During the summer, people with blonde hair often face an inconvenient problem: green hair. I remember childhood summers, filled with day after day of swimming in any pool my friends and I had access to, knowing it would give my blonde hair a green tinge. It’s a common problem and, while not particularly life-altering, it can be the source of a lot of frustration and inconvenience. It’s commonly believed that excess chlorine is the culprit, but that’s not actually the case. It does involve chlorine, but it’s not quite that simple. If pH, alkalinity, and calcium hardness fall below the recommended levels, pool water becomes corrosive and damaging. The water can etch plaster, stain and wrinkle vinyl liners, corrode pool equipment, and irritate swimmers’ eyes and skin. It can also eat at the copper in your equipment which, once dissolved in water, will turn hair green. It’s a pretty simple and inexpensive fix for hair–there are plenty of hair care products formulated to remove impurities from blonde hair. However, this can be a huge problem for your swimming pool (and your wallet!). Make sure you regularly check your water chemistry and maintain your pool well–proper care and maintenance can extend the life of your swimming pool and equipment.
Why does hair turn green after swimming? (The answer might surprise you!)
It might not turn quite this shade of green, but many blondes spend the summer with green-tinged hair as a result of improper pool maintenance.