Hair Coloring, Steam, Sauna & Pool

Woman with her hair covered with a towel
Photo: Zoteva/Shutterstock
Q: Should I stay out of steam baths, saunas, and pools after coloring my hair? For how long, if so?
 
A: Yes, you should strictly avoid all three for at least 48 to 72 hours after your color service. Right after coloring - particularly with dark, vibrant, or bleached shades - your hair cuticle remains lifted, making the pigments vulnerable to bleeding, fading, and chemical interactions.
 
After that initial 3-day window, you don't have to avoid these environments entirely, but you do need to understand how each one affects your hair:
 
• Swimming Pools: Swimming pools pose a chemical threat. Chlorine bleaches hair color and strips moisture. And the green tint often seen in lightened or ash-toned hair isn't caused by chlorine directly. It happens when chlorine oxidizes dissolved metals (especially copper) in the pool water, causing them to bind to porous hair shafts.
 
• Dry Saunas: Color-treated hair is inherently more porous than virgin hair. The intense, dry heat of a sauna pulls remaining moisture out of the hair shaft, leaving colored hair brittle, dull, and prone to breakage.
 
• Steam Baths: Moist heat forces the hair cuticle to swell open even further. This causes artificial pigments to wash out quickly (leaving color bleeding onto your towel) and makes it difficult for the hair to retain moisture once dried.
 
How to protect your hair in a sauna or pool
 

How to Protect Your Hair

Since you can't avoid these spaces forever, you need proactive protection rather than complete avoidance:
 
• For the Sauna & Steam Room: Cover your hair with a dry towel to act as a heat insulator. Alternatively, coat your strands with a leave-in treatment or deep conditioner and wrap it in a damp, cool towel before stepping in a sauna or steam room. The gentle heat will transform your sauna session into a deep conditioning treatment while you are shielding your cuticle layer.
 
• For the Pool: The best defense is a fitted silicone swim cap. If that’s not an option, saturate your hair with clean tap water before stepping into the pool. Hair functions like a sponge, and filling it with fresh water prevents it from soaking up pool chemicals. Follow up immediately after swimming with a clarifying or chelating shampoo designed for swimmers to remove copper and chlorine deposits, followed by a cuticle-sealing conditioner.
 
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See also:
 
How to make hair color last longer
 
How do steam rooms affect your hair?
 
How can I keep my hair from drying out in a dry sauna?