Can You Swim After Bleaching Hair? Tips to Protect Fragile Strands

How Swimming Affects Bleached Hair

Bleaching your hair to achieve a lighter color leaves the hair shaft more porous and prone to damage. The strands become less elastic, smooth, and resilient. This weakened state means bleached hair often suffers more readily from environmental factors like sun, heat styling, and chemical processing. So how does swimming after bleaching hair impact those fragile lightened locks?

Understanding Hair Bleaching

Bleaching uses harsh oxidizing chemicals to penetrate the hair and strip away its natural pigment. Most bleaching products utilize some formulation of hydrogen peroxide or persulfates to achieve this lifting and lightening effect. These chemicals swell open and fracture the cuticle layer to get inside the hair shaft and oxidize melanin pigments.

This process leaves hair dry and distressed. The protective outer cuticle flakes and splits while the inner cortex loses strength and elasticity. Special care must be taken to nourish and hydrate bleached hair to prevent excessive damage from environmental factors.

How Pools Damage Hair

The chemicals used to keep pools clean and sanitary can wreak havoc on hair integrity, especially strands already compromised by bleach damage. The effects worsen with increased swim time and frequency. Let's look at the two biggest pool offenders:

Chlorine Effects on Hair

Chlorine is a highly reactive element added to pool water for its powerful disinfecting and bleaching capacities. When chlorine binds to the proteins in your hair, it has a drying effect. With repeated exposure, chlorine oxidization triggers frizziness, dryness, brittleness and hair breakage over time.

As bleached hair is already stripped of protective oils that keep moisture locked in, the porosity of damaged cuticles absorbs chlorinated water readily. This leads to more dehydration and opens pathways for chlorine to penetrate deeper over multiple swims. The oxidative stress adds up as brittle bleached strands grow weaker.

Copper and Mineral Buildup

The metal salts and minerals like copper used to prevent algae and bacteria growth in pools also attach to hair fibers upon contact with water. Repeated accumulation of these minerals causes discoloration and a coarse, crunchy texture as strands become coated.

Mineral deposits bond more persistently to porous, bleached hair. The added weight causes fine, fragile strands to hang heavy and drag down at the roots. With enough bonding, breakage occurs more readily over time.

Protecting Bleached Hair When Swimming

Pre-Swim Treatment Options

Taking proactive measures before swimming after bleaching hair minimizes damage from chlorine and other chemicals. Consider the following pre-dip treatments for providing a buffer between bleached strands and pool liquids:

• Coconut oil - seals cuticles to repel water absorption
• Deep conditioner - provides added hydration
• Leave-in conditioner - boosts moisture retention
• Hair oil - coats strands to limit chemical access
• Protective gel - forms barrier shielding follicles

Work the pre-swim product thoroughly into damp hair before every swim session. Focus most heavily on protecting damage-prone ends. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before getting hair wet to allow for adequate penetration. Reapply mid-session as needed.

Choosing the Right Swim Cap

Wearing a snug swim cap creates another defensive layer against chlorinated water touching bleached locks. Opt for latex or silicone caps offering full coverage and stretch to best seal hair off. Avoid loose styles allowing pool liquids to seep underneath and compromise protection.

Condition hair with a leave-in treatment first when possible so covered strands don't dry out under the cap during extended wear. Rinse out cap fully after swimming before unraveling hair.

Limit Hair Washing

Frequently shampooing freshly bleached and dried out hair strips needed hydration and natural oils further. Yet most want to wash chlorine, copper residues, and any lingering pool chemicals out of hair post-swim.

Find a balance by using a sulfate-free shampoo made for color-treated hair sparingly after swimming. Limit full washes to 1-2 times a week max to avoid excessive drying of already parched bleached strands.

Post-Swim Hair Repair Recommendations

Detangle Gently

Remove swim cap and rinse hair thoroughly before attempting to comb or brush out knots. Bleached hair is far more vulnerable to rips and breakage when wet. Use a wide-tooth comb or wet brush and work in small sections from tips up to gently smooth out snarls.

Deep Condition Intensively

Counteract the drying effects of chlorine oxidation by restoring lost hydration and elasticity. Treat hair to a deep conditioning mask sitting for a minimum of 10 minutes under a heat cap or steamer. The added heat helps hair better absorb emollients to combat brittleness.

Boost Nutrition Topically

Nourish weakened strands and protect against future breakage by using targeted hair treatments with restorative ingredients like keratin proteins and strengthening botanical oils. Continue using hydrating hair masques and serums in between swims as well.

Trim Over-Damaged Ends

Split ends and breakage are inevitable consequences of bleaching. Regular trims every 6-8 weeks remove extra dry bottom portion of hair protecting the healthier hair growing from the scalp. Small trims prevent split ends from traveling up strands causing more breakage.

Being proactive lessens the damaging effects pools have on fragile, bleached hair. Pre-swim buffers, thorough post-rinse cleansing, and intensive conditioning keeps lightened locks healthier and minimizes breakage over time. With some protective measures, you can still swim without sacrificing bleached hair integrity.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.