How To Fix Green Hair From Pool: The 7 Best Tips

Are you longing to find out how to fix green hair from pool?

Summer is coming, and what could be more enjoyable than spending your time swimming in the pool with your friends and family?

However, the fun only lasts until you find your hair turning into a weird shade of green.

What’s more, the greenish tint you get in the pool will not have the same dyeing effect as when you have your hair colored. It is more like a green color of a bacteria-infected pool you haven’t cleaned in years.

If that’s the case, don’t freak out. There are ways to fix it, and we’re going to show you how to fix green chlorine hair in this post. Let’s get right into it!

How To Fix Green Hair From Pool

Chelating Shampoo And Red Shampoo

If a regular shampoo doesn’t work for you, using chelating shampoo or red shampoo as alternatives is the best thing to fix your hair if it turns green from chlorine. 

Chelating shampoo (also known as clarifying shampoo) is considered a swimming shampoo.

It facilitates the process of removing mineral and chemical (copper and chlorine) buildup from the pool water out of your hair.

On the other hand, red shampoo treatment is largely based on the basic principle of the color theory.

Since the red hue can counterbalance the green shade, you can use red shampoo to neutralize the greenish tint on the hair strands.

Baking Soda And Vinegar

This combo is probably available in every kitchen. Besides being essential ingredients in the kitchen, they can be quite helpful when fixing after swimming.

• Take a bowl, pour inside ¼ to ½ cup of baking soda, and wet the flour with sufficient apple cider vinegar. If you don’t have vinegar, using water is also fine. 
• After blending the mixture, apply a thin coat on the damaged part of your hair and gently massage this area.
• Let the mixture sink in for about 15-20 minutes, then wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner as usual.

Depending on the severity of the damaged area, consider repeating the process a few more times until you get the desired results. 

Lemon/Lemonade Juice

Squeeze a few lemons in a bowl until the amount of lemon juice can cover the green area of your hair.

Coat your hair with a thin layer of lemon juice, and wait for about 15-20 minutes before you rinse your hair with cool water.

The amount of acid in the lemons can dry out your hair significantly. Therefore, it is important to wash and condition your hair carefully after coating it with lemons to avoid dryness.

After this step, you continue doing your normal shampoo routine. It is important to wash away all the remaining acids of the lemon juice on your hair. 

V8, Tomato Juice, Or Ketchup

With the high amount of acid in the component, V8, tomato juice, or ketchup can be a nightmare for the harmful bacteria that cause your hair to turn green. 

Similar to lemon juice, you can:

• Apply a thin coat of tomato juice or ketchup directly on the affected area
• Let it sit for about 30 minutes.
• To prevent evaporation, you can put on tinfoil or a swim cap for the mixture to absorb quicker.
• After rinsing the ketchup or tomato juice out of the hair, perform your hair-washing and conditioning routine as usual. 

Aspirin

If there is any aspirin left in your medical box, you can also make use of it.

• Take 8-10 pills of aspirin depending on the length of the hair and crush it in a pestle with a mortar, then mix it with water.
• Apply a coat of mixture on your hair and let it sit for about 15 minutes, then rinse your hair with water. 
• After washing away the aspirin, you start washing and conditioning your hair as usual.

Cocacola

The chemical formula of Coca-cola contains a large dose of citric acid and citrus oils. They are some of the most effective ingredients in getting rid of harmful bacterias that damage your hair. 

• Start with putting a layer of Coca-cola on the green areas of your hair.
• Massage the liquid in your hair for about 5 minutes, and cover it with tinfoil for another 25 minutes. 
• When the time’s up, wash your hair and get back to your normal shampooing and conditioning routines. 

Go To Salon 

Suppose you have tried every tip on the Internet fixing green hair from the swimming pool, but the results don’t seem to satisfy you; it’s time to seek help from a professional.

In a hair salon, you have several options to fix your affected hair. Some of them are glossing, sealing treatment, or hot oil treatment.

These methods will help heal the broken hair cuticles and protect your hair from getting affected by the metal in the water.

Also, it can get rid of the copper in the hair strand – the biggest enemy that turns your hair green.

How To Best Protect Hair From Pool Water? 

Deep/ Leave-In Conditioner

Applying a layer of deep or leave-in conditioner before going into the pool is the best preventable action that you can take to prevent green hair from swimming. 

The conditioners act as a sealing-off shield, which shelters the hair strands from being affected by the algae-filled, drying chlorinate, and oxidizing copper. 

Apply Natural Oils To Your Hair

Natural oils, such as coconut, olive, or jojoba oil, can also provide a strong protective coat for your hair.

They can seal off the hair cuticles and make your hair completely immune to pool bacteria, metal, and chlorinated water.

Wetting Your Hair

Some people don’t have the habit of drenching their hair before soaking it entirely in the water. However, dry hair is more susceptible to chlorine, copper, and pool water metal.

They can hang onto the hair strands easier and turn them into an unpleasant-looking green. 

Therefore, don’t forget to soak your head in chlorine-free water before you swim. Wet hair will absorb less oxidized bacterias and make the hair less likely to turn green. 

Wear A Ponytail Or Clip Your Hair Up

If you don’t go to the pool often, wearing a ponytail or clipping your hair up so that it doesn’t get into contact with the pool water is enough.

Even for someone whose hair is already damaged, it is still a great strategy to follow.

Swim Cap

If wearing a ponytail or clipping your hair up doesn’t do the trick for you, it would be best to use a swim cap instead.

With silicone or latex construction, the hat can hold the hair firmly in place and prevent any chlorinated water from getting inside.

Wash Your Hair As Soon As Possible After Swimming

After getting out of the pool, the first thing that you need to do is to wash your hair with fresh water.

It will help rinse away the coppers and metals hanging onto your hair strands, leaving them no room to turn your hair green.

Invest In A Water Filter For Your Shower

The main reason you get green hair in the first place is the pollution of the water. They are not the kind of dirt you can wash away with a quick water change or a cleanup. 

Instead, they are copper, manganese, iron, the hard metals you will need a water filter to get rid of. 

Investing in a filtering device is the best way to solve the issue at the source. When there is no more metal in the water, the chlorine water can’t oxidize anything to make your hair green.

Why Does Your Hair Turn Green After The Pool? 

Chlorine is one of the most familiar chemicals when it comes to swimming pool sanitizer. This compound keeps the water clean and free of molds, awful odors, slime bacterias, and algae. 

Despite its widespread reputation, many people blame chlorine for being a culprit for causing damage and turning the hair green. 

They tend to think that the green tint their hair catches when being exposed to the swimming pool is due to the high chlorine level in the water. Even though there is some truth to this conception, you need to look deeper through the surface to figure out the root issues. 

As it turns out, chlorine is not the thing that turns your hair green, but the existence of copper in the water is the one to blame. 

For those who don’t know, copper is an active chemical element often found in pool algaecide products. Pool owners often use copper-containing products to clean the pools once or twice a year.

Unfortunately, when the copper gets in contact with the chlorine in the water, the oxidation process will start. 

When your hair gets soaked in the pool water, the oxidized copper will break the proteins in your hair strands and turn your hair into a greenish shade. With that said, although chlorine plays a part in giving you that green tint, it is not entirely accountable for it.

Why Does Copper Exist In Pool Water? 

Water Source

The municipal water source you use as the pool water can contain enough copper to react to the chlorine and cause negative effects to your hair.

Besides copper, other minerals and hard metals, such as aluminum, magnesium, azurite, etc., can also mess with your hair when being oxidized.

Algae Killer

As we have mentioned before, algae killers contain a large dose of active coppers in the ingredients. Even though they keep the pool sanitary, the coppers in the chemicals can damage your hair. 

For that reason, when buying algaecides for the pool, it would help to go for the copper-free options.

Mineral Cleansing

Mineral cleansing is an alternative cleaning method for chlorine that involves releasing minerals into the pool water and letting it do the cleaning job. 

However, some pool owners use mineral cleansing while the pool water still has a high chlorine level. As a result, the chlorine will oxidize the minerals, making your hair green.

How To Know And Manage Copper In Pool Water?

How To Know If Your Pool Has Coppers

Using copper test strips is the best way to find out if there is any copper existing in your pool water.

Simply dip the strip in the water for about 5 seconds, then take it out and wait for 15 seconds before reading the results.

By comparing the color appearing on the strip with the color chart, you can see the copper level in your pool.

How To Manage It

The most useful way to counteract the copper in the water is to adjust the pH level and the calcium hardness.

To do this, it would be best to use pH indicator strips. The pH level should range between 7.2 and 7.3 to counterwork the coppers in the water.

If noticing the pH level is above the recommended range, try to lower the pH by adding muriatic acid into the water. A swimming pool of 1000 gallons will require 1.5 ounces of acid to lower the pH from 7.8 – 8.0 to 7.2 – 7.3.

On the other hand, if the pH reading result is under 7.2, pouring soda ash into the pool will help lower it. For a 1000-gallon pool, using 0.75 ounces of soda ash will be enough to raise the pH level from 6.6 – 7.0 to 7.2 – 7.3.

For the calcium hardness, you use calcium test strips for the measurement. The recommended level to counteract coppers should be 350 parts per million.

If the reading is too low, try adding calcium chloride to the pool. 10 ounces can raise the hardness by 50 ppm for 1000 gallons of water.

FAQs 

Will Blonde Hair Become Green In Saltwater Pools?

Yes. Saltwater pools still contain chlorine as a water sanitizer.

Therefore, if there are coppers in the pool, your hair can still become green due to copper oxidation.

Is It Only Blonde Hair Affected By Pool Water?

No hair color is resistant to copper oxidation.

Even when you have darker hair, the lighter parts at the end of your hair strands will still get discolored.

Will Purple Shampoo Fix Green Hair From The Pool?

No, purple shampoo doesn’t fix green hair from the pool. It is because the purple shade can’t counterbalance the greenish tint in your hair.

To learn how to remove green hair from the pool, you can refer to our tips above for the best results.

Conclusion 

So there you have it, our complete guide on how to fix green hair from pool. We hope that the tips and the related knowledge we provide you with will prove beneficial to you.

Also, remember to wet your hair, put on some swim conditioner, and wear a swim cap before getting into the pool to prevent green hair.

All in all, take care, and we hope to see you in our next post!