If you have blond hair you may have experienced the same thing as my daughter, that the hair turns green after swimming in a chlorinated pool. I am not a big fan of a chlorinated pool in the first place, but sometimes you're at a place where you have no other choice. We used salt for our own pool a few years ago and it worked great.
Chlorine competes with iodine in our body so it is a good idea to be cautious if you suffer from thyroid problems. I like to make sure that we boost our iodine intake if we are going to be using a chlorinated pool. A chlorinated pool has a lot of chemicals/metals so I also make sure that we increase food and/or supplements and essential oils that are detoxifying. The chlorine is the reason why metals such as copper, manganese and iron oxidize in the pool. It is the copper that turns green as it oxidizes, and it is responsible for the greenish tint often seen in blond, gray or white hair.
So, naturally I want to get rid off my daughter's green hair without using harsh chemicals and here are some things that I found out:
Baking soda
You can make a paste of baking soda and water and apply to your hair. Let it sit for five minutes before you rinse. This worked great on my daughter's hair.
Lemon or tomato juice
The citric acid in the juice can be used to remove the metals in the hair that are responsible for turning the hair green. Apply lemon or tomato juice and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing. Wash you hair as usual after the rinse.
If you use essential oils, mix lemon essential oil with apple cider vinegar and water and use as a hair rinse. Leave the rinse for a few minutes before removing it. I'm out of lemon oil so I have not tried this yet but I will as soon as I have lemon essential oil at home again.
Other tips
This article also says to rinse your hair before you swim since saturated hair will not absorb as much of the pool water as dry hair would.
I have also seen people recommend to use ketchup and tomato paste. It is also important to rinse the hair immediately after getting out of the pool.
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Johanna is an aromatherapist and she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives.
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