   Yes, I know, you should be doing that anyway.   However, I’m kind of shocked and somewhat disgusted at how many people skip the showers and just jump in.  Yuck.   Anyway, when you shower, make sure you get your hair good and wet to absorb all the water it can.  Then put your swim cap on.   What this does is it keeps your hair from absorbing all the heavily chlorinated pool water because it’s already full of the shower water.   Granted, the shower water might have some chlorine in it too, but not as much as the pool.

Third, use a moisturizing conditioner when you get out of the pool.   I’ve tried various, expensive shampoos that said they were specifically created for removing chlorine from my hair.  They were all worthless.   I don’t use any shampoo when I get out of the pool, I just douse my hair with moisturizing conditioner, leave it in for a while, then rinse it out.   Since I usually swim in the late evening, I usually wash my hair the next morning in the sink and skip a shower.  That gives my skin a chance to catch-up and not get too dry.

Let me know if you find these tips useful and enjoy your swim!