I have blonde hair and it's also pretty long. To keep the chlorine in the swimming pool from turning my hair green, my hair dresser told me to thoroughly rinse my hair in plain water before getting into the pool. Your hair can only hold a certain amount of liquid and if you saturate it first, the chlorinated water won't be absorbed. She says she's been doing this since she was a kid, and it really works.
By Jaye N. from Orlando, FL
Editor's Note: Many ThriftyFun members have recently commented that it is copper in the water, not chlorine, that turns hair green after swimming.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
If you swim daily in a pool for physical therapy or recreation you'll want to remove that nasty chlorine from your hair without drying it out with excess washings. I simply buy conditioner from the dollar store. Then when showering, I simply brush the conditioner through my hair with a large tooth comb. I make sure to also massage it into my scalp, then rinse well. This conditioner cleans my hair and removes the chlorine without drying it out.
By Cyinda from near Seattle
i don't know about you, but conditioner, no matter what kind, makes my hair lank, a lot and it gets dirty faster, cause there is a residue left on my hair. The things in them r not good for your body, they get taken into the body, especially when you leave it on the skin. Your skin is the biggest organ in your body and is very porous. For getting rid of chlorine, go to the fish pet store and get the cheapest de-chlorinizer.
As a hair stylist, I have used Tide to remove the green from blonde hair caused from chlorine for years. By the time it is green, it is in terrible condition, sometimes looking glassy. So ater removing the green, use an intensive conditioner as ofter as needed.
When I posted the above tip, I wasn't talking about removing GREEN coloring from hair (for that , see below). I was talking about people who swim daily & don't want to destroy their hair with daily shampoo. Baby shampoo is another suggestion for those who get "lank" hair. But because I have hair that is naturally curly & tends towards frizz, the conditioner method mentioned above works extremely well for me when every day shampooing would only dry my hair out.
---> If you dye your hair, the conditioner cleaning method has an added benefit of keeping your hair dye looking fresh much longer than daily shampooing too!
Green Hair:
* For "Green" hair from chlorine: Take several tablespoons of baking soda & stir this into a glass of warm water then add a squirt of shampoo. Stir together, then wash your hair with it as usual. The baking soda opens the hairs cuticle so the green coloring from chlorine can get out. For stubborn green stains leave this concoction on the hair for an extra 5 minutes.
* Always finish by closing the cuticle with a rinse consisting of a large glass of warm water mixed with a tablespoon of either lemon juice or any type of vinegar. The acid from these will close the hairs cuticle making the hair smooth & shiny again. Always follow the baking soda (above) with lemon juice or vinegar or your hair might look damaged & "fly-away".
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When I saw the tip about the removal of chlorine from hair by using a conditioner after swimming, it reminded me of what I did for my family's hair. Living in south FL there are lots of pools, thus lots of swimming. The chlorine can turn blond hair green, so before swimming I would apply an inexpensive conditioner to our hair. I always put a little extra on the ends, as that is where the chlorine is absorbed. Afterward, we just washed and conditioned our hair as usual.
pdg from Davie, FL
Does anyone have a home recipe to remove the "green" tint out of hair as a result of swimming?
lizkemp from festus, MO
I've heard that rinsing with beer works well too.
I have made the baking soda/shampoo paste for my daughters hair, and that seems to work well, but it is hard on her hair to use it frequently. I will try diluting the baking soda with water. I will also have to try tomato and lemon juice..... Thanks
Years ago, we lived in a community with a pool. They always put too much chlorine in it. So all the little blonds were all the little greens! Needless to say, I had a houseful of blondes, but I didn't let them go cos I didn't know there was a remedy out there!
I will try all of these, and let you know.
I just rear some where to crush 9/15 Aspirin Tablets in a container(lg. pitcher) of warm water and pour through hair...work it through then rinse. It may need to be repeated if it's really green but shouldn't damage hair.
I was told to try Morning Fresh dish washing liquid. Leave it on for 5 minute then wash and condition well.
While I do not doubt many of the remedies, it is not chlorine that turns hair green, but copper in the water (from different algecides and other sources). The way to get it out is to apply a mild acid (such as lemon juice or tomato) and rinse, rinse, rinse.
If it was chlorine that turned your hair green, it would be irreparable, think about what bleach does to colored fabric, can it be fixed with baking soda, etc.? I don't think so!
How do I fix my hair, it turned green from a hot tub. it is frosted.
Susie from VT
It's probably from the chlorine. My cousins were blonde and their hair always turned green in the summer from the pool. Wash your hair with tomato juice. You may have to repeat a few times, maybe even let it sit a while but it will work.
Citrus juice, grapefruit or lemon, has worked for me in the past. Also vinegar.
I was curious so did a search on google. It seems you can buy "swimmers shampoo" or a chelating shampoo. They also said dissolving aspirin tablets in warm water and rinsing your hair with that should help. Good Luck!
Make sure to wash your hair after every swim because clorine buildup will turn blonde hair green after i had been in the pool for a while. I used to have the most natural bleached hair when I was a toddler and my hair looked like I had dyed it green. i still hae darker blonde hair and I am on the swim team so I invested in declorifying shampoo.
Interesting help. Thanks for all info.
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Do i need to hunt down some special shampoo for hair that is getting a daily dose of chlorine? I know it exists but too expensive for my wallet.
