When swimming in chlorinated pools, blonde hair often takes on a slightly greenish tinge. The chlorine is not actually to blame, at least not directly.
What causes green hair?
Chlorine oxidises hard metals such as copper, iron and manganese. The same happens to copper figurines, copper pots and copper coins. Weather conditions and time cause the beautiful copper colour to turn green due to the oxidation process. After repeated swimming in water containing metal and chlorine, a green tint is often visible in blonde, white and grey hair.
The drier and more brittle the hair, the faster it absorbs the metals and turns greenish. Although naturally blonde hair also turns green, dyed blonde hair shows the effect more quickly as the epidermis of the hair becomes brittle more quickly due to the chemical process of colouring. Constant colouring weakens the hair's natural defences.
Dark hair can also have a green tinge, although the effect is less obvious in darker hair.
Chlorine not only has disinfectant properties, but also bleaching properties. Hair that is permanently exposed to water containing chlorine is dried out and bleached. The hair becomes lighter in colour over time, making the green effect even more visible.
How to prevent the green tinge in your hair
There are three ways to protect your hair from turning green: You can wear a swimming cap, moisturise your hair with conditioner before swimming or rinse your hair thoroughly after every contact with the water. The first two options are more suitable for a private swimming pool. In public swimming pools, it is usually not permitted to wear lotions in your hair that wash out in the pool water. And who wants to wear a swimming cap in public these days?
So if you often swim in public pools, make sure you rinse your hair thoroughly in the shower every time you get out of the water.
If you have your own pool at home, you can monitor and control the concentration of minerals in the water. The fewer metals the water contains, the less your hair will discolour.
