What Hair Products Do Swimmers Use?

Before you head to the pool for a swim, you probably pack all of the essentials: a swimsuit, sunscreen, goggles, swim cap, and a towel. But what about your hair products? To keep chlorinated water from ravaging their hair, swimmers must take extra care with their locks, both before and after hitting the water. 

In this article, we’ll discuss the hair products that swimmers typically use to protect their hair from dryness, breakage, and damage. Consider adding these products to your regular hair care routine for soft, healthy strands, no matter how often you swim. 

Why Do Swimmers Have Thin Hair?

Swimmers can have thin hair because chlorine exposure makes hair more prone to damage.

Chlorine is a chemical and natural irritant. While it’s important to keep bacteria, viruses, and algae out of swimming pool water, it can adversely affect your hair and skin. When you’re exposed to chlorine, it removes the oils that naturally keep your hair and skin hydrated, often leading to dryness and irritation.   

To understand how chlorine affects hair, we also need to discuss porosity. Porosity refers to your hair’s tendency to soak up and retain liquids. Everyone’s hair is porous to a degree, but genetics, bleaching, heat treatments, and exposure to chemicals (including chlorine) make some people’s hair more porous than others. 

The more porous your hair is, the more susceptible you’ll be to dryness, breakage, and thinning hair from chlorine exposure. 

Do Swimmers Need Special Hair Products?

Swimmers, both casual and professional, need special hair products to avoid dry, brittle hair and scalp irritation. 

You may have heard that wearing a swim cap or rinsing your hair before getting in the pool can help with chlorine-related damage. This is true to an extent.

A swim cap can reduce the amount of chlorine that comes into contact with your hair and scalp. However, water can still seep under the cap. Additionally, if you’re going to a pool party or just want to enjoy the pool on a hot day, you probably won’t want to put a swim cap on. 

Rinsing your hair with clean water before hitting the pool can reduce the amount of chlorine that your hair absorbs. This is because your hair will absorb clean water, creating less space for chlorine. However, even with a pre-swim rinse, your hair and scalp will absorb some chlorine, creating the risk of damage and irritation. 

Hair Care Products Before Swimming

Using special hair care products before swimming can protect your hair by neutralizing chlorine absorption. 

Trihard’s Pre & Post Swim Conditioner is a pre-swim hair care product that addresses chlorine exposure from multiple angles, including:

• Neutralize and remove pool chemicals and odors
• Magnesium chloride, dead sea salts, and red algae work together to neutralize the absorption of pool and ocean chemicals when the conditioner is applied pre-swim. This reduces the risk of adverse effects from chlorine. 
• Hydrate dry strands
• Argan oil, shea oil, jojoba oil, keratin, and red algae deeply hydrate dry hair while offering antioxidant protection.

The combined benefits of these ingredients create a protective layer for the hair, helping to prevent hair damage and scalp irritation. With this unique conditioner, you can take a proactive approach to your hair care.

DIY Pre-Swim Hair Treatments

DIY hair treatments can also help prevent chlorine damage. While these solutions don’t provide the multi-faceted protection of specially-formulated sports care products, they can protect hair in a pinch. 

Create a mask or spritz with your favorite nourishing oil: coconut oil, jojoba oil, argan oil, and even olive oil are all good options. Natural oils can reduce the amount of chlorine that your hair absorbs. A mask is an excellent option for deep hydration, while a spritz is easier (and less messy) to apply to your hair. 

• Oil mask
• Apply an even coat of coconut or jojoba oil throughout your hair. 
• Secure your hair in an updo, then wet it thoroughly. 
• Put on a swim cap for added protection. 
• Oil spritz
• Fill a spray bottle with three parts water and one part your oil of choice.
• Shake the bottle to combine.
• Spray the mixture throughout your hair, ensuring that your hair is completely wet with the oil and water. 

Hair Care Products After Swimming

Hair care products designed to be used after swimming generally contain ingredients that safely remove pool chemicals from the scalp and hair while providing deep hydration. One essential post-swim product is anti-chlorine shampoo. 

Trihard’s Swimmers Shampoo washes away chlorine and saltwater after swimming with magnesium chloride, red algae, and dead sea salts. These ingredients are included in Trihard’s proprietary PLECOTECH™ technology, which effectively removes pool chemicals and any lingering chlorine odor. Other notable benefits of Trihard’s Swimmers Shampoo include:

• Hydration for dry, post-swim hair with argan oil, shea oil, keratin, jojoba oil, and red algae
• Relief from scalp irritation and itchiness with aloe vera, menthol, and red algae 

A cleanse with Trihard’s Swimmers Shampoo after a swim or dip in the pool will thoroughly remove chlorine from your hair and scalp while providing lasting hydration and itch relief. For an energizing boost, consider Trihard’s Swimmers Shampoo Extra Boost with added menthol. 

DIY Post-Swim Hair Treatments

If you need relief from symptoms of chlorine exposure after swimming, some of the ingredients you may already have in your pantry can help. While these DIY hair treatments aren’t designed to remove chlorine like TriHard’s Swimmers Shampoo, they may help restore your hair’s natural moisture after it’s been dried out by chlorine. 

Massage any of the following ingredients into your hair and scalp, then leave to soak for a few minutes before rinsing:

• Coconut oil
• Jojoba oil
• Argan oil
• Almond oil
• Olive oil
• Avocado
• Honey with your oil of choice
• Aloe vera
• Shea butter

These at-home hair masks can be messy and inconvenient for daily use. Swimmers Shampoo is a more convenient option that will fully remove any lingering chlorine while providing the hydrating benefits of essential oils.