Hair extensions are layers of human or synthetic hair attached to your natural hair to achieve the desired look.
Hair extensions can be worn as ready-made wigs or clipped, glued, or sewn into your natural hair. They come in a variety of colours and styles, giving you plenty of options.
In this article, I will answer some of your questions about hair extensions, such as whether you can swim while wearing them.
Related Post: What Are Human Hair Extensions Made Of?
Can you Swim with Hair Extensions?
Yes, you can swim with your hair extensions! The purpose of hair extensions is to give you a natural hair feel, so you can think of them like your natural hair because they are not any different.
However, if you intend to swim with your hair extensions, I’ll recommend you make sure you’re buying good quality hair extensions because that will make a difference in how well they hold up in the water.
Generally, that is one of the benefits of getting high-quality hair extensions.
Here are some helpful tips for you before swimming with your hair extension:
- It is good practice to wet your hair extension with clean water and apply an oil and alcohol-free conditioner to it if you intend to go into the water without a swim or shower cap. The major purpose of this is to protect your hair extensions from chemicals that are used in the pools or things found in the water of the ocean.
- If swimming is something that you enjoy and do on a regular basis, I would recommend using a swim cap or a shower cap every time you want to go swimming. You can still prep your hair extensions with water and conditioner before wearing the swim cap, but that is not entirely necessary.
- You can also tie up your hair extensions to avoid them floating around. It is more comfortable that way.
Here are some helpful tips for you after swimming with your hair extension:
- Once you are done swimming, use a cleansing shampoo to wash your hair extensions, so it can clean out all the chemicals or dirt it might have collected underwater. Use a soft brush to brush out your hair extension thoroughly to make sure there are no tangles before washing it with shampoo.
- After washing, dry naturally or with a blow dryer.
Here are some additional tips you might find helpful with your hair extension:
- If you are out in the sun, tie a scarf or use a hat to protect your hair extensions as you would with your natural hair
- If you are using a low-quality extension, avoid using heat with it. After washing, let it dry naturally.
- The chemicals in the pools, sand, the sun and other unavoidable elements can cause your hair extensions to tangle or matte. So always take protective measures to avoid getting your hair extensions damaged.
Pros of swimming with your hair extensions
- If your hair extension is of great quality, it will not get damaged by water.
- Once you take protective measures, your hair extension is good to swim with
Cons of swimming with your hair extensions
- Chlorine from swimming pools can cause damage to your hair extensions
- Your hair extensions can get matted due to chemicals in the water
- Your hair extensions can get seriously tangled
How to avoid damage to your hair extension
Hair extensions are like your natural hair; they need care and attention to avoid damage. One thing to consider in order to avoid damage to your hair extension is the quality. Just like everything else, high-quality hair extensions would naturally last longer and be less prone to damage.
Once you expose your hair extension to a swimming pool, ocean, sunlight or chemicals like chlorine, you should always wash it with a cleansing shampoo right after in order to avoid the hair matting or getting tangled.
What to do if your hair extension gets wet
When your hair extension gets wet under any circumstance like rain, swimming or any other way, you should use a soft hairbrush or a loose tooth comb to brush it, so it would not tangle. After untangling the hair extension, you should wash it with shampoo to cleanse it from chemicals or dirt in order to avoid your hair extension getting damaged.
Once you are done washing it, let it dry naturally or use a blow-dryer to dry it.
How to dry your hair extension
Once your hair extension is wet, wrap a dry towel around it till it is no longer dripping water. Then run a comb or a hairbrush through it to make sure it is not tangled. If you want to let it dry naturally, stay in a place where a natural breeze can blow on your hair, so it can dry.
If you want to use a blow-dryer, plug in your blow-dryer and use it to dry out your hair extensions.
Conclusion
Just because you have hair extensions does not mean you should give up or temporarily avoid getting into the water. You can swim with your hair extensions as long as you prep them first with a conditioner or use a swim cap on them and wash them with a cleansing shampoo right after.
Image Gallery – Can you Swim with Hair Extensions?
References: Artificial Hair, Wig.
