Summer Hair Care: Protect Hair From Salt, Chlorine and Sun
9 min read Life stages Updated 5 October 2026 By Anna Sophie Schulenburg
To protect your hair from salt and chlorine in summer, soak it with tap water before you swim, work a leave-in through the lengths and rinse it out straight after. A hat or scarf shields it from the midday sun. For your next beach or pool day, pack a bottle of tap water, your leave-in and a wide-tooth comb. If the comb glides through your lengths in the evening without tugging and your hair feels smooth rather than straw-like once dry, the routine is working.
Sun, sea, pool and sweat often hit your hair on the same day, and each one needs its own move. For long days by the water, plan sun protection for hair and scalp at the same time, because an uncovered parting burns easily.
What salt, chlorine, sun and sweat do to your hair
Hair takes up water and swells slightly as it does. Jump into the sea or the pool with dry hair and it soaks up salt water or chlorinated water. If it is already saturated with tap water, it absorbs less of the water you swim in. That is why soaking comes first in the routine below.
Salt water evaporates in the sun and leaves the salt behind as fine crystals on the fibre, which draw moisture out of it. Your hair then feels rough and coarse, tangles more easily and breaks sooner when you comb it. Chlorine in pool water attacks the thin layer of lipids that sits on the outside of the cuticle. Without it, the strands rub against each other more and the lengths turn dull.
Blonde, bleached and grey hair can take on a green tinge after a few weeks of pool swimming. The cause is copper, which gets into the water from pipes or algaecides and settles in light, porous hair. Chlorine speeds this up. Dark hair absorbs the copper too; it simply doesn't show.
Sun bleaches the pigment in natural and coloured hair. Brown hair often turns reddish, and colour fades sooner than usual. Sweat dries on the scalp as a film of salt and mixes with sebum and sunscreen. That itches, and your roots go limp and stringy sooner.
Which summer hair problem do you have? A quick self-check
Look at your hair on the evening after a swim, before you wash it.
| What you notice | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Lengths rough, straw-like and tangled after the sea | Salt has dried in the hair | Rinse straight after swimming, leave-in, plait |
| Green tinge in light hair after the pool | Copper from the pool water | Wet your hair first, swimming cap, clarifying wash once a week |
| Colour paler, brown turning reddish | UV bleaches the pigment | Hat or scarf in the midday sun |
| Greasy roots, itchy scalp after sport or the beach | Sweat, sebum and sunscreen | Rinse the scalp with clear water, mild wash in the evening |
| Hair puffs up as soon as the air turns humid | The fibre absorbs moisture from the air | Smoothing care, less friction |
| Parting red, tight or burning | Sunburn on the scalp | Cool it, cover your head from now on |
Do two rows sound like you? The free hair analysis asks about your hair texture, colour and scalp one by one and suggests care that fits.
If your hair mainly puffs up when it's humid, salt and chlorine have little to do with it. To tame frizz in damp air, use a smoothing conditioner and a microfibre towel instead of terry towelling, and touch your hair as little as possible while it dries.
How to protect hair from chlorine and salt water: your swim-day routine
The first two steps fit in a beach bag; the other two you do at home. The amounts are for shoulder-length hair. For chin-length hair, use half; for chest-length hair, roughly double.
Step 1 — Soak before you swim. Wet your hair right through under the poolside shower or with a bottle of tap water. Squeeze out the excess and spread a hazelnut-sized amount of leave-in through the lengths, meaning a conditioner that stays in and isn't rinsed out. For fine hair, half is enough, and keep it off the roots. Then plait your hair loosely with a hair tie that has no metal clasp. That way it barely tangles in the water and the wind.
Step 2 — Rinse straight after swimming. Go straight from the water to the beach or pool shower and let clear water run through your lengths for one minute. The less time the salt water has to dry, the easier your hair will be to comb in the evening. Detangle with the wide-tooth comb, starting at the ends and working up a hand's width at a time. Then add a pea-sized amount of leave-in to the ends.
Step 3 — Wash with a mild shampoo in the evening. Lather a hazelnut-sized amount of shampoo in your hand and massage it into your scalp only, using your fingertips. The lengths get cleaned as you rinse. Wash in lukewarm water. Conditioner goes on from ear level down and stays on for two minutes. Washing every day in summer is fine, as long as you use a mild shampoo and only lather the scalp.
Step 4 — Top up once a week. Apply a moisturising mask to your lengths and leave it on for as long as the label says. If you swim in a pool twice a week or more, swap your usual shampoo that day for a clarifying one, which lifts residue out of the hair, and apply the mask straight afterwards. One or two drops of hair oil on dry ends smooth the surface; any more makes fine hair stringy.
A silicone swimming cap rarely keeps hair completely dry. Far less pool water reaches the lengths, though, and for light hair it is the simplest protection against a green tinge. Under a cap, too, soak your hair first and apply leave-in to the lengths. For the sun between swims, a hat or scarf is still the most reliable choice.
If you use MONAT: The Restore™ Leave-In Conditioner goes on your lengths before and after swimming. It conditions the fibre and is not marketed as UV protection. The Super Moisture Masque is meant for the weekly step; on fine hair, use it on lengths and ends only. For a clarifying wash after weeks at the pool, the Purifying Vinegar Shampoo works well; leave it out if your scalp is red or sunburnt.
Your summer at a glance
| When | What you do | How you know it's working |
|---|---|---|
| Two to three weeks before your holiday | Have split ends trimmed, sort out your colour appointment | The ends no longer catch in the comb |
| Every swim day | Soak and leave-in before, rinse straight after | Your hair combs through without tugging in the evening |
| Every evening after the beach, pool or sport | Mild wash, conditioner from ear level | Your scalp doesn't itch and your roots are fresh the next morning |
| Once a week | Mask, with a clarifying wash first if you swim a lot | No green tinge, and your lengths feel soft rather than rough |
| Two to four weeks after your holiday | Check your ends in daylight, have your colour refreshed | No forked ends, and the colour is even from root to tip |
| September to November | Watch the hair in your brush | If the amount hasn't dropped by winter, get it checked |
Book the trim before you leave, because split ends tear further in the wind and when you detangle after the sea. How much needs to come off depends on how often you get your hair cut and how far up the splits already reach.
Book the colour appointment for after your holiday, so sun and chlorine don't attack the fresh colour straight away. That goes double for bleached hair, which is more porous and picks up copper more easily. If you're looking after bleached hair, add a swimming cap in summer to your routine of alternating moisture and protein.
More hair in your brush in September and October is often a result of summer. In the warm months, more hairs move into the resting phase and come out a few weeks later. A typical sign of seasonal hair loss in autumn is that hair falls out evenly all over the head, without bald patches.
Home remedies and summer myths, checked
- Many people treat hair oil as sun protection. It makes the lengths more supple and adds shine, yet it has no sun protection factor. Against UV, a hat, scarf and shade are what help.
- Lemon juice for lighter streaks does more harm than good. Combined with the sun, it lightens unpredictably and often patchily, and the lengths turn dry and brittle.
- Ketchup, tomato juice or dissolved aspirin are often recommended for a green tinge, yet there is no evidence for any of them. A clarifying shampoo is the more reliable route. If the tinge is still there after two washes, take it to your hairdresser.
- Coconut oil before swimming coats the fibre in a film and can replace the leave-in on thick, dry hair. A pea-sized amount, melted between your palms, is enough for shoulder-length hair. Fine hair hangs limp afterwards, and you'll need a thorough wash in the evening.
- Salt water gives lovely waves while it's in your hair. For one evening, that's fine. Rinse it out before bed at the latest, because the rough lengths rub hardest against the pillow.
- Air-drying in full sun is often seen as the kindest option. On the beach it adds extra UV to the lengths, and loose wet hair tangles in the wind. Squeeze it out in a towel, comb it through, plait it loosely and let it dry in the shade.
When your scalp needs a doctor
A mild sunburn on your parting usually settles within a few days with cooling and shade. If blisters form, or you get a fever, headache, nausea or chills, see your GP, because that can point to a severe burn or sunstroke. Itchy, flaky or weeping patches that appear after the pool or a lake and don't settle after a few days of mild care should be seen by a dermatologist. They can come from irritation, an allergy or a fungal infection, and each of the three is treated differently.
Quick questions
Can I go swimming with freshly coloured hair?
Yes, with some preparation: soak your hair first, apply leave-in to the lengths and wear a swimming cap. Fresh colour loses the most pigment in the first few washes, so ask your hairdresser how many days she recommends before your first swim.
Do I need to shampoo after every swim?
No. Straight after swimming, clear water is enough. Shampoo goes on your scalp once in the evening, even if you've been in the water twice that day.
Is sea salt spray bad for hair in summer?
No, as long as you use it on the odd day. It contains salt and roughens the surface just as the sea does. Wash it out the same evening and follow with conditioner on the lengths.
Which is worse for hair, the sea or the pool?
For light and bleached hair, usually the pool, because copper settles in the hair there and causes a green tinge. Salt roughens the lengths, yet clear water rinses it out again. Both call for the same routine of soaking, leave-in and rinsing straight away.
Whether your hair needs moisture, smoothness or colour protection most this swimming season, the free hair analysis helps you find out.