Help My Daughter's Hair Is GREEN from Chlorine

I used to swim every day year round for a swim team, and had problems with green hair as well. My trick was to wash my hair with Ivory bar soap immediately after I swam, followed by Ultraswim shampoo and conditioner. This really helped to get rid of the green. The other trick I had was to wet my hair prior to getting in the pool, and then put a rich conditioner on my hair, and then put my cap on. The hair absorbs the conditioner instead of the chlorine, plus helps to not make the Ivory bar soap not so drying when used after swimming.

Oh I had this same problem when I was growing up and tried everything, someone even told me to put tomato paste in my hair which I did - it didn't work though and I smelled like spaghetti!

It has been said below as well, but wetting hair first helped a lot. I still have this problem today and have found a detox wash that is supposed to take out those heavy metals like copper and chlorine, it has worked really well for me and my blond son and we don't have the green anymore. Here is a link for it https://arbonne.com/shop_online/showitem.asp?ProductId=73...

Good luck!

I use to teach swim lessons and was a lifeguard... 'green' hair happens to everyone but is easier to see with lighter hair colors or dyed hair.

As the below moms suggested plus some;
1) wet hair throughly with regular water (tap/shower water) before entering the pool
2) as soon as out of the pool rinse hair throughly and use clarifying shampoo that contains EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid) and wash your hair immediately after swimming
3) wash hair with tomato juice I believe the acidic nature of the tomatoes in the juice will gently strip the chlorine, leave in for a few mins then rinse out then do the typical shampoo & conditioner routine
4) There are products out there to help with this, you can go to your local salon and ask for a shampoo using that certain kind of shampoo that they carry to see it it actually works (go when the hair is green so you can see if it works, usually cost around $5 maybe a bit more depending on the prices at your salon). If the product works buy it, if you do not notice a change of green in the hair do not buy it, everyones hair is a bit different so one product may work for others and not for you.

I have heard of the baking soda paste but have never used it myself. Also I have heard of using lemon juice but that is very harsh on the hair and it could get the green out but it will damage hair if used too frequently (more then once a week is not recommended).

If it really is bothering you/daughter and none of the above works wear a swim cap while swimming.

i went thru the same with my daughter-not to much you can do at this point-ended up getting her hair all cut off-however in the future-have her get her hair wet a put a bit of conditioner in before getting in the pool-this will stop all future green hair.

Shelly,

You want to get a good Clarifying Shampoo. I got mine from Fantastic Sams. I got it for myself, but they told me to use it on my daughter 1x a week when she goes swimming. She has very dark brown hair and they could tell it was a little green last Fall when she got her hair cut.

Lindsey L had excellent advice! If you follow it you shouldn't have any problems. It may take a few treatments to get the green out, but it will come out!

My daughter and son are in swim lessons year round. My daughter's hair is strawberry blond and my sons is light blond. Neither of them have had their hair turn green and I think it is because I do what the other post mentioned.. 1) wet hair thoroughly with regular water before entering the pool and 2) wash immediately after leaving the pool with a chorine removal shampoo. I use Suave Kids swim shampoo. Not sure what to do once it is already green but perhaps you could ask your hairdresser. You may just have to wait for it to grow out and start protecting the new hair that comes in.

Hi SHelly....I worked at a pool teaching swimming lessons and lifeguarding all through high school and college. The best thing we all did to protect our hair actually happens BEFORE you get into the water. Go and by the cheapest balsam conditioner you can find (I was a big fan of Suave Balsam conditioner....really yellow, really waxy feeling.) Before you go into the pool, wet down her hair and then apply a thin layer of the conditioner and comb it through. DO NOT RINSE IT OUT :) The conditioner coats the hair and then the chlorine/chemicals don't grab onto the hair as quickly. Check your other chemicals in the pool also...we always noticed that our skin/eyes/hair were more impacted by the ph levels in the pool....not the chlorine. Good luck!!!

I was a swimmer in high school and college. To prevent my blonde hair from turning green I put conditioner on and then wore a swim cap over it. I always did this and my hair was never green nor was it damaged.

My 12 yr old daughter has the same problem. Her hair also gets "crispy" like barbie hair from the chlorine. We rinse her hair with vinegar or lemon juice (since that seems to work as well as commerical products) and use V05 hot oil treatments to help the "crispiness." The best thing that we found is to be proactive. Each time my daughter is going to swim, I have her get her hair soaking wet with regular water. The hair sucks up the regular water and doesn't leave much room for the chlorine water to get in her hair.

Good luck!

Have you talked to your hair stylist? Sometimes they can recommend products that will work. When I was a kid I had the same problem and tried some salon products, I think Paul Mitchell made something, that did not work due to the fact that my hair was so blonde and I was in the pool so often.

If I remember correctly I think what finally worked for me was a little bit of vinegar mixed with water. I put that on my hair and sat in the sun for approx. 15 minutes and then washed it out. It worked really well. I would check with others first to see if there is something that you can buy.

I don't know how to get the green out. But my good friend who is a hair dresser suggests getting the hair wet in the house or use the garden hose before getting in the pool. The hair has absorbed the clean water before the chlorinated water. Also, you may need to get your chemicals checked out. We have had a pool for the last six years and this hasn't happened to anyone we know, and we have a lot of blondies in and out of the pool on a daily basis, my boys being two of them. We have a Nature 2 cartridge that allows you to use less chemicals.
Enjoy your summer!

Kids Hair does a malibu treatment that works great. My daughters also have thick blonde hair and the malibu treatment took all the green out- it was shiny and healthy again.
Buy thick cheap conditioner, wet your daughter's hair and put some conditioner in it before she swims and rinse it after swimming- it's extra work, but worth it.

Also, I would get the chemicals checked in the pool- 2 summers ago, we dealt with green hair all summer and found the copper was too high in the pool. I always thought it was the chlorine, but the pool company told us it was the copper.

Good Luck!

Just seconding some good advice.
Wet hair thoroughly. Apply a leave in conditioner before swimming.
Swim cap would be great if she's willing. I find the lycra ones are more comfortable (especially over a lot of hair) and slightly less dorky :) but they don't protect as well as the silicone ones. After swim shampoo is essential. Maybe go to a swimming specialty store and see what they have, although it sounds like you've already found some of those products.
Also, you may want to double-check with the pool that their levels are right. My husband swims all the time and had a problem once with the pool at a gym with the wrong balance of chemicals which left his (blond) hair essentially in dreadlocks and had to be cut off. Apparently their test strips weren't working so they just kept adding chlorine without realizing it was too much.
Good luck and happy swimming!

Also when she gets her hair soaking wet before she gets in the pool, put conditioner in it and leave it in. Make sure you are using a good hydrating conditioner daily, the hair will get too dry if you don't. Even twice a week she could use a deep conditioner treatment. You can buy a bottle at the salon and use it at home, it's cheaper. Just leaving it on for 15 min. with heat and a bag. Maybe try doing the Malibu system a couple of times. And use a good clarifying shampoo, especially after she is done swimming, don't let her hair dry with chorine in it. Shampoo immediatley after! If none of the other stuff mentioned doesn't work, you could go into a salon and have them do a bleach bath. It shouldn't be on the hair for that long, so it shouldn't lighten the hair too much. They would just throw it on then rinse right after. That will definately get it out. Good Luck! Let me know if you have any ?'s.

This happened to me when I was a little girl and I remember using lemon juice - something about it lightens up the green.

My previous hair salonist used to use lemonade - yes lemonade, the mix itself in the round containers. She would would put 5 or 6 scoops in with a conditioner and then let it set for about 30 - 45 minutes. It would help lift any build up off of the hair and lighten it too. Hope this helps!