How To Keep Your Child's Hair Safe From Chlorine Damage This Summer

July 15 2022

Protecting your child’s hair is a full-time job, and come summertime you need to be aware of anything new that may offer your daughter’s hair extra unnecessary damage. This is why you need to know about chlorine damage, and how to keep her hair safe.

What Effects Does Chlorine Have On Hair?

Chlorine dries the hair out. It can weaken it greatly and make it prone to breakage. It strips away the natural oils your body produces, which is not great news to people who don’t have a lot, to begin with. Of course, these damages are something that frequent pool-goers should be more concerned about than those who only end up in a pool once or twice a year. But if you are a frequent attendee of your local pool, you will likely start noticing a difference in your child’s hair if you do not take proper precautions.

Steps To Protecting Sensitive Hair

Protecting your child’s hair from damage should not be too difficult if you don’t go into a pool too often. You may find that you simply need to follow a couple of extra steps- but especially if you go there often, keep these helpful protective tips in mind.

1. Presoak

A presoak is exactly what it sounds like. Soaking your child’s hair and giving it a good rinse before taking a dip can reduce chlorine damage by using non-chlorinated water. Her hair will absorb a lot of the non-chlorinated water, leaving little room to absorb anything else. Once you have decided to leave the pool, making sure to give it a rinse to get rid of any chlorinated water sticking around on her head is not a bad idea either.

2. Oiling

Oiling your child’s hair before she takes a dip in the pool will provide a protective barrier between hair and water. If the water can not get to her hair then neither can harsh chemicals in the water. Under that you can even add in a layer of leave-in conditioner so that if there are any parts you missed with oil, they’re still protected- they will be too full of healthy, moisturizing conditioners to absorb much-chlorinated water.

3. Protective Styling

Protective styles like braids can help reduce the level of exposure the hair will experience overall. Styles like box braids can help keep the hair more manageable while she is in the pool.

4. Use Gentle Shampoo

Shampooing your child’s hair after she has left the pool is a good idea to get any remaining chlorine, but you want to use one that is gentle and preferably, one designed to attack any remaining chlorine that managed to latch itself to your child’s tresses. This will allow for removing the excess chlorine without stripping down much more of your daughter's healthy oils and moisture. Don’t forget to add extra moisture back in after to prevent her hair from drying out either!

5. Swim Caps

If you can get your child to wear a swim cap and it works for her hair, this is one of the best ways to prevent exposure as it keeps the hair covered and out of direct contact with the water.

6. Have a Post-Swim Care Routine

The routine you use on your child’s hair after swimming in chlorinated water is important to ensure that all the chlorine is out and the moisture that may have been stripped from the hair is replenished. Make sure to rinse and wash the hair thoroughly, and this could be a good time to do detangling as well. Add in some leave-in moisturizers, and let it air dry. Heated tools and styling will add more stress to the hair that is not good for it when it is in a vulnerable state.

If you need help protecting your child’s hair from excessive damage, Just 4 Girls Salon is here to help with advice and styling. You can call or visit one of our two locations today at 568 Fayetteville Rd SE in Atlanta (678) 927-0554 or 1295 W Spring St STE 101 (inside Smyrna Market Village) (678) 391-4622. You can also book for either location online if you prefer.

How To Keep Your Child's Hair Safe From Chlorine Damage This Summer

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