Why does my hair feel dry from chlorine? - Big Questions - (Ep. 205) | Mental Floss

Hi, I'm Craig. I smell faintly of chlorine and this is Mental Floss on YouTube

Today I'm going to answer Cappsello's big question, why does my hair feel dry after swimming in chlorinated water

As a practically bald man, I have no idea what you're talking about. But let's get started

So human skin contains something called sebaceous glands, which are found all over the skin

but also on every hair follicle. And some follicles have more than one gland. These glands secrete an oily substance known as sebum, and the purpose of that substance is to make our skin and hair resilient to water

It also keeps our hair moist and can distribute antioxidants. It's also fun to say sebum

Sebum is mostly triglycerides, but it also contains some wax esters, squalene, and fatty acids

Squalene is also fun to say. Boy, what a day we're having

And you probably know that chlorine is a chemical element, but there's different types of chlorine that can go into a swimming pool

People use it because it helps keep the pool clean by preventing bacteria and algae from thriving

The most common type is liquid chlorine, which typically contains about 10% chlorine

There's also tablet chlorine, stick chlorine, granular chlorine, powdered chlorine, fried chlor- chlorine, um, buttered chlorine..

The list goes on. Fictionally. You probably thinking come on Craig I know what chlorine is My local pool totally smells like chlorine But interestingly your pool doesn smell like chlorine Ah It smells like chloramine which forms when chlorine reacts with organic substances like the sweat oils and urine of swimmers Gross

But true. And actually, the pool smell is typically an indication that the pool could use more chlorine

Anyway, when chlorine comes into contact with the hair and skin, they chemically bond

In other words, what happens when you go swimming in chlorinated water is that the chlorine bonds your hair

And it breaks down that sebum. As you can imagine, since sebum keeps hair moisturized, it dries it out

but it even cracks the cuticle over time. See, again, I don't understand this. I'm bald

If you consistently swim in chlorinated swimming pools, your hair might dry, fizz, or break

Sometimes you hear people talking about chlorine turning hair green, but that isn't technically the chlorine's fault. It happens when you dump green paint over your head. Also, it happens

when the chlorine comes into contact with metal, like a pool's copper pipes. Then, the chlorine that bonds with hair actually brings some metal along with it, and that can

temporarily turn light-colored hair green. A good way to protect your hair before you go swimming is just to wash it in water, which

minimizes the amount that chlorine can bond to it. Some pre-swim conditioner helps as well

or a swim cap. Or just don't go swimming. Take a nap. You deserve it