Swimmers with blond hair who spend significant time in the pool can develop a greenish or blue-green tint in their hair. It’s a fairly common, unfortunate, and undesirable side effect of indulging the love of the water.
While chlorine is often blamed for the greening, it’s actually another compound that’s to blame: copper. This metal is present in microscopic amounts in algaecides, pool equipment, and sometimes the water itself. When it becomes oxidized, the copper takes on a greenish or bluish coloration. Chlorine does play a role in the process, though, accelerating the oxidation.
The discolored copper is capable of staining the sides of the pool, as well as your hair. But don’t despair; you don’t have to forgo the pool if you’re susceptible to developing green-tinted hair from the pool water. There are some effective prevention options and remedies.
Green Hair Tint Prevention Tips
- If the problem’s coming from your own pool, switch to a copper-free algaecide. An algaecide isn’t even necessary if you’re proactive about keeping up appropriate chlorine levels.
- Dive in with your hair already soaking wet. Hit the shower or even the garden hose first and saturate your hair, which can only hold so much water. This helps prevent the copper-rich pool water from saturating your hair.
- Wear a swim cap.
Green Hair Tint Treatment Tips
- Coat your hair with ketchup, tomato juice, lemon juice, or white vinegar. Let it soak in for about 5 minutes, then rinse it off thoroughly and shampoo and condition your hair. Repeat if necessary.
- Mix ½ cup baking soda in a bowl of water until a paste forms. Apply it to your hair and leave it in for at least 5 minutes. Rinse it out thoroughly, then use shampoo and conditioner. Repeat if necessary.
Skip all the messy applications and use One Step Swimmers’ Shampoo & Conditioner instead. It’s specially formulated to break down and remove copper, chlorine, and other pool additives. It eliminates the green tint in your hair, and it prevents and remedies other damage from pool chemicals. Your hair doesn’t have to be dried out, stringy, tangled, and hard to brush, nor does it have to smell like chlorine or have that unsightly green discoloration anymore.
