This may result in more anecdotal answers than factual, so it’s in IMHO rather than GQ.
Quick question on behalf of Momphone: Do swimming caps damage your hair? Are silicone caps better than latex in that respect? Do the silicone caps fit as well?
Momphone wants to take basic swiming lessons at the Y, but is worried about wrecking her hair. I’ve got short fuzz on my head, and both my sister and girlfriend have sporty-chick faux hawks. We know diddly about swim caps because we don’t need them to goof around in the pool.
If anyone needs these details: Momphone dyes her hair and it’s just long enough to touch her shoulders. She’s afraid it will turn frizzy or be damaged because her hairstylist once told her never to use regular elastic bands in your hair because they cause breakage, and she thinks of “swim caps” as “elastic bands that cover your whole head” and thus ruin your hair.
Any tips?
Busy at work. I’ll try to check this thread as often as I can, but pelase forgive me if I’m not participating lots.
I have fairly long hair (mid-back), very straight, and I have never used a swim cap. I just put it in a braid to keep it from flopping all over the place. If it were only as long as your mom’s is, I’d probably just put it in a ponytail. It isn’t like she’s going to be overly concerned with speed and worried about drag.
I’ve always wondered if swim caps cause hair breakage, too.
I can answer this really well as I had long hair for 10 years and swam with it for a long time.
I never found either the latex or silicone types of caps to hurt the hair at all. For the longest time I used the silicone type because they were a bit easier to get on and off. However, they always need to be readjusted and that’s just not fun while trying to swim the 1500. The latex can kind of grab the hair a bit, but not all that much. They also tend to stay in place much better.
The pros for the silicone type are they are easier to get on and can last a long time. The con is that they cost a lot more and don’t stay on as well.
The pros for the latex is that they are much cheaper. Con is when they break they go fast so you either need a spare or be prepared to swim without. They don’t hurt when they break, just rip.
When I had long hair I would do a high pony tail then fold it over and tie it off so it sat on the very top of my head then put on the cap. Lots of other people, the women at least, just stuff it up there. I would at least try the latex first so you’re not out much money.
No, the chlorine does. Swim caps are never the problem.
For me and my hair (and YMMV), swim caps are there to protect the pool. My hair gets wet. Water gets inside the cap, but latex caps tend to stay on and then my hair doesn’t end up in the pool. I’ve never gotten a silicone cap to stay on more than half a length. They’re useless on all fronts.
But no, they don’t pull at my hair like elastic rubber bands would and they don’t yank my hair out.
When I was little I had really long hair, and the only time the cap pulled at it was when I tried to put it on over dry hair. OWCH! Also, getting your hair wet in clean, non-chlorinated water first helps to keep it from being damaged by the chlorine if pool water seeps up under the cap, at least that’s what I was told. (I only ever used latex)
I only use a cap when I’m required by pool rules. My hair is about my shoulderblades; I don’t need to use bobby pins or anything, just bunch it up and cover it, it stays in place.
The cap I have right now is some sort of plasticky fabric, nowhere half as bad as the thick ones that were available just ten years ago, I think it must be latex.
My hair still does get wet; I imagine any damage I get (in my case, none noticeable) would be from the chlorine, rather than from the cap. I can’t think of any way the cap would chemically damage the hair, and as for physical damage, I’d expect it to come from bobby pins, rubber bands or some such rather than from the cap, which has never pulled my hair.
If Momphone is concerned about damage to her hair, she may want to look into getting a shampoo that is formulated for swimmers that she can use post-swim, and a good intensive conditioner as followup to deal with any damage/frizzies.
As others have mentioned so far, the swim cap is mostly for the pool’s sake rather than for her hair’s sake, and the pool water is going to get in there no matter what. As long as she washes right away with the right products, though, there’s no reason to be afraid.
(I have long thick curly hair past my shoulders, BTW, and swam 2-3 times a week up to my early 20s. Never had trouble as long as I washed and conditioned properly right after my swim)
Thanks for all the input. Indeed the main reason Momphone is looking at getting a swim cap is mostly for the pool’s sake and concern about her hair dye. Momphone is getting grey and dyes her hair a dark color. She is hemming a hawing about the swim lessons though worrying that the cap will cause damage.
So to recap (Get it? Recap? I slay me!.. What?) I should counsel her to dampen her hair with regular water, then don a latex cap, then using a good conditioner afterwards, and she should be fine for swim lessons and aqua-fit classes.
ETA: The last time she put a swim cap on her head probbaly would have been in the 1950s! :eek: I keep telling her they’re really different now.
I was on a swim team from the time I was eight up through college, and have been through more swim caps than I can count. I never really cared about chlorine damage to my hair, though, and my hair wasnt colored, so make of this what you will.
One thing that might help - get your hair a little wet before you put the cap on, and then work a little bit of conditioner through your hair before you put the cap on.
Also, if using a latex cap (which are highly, highly superior to silicone caps) it is a good idea to shake a little baby powder inside the cap after each use - it helps the cap last longer and, if wearing it over dry hair, makes it a lot easier to put on.
It’s not the swim caps that damage your hair, it’s the chlorine.
One big tip is to wet your hair with fresh water before getting in the pool (as Margo Lane said). I had a hair stylist once recommend Cholesterol (found in the ethnic hair care section) before swimming but it just made my cap slide off and I didn’t see much of a difference.
If she’s pathologically worried about the swim cap causing the damage you can get her a lycra swim cap. They don’t keep the water out at all but they’re like wearing a sock on your head. On my daughter’s swim team, a lot of girls with really long hair wear them under a normal silicone or latex cap.
I dont think it matters if it does. It shouldnt be a lot of conditioner, in any case, and it’s not like the pool water is being bottled and sold to thirsty gym rats. There’s a lot of stuff that probably gets in the pool, but that’s why the pool is chlorinated.
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