What does chlorine do to your hair?
If you’ve spent any time in a pool, you’re probably aware that chlorine can leave you with undesirably brittle hair. In this post, we’ll explain why chlorine is added to water, what it does to your hair, and how you can restore hair that is suffering from chlorine damage.
Why do we put chlorine in water?
Due to its disinfecting properties, chlorine is used as a cleaning agent in both pools and tap water. When chlorine comes into contact with a single celled organism, such as a bacteria, it breaks through the lipid based cell membrane (which is essentially constructed of oils and fats). When the cell membrane is broken, the proteins and bacteria within the cell are exposed and destroyed by the chlorine. As you can imagine, this makes chlorine an ideal chemical for ridding water of dangerous bacteria that could potentially make us sick. Unfortunately, chlorine doesn’t just break down the bacteria in water—it also breaks down the lipids and proteins in your hair.
What does chlorine do to your hair?
Like bacteria, your hair also has a fat and oil based protective layer called sebum which defends it from the outside environment. Although sebum is typically capable of protecting your hair from natural elements that you come into contact with every day, it is not as effective at protecting against a chemical as strong as chlorine—as an acid, chlorine is very effective at dissolving the lipids that make up the protective layer of sebum.
Chlorine damages your hair via the following process. First, the chlorine disintegrates your protective layer of sebum. Once the sebum has been dissolved and removed, the hair shaft becomes exposed. This allows the chlorine to get in between the fibers in the hair shaft where it can crystalize, crack, and separate the fibers that make up the inner core (known as the cortex) of the hair which is responsible for most of the structural integrity. Ultimately, this causes the cuticle of the hair to lose its structural integrity and crack so it feels and looks less lustrous and smooth. Once this damage has been done, the outside layer of hair will no longer lay flat, which leaves it susceptible to snagging, splitting, and breaking.
How can you restore chlorine damaged hair?
The traditional remedy for restoring chlorine damaged hair is to soak your hair in a mixture of vinegar, tomatoes, and lemon juice (the proportions differ depending on the article you read). The problem with this method is that it’s typically ineffective, time consuming, and it has a tendency to make your hair stink. We do not recommend this approach.
Another option for restoring chlorine damage is to purchase a bundle of dechlorinating products (i.e. shampoos and sprays). Though this strategy may work in theory, it fails to solve a glaring problem: When you rinse your hair after using a dechlorinating shampoo, you are doing so with chlorine rich water, which means you’ll still have chlorine in your hair after showering. Aside from that, purchasing a bundle of dechlorinating products can be quite expensive. We do not recommend this approach either.
So, what can you do to restore your chlorine damaged hair that’s guaranteed to work without breaking the bank? Pick up a bottle of Dchlorin8.
Dchlorin8 is an all-natural leave-in dechlorinating conditioner. Because Dchlorin8 is a leave-in conditioner, it does not need to be rinsed out once it is applied—which means you’re not exposing your hair to the chlorine in your tap water. So, Dchlorin8 not only removes the chlorine from your hair, it helps you prevent further chlorine damage as well. The best part is, if you have a bottle of Dchlorin8, you can ditch your other conditioners and detanglers—Dchlorin8 does it all.
Click on the image below to order your bottle of Dchlorin8 today and remember, shipping is always FREE: