How to keep your hair from turning green — especially happens to blonde hair — is something the swimming pool contractors from SwimRight Pool Service & Repair in Scottsdale, Arizona get asked all the time. Sometimes if you’re new to pool ownership and are a DIY when it comes to maintenance and chemical balancing, that is when the greenish tint takes hold.
There are many fixes to addressing green hair and they all come back to ensure the water chemistry is in proper balance. Any of a number of chemistry imbalances can lead to green hair.
How to keep hair from turning green
It’s the copper content in the water that will turn your blonde hair green. Copper is a naturally occurring metal in swimming pools especially in pools that are filled using well water. Copper can also make its way into the pool water if you’re using an algaecide that is copper-based — something we do not use in our service visits. When the copper in the water is oxidized by the chlorine in the water it will bind to the protein in your hair and your hair will take on a green tint.
HJere is how to ensure your hair doesn’t turn green:
- Stop using copper-based algaecides, this is true if you’re DIYing pool maintenance. Read the ingredients before you purchase them or ask us whether the cleaning agents we use have copper in them.
- Metal in the pool water can be removed through the use of chemistry. When you fill the pool from a garden hose that could lead to green hair but you can add a filter to the hose that could remove copper before it gets into the pool water.
- Wear a bathing cap.
- Protect color treated hair by using a leave-in conditioner prior to taking a swim. We typically tell people to shower beofre they swim to help keep organic and inorganic materials out of the pool water, but if you’re dealing with green hair this could be an exception to that rule.
If you work with us, make sure you tell us if you’re dealing with green-tinted hair — if we don’t know we can take steps to ensure it doesn’t keep happening.
