Protecting Hair Color From Pool Chlorine

Pool season in Las Vegas runs long, and pool water is hard on colored hair, especially blonde and fresh balayage. A few simple habits keep your color from fading or turning green.

What Pool Chlorine Does to Colored Hair

Chlorine is an oxidizer. It is added to pools to kill germs, at levels well above what comes out of your tap, and it doesn’t distinguish between germs and your hair color. Repeated swims fade toner and color, rough up the cuticle, and leave hair dry and straw-like.

The famous green tinge on blonde hair isn’t the chlorine itself. It comes from copper and other metals in pool water (from pipes, heaters or some algae treatments). Chlorine oxidizes the metal, and porous, lightened hair absorbs it.

Before You Swim

1. Wet your hair with clean tap water first. Hair that is already full of water absorbs less pool water.
2. Add a leave-in conditioner. It coats the hair and gives chlorine one more layer to get through.
3. Wear a swim cap if you are doing laps, or tie long hair up and out of the water.
4. Give fresh color a few days. Plan pool days so you aren’t swimming straight after a color appointment.

After You Swim

1. Rinse right away, before the water dries in your hair.
2. Shampoo and condition the same day; use a clarifying shampoo after heavy pool weeks, then a good conditioner.
3. Skip the hot tools until your hair has recovered; read our tips on hot tools.

Already Brassy or Green?

Don’t reach for box color. Metals and mineral residue need to come out before any new color will take evenly. In the salon we remove them with a Metal Detox treatment or vegan Malibu crystals, then re-tone.

Tap water matters too: see our Las Vegas hard water guide.