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M&M Products Company Educates Moms on Risks of Relaxing Hair Too Soon After Swimming

Summer is quickly approaching and that means swim season. Year after year African-American girls sit on the side of the pool because they are worried about the effects chlorine will have on their hair. In every urban area you will hear girls at public pools yelling, "Don't get my hair wet!" Turns out, their concerns are valid. It is true that with swimming comes harsh chemicals that can dry or even destroy your child's hair. M&M Products Company is educating moms on why taking extra precautions this summer is vital to the health of their daughter's hair.

So, are swimming-pool chemicals more harmful to relaxed hair than they are to any other hair type? No, they are not; chlorine can damage anyone's hair. However, for some African-American girls the problem is exacerbated because many of them already have dry hair, so putting a fresh relaxer on hair that has chlorine residue on it can be disastrous.

"When a girl goes swimming and doesn't have the chemicals from the pool properly washed out of her hair, then she has her hair relaxed, the combination of the chemicals can cause her hair to break off" says Will Williams, Director of Education for M&M Products Company. "If a girl has plans to get a relaxer, she really needs to stay out of the pool for a few days and wash her hair with a swimmers shampoo before seeing her stylist for the relaxer. You don't want there to be any chlorine in her hair when she has it relaxed.

Jesse Tovar, chemist with JVL Laboratories, explains, "Hair, scalp and skin all have a negative electrical charge. Minerals and oxidizers, like chlorine and copper are charged positive. If a positively charged mineral comes in contact with hair, scalp or skin, it attaches on like a magnet." Tovar goes on to say, "Copper sulfates are added to swimming pools to control the growth of algae. It is also added to lakes in the summer to kill algae. Copper can weigh hair down, cause dryness and prevent the proper processing of perms, color and relaxers."

So, what's a mom to do? Should you never let your daughter get in the pool again? Absolutely not. But if your daughter plans to be in the pool before having her hair relaxed, it is vitally important that you take the following precautions:

1. The best protection is for your child to wear a swimming cap when she swims, applying a little cream conditioner to her hair before putting the cap on. Just comb the conditioner through. When she gets out of the pool, rinse it out. Then follow step 2.
2. You absolutely need to wash your child's hair with swimmers shampoo once every week to 10 days to get the chlorine and copper out of her hair, especially if you can't get her to wear a cap. Because swimmers shampoo is different from regular shampoo and is not very conditioning, apply a moisturizing shampoo and a leave-in conditioner after you rinse out the swimmers shampoo.
3. If your child is due to have her hair relaxed, follow step 2 approximately 3 to 4 days before you plan to relax her hair, and don't let her swim again until after she has her relaxer.
4. Finally, don't forget that chlorine and copper can also make her skin dryer than normal, so apply a moisturizer after her shower.

If you carefully follow these steps, you'll keep you child's hair safe from the hazards of the pool this summer, and for the first time, you won't have to warn her not to get her hair wet. For more tips and advice on maintaining healthy summer hair, please visit our GroHealthy FAQs page.

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