does the pool count as a shower?

[busterthebronco]

we have a big discussion every trip.
DS says swimming in the pool counts as a shower.
DW says no way.
i cant decide.
i feel cleaner after swimming but after a day or two i feel chlorine-ee.
:confused:

[mickey&missy]

As a Mom, I have agree with your DW. I guess the chlorine counts for something but there is no soap. Plus, (sorry for saying this) there's always a chance someone peed in the pool:sick:!!

[faline]

I always shower after I go swimming in a pool.

[merlinmagic4]

:funny: Sounds like my son!

[Bethis26fan]

Shower is the first place I head when I get out of a pool. I can't help but think what else is swimming with me in that pool.

[Dakota Rose]

All I can say is "ewwww." I say swimming is reason for a shower even if you've already had one that day. The chlorine is just too harsh on skin and hair.

[fielin]

Actually, you're supposed to shower BEFORE you enter the pool, so as not to contaminate the water too much, although most of us don't do it...

So, the normal use of a public pool calls for a shower BEFORE and AFTER ! :mickey:

[MarkC]

I agree the pool is better than nothing, but it's clearly not as good as a shower. I think it's a matter of using soap and shampoo. Also, we have been at Beach Club when someone decided to use the bathroom (not #1 either) and the pool had to be cleared. So take a shower folks. Mark

[poohbearlover15]

Going in the pool is NOT taking a shower! You should take a shower after you are done swimming escpecially in hotel pools because they use a lot of chlorine so when you are done swimming wash all the chlorine off so you dont smell like it!:mickey:

[ncscgirl2005]

DW has my vote. Shower after coming out of the pool please.

[MNNHFLTX]

I appreciate your sense of efficiency and desire to conserve water (that's what it is, right?) But you really should take a shower after swimming, to wash all the chlorine off. :mickey:

[MsMin]

I have to agree w/ the shower. I head straight to the shower to recondition my hair and get the chlorine off. Maybe if it's a little kiddie pool w/ no chlorine (the little rings you fill up when you use them) and throw in some soap... then you can skip it!

[tinkerbell04]

I agree with your DW...doesn't count :)

[LauraF]

Nope, sorry . . . unless you have soap and shampoo in your pool.

[poeticeclipse]

I'm going to be "the other opinion" here.

I think you can stall having to take a shower for a little while. And by a little while I don't mean multiple days... I mean like one day.

Example... DS take a shower in the morning and then spends half a day at the park... comes back to the hotel and swims in the pool. Then continues with an active day. If DS isn't "dirty dirty" he can maybe hold out until the next day after he swims in the pool again. I wouldn't say that a swim in the pool is the same as a shower but... kids will be kids. And as long as its not an adult... I wouldn't worry so much.

[murphy1]

Having lived most of my life in FL and swimming a lot, I like to shower after, but didn't always as a kid. You live in a pool most of the year there.

[offwego]

no soap no shower.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

no soap no shower.

:thumbsup: My thoughts exactly!


We always shower after using the pool.

[PirateLover]

Women especially should at least rinse with water to get the chlorine out of their hair. Most public pools do have showers that you are supposed to use before and after. To give a straight answer to the question...no.

[Here we go again...]

I know what people do in pools and hot tubs... take a shower... and use some strong antibacterial soap.

[kakn7294]

While you may feel cleaner after swimming, pool water, especially in a public pool, is disgusting. Besides, you aren't actually washing off any dirt and germs just swimming - you need soap! I agree with you wife.

[PirateLover]

To everyone saying how disgusting pools are I just want to put your mind at ease a LITTLE bit. I worked at a day camp for 8 years and we went to a public pool in Philadelphia (In a so-so neighborhood) every day. The amount of chlorine thrown in that pool was absolutely ridiculous. The chlorine really does kill almost all bacteria. BUT you should still rinse off because it's just not good to walk around with those chemicals on you all the time. So my concern about not showering isn't what was picked up in the pool, rather what was not washed off previously and then getting that chlorine off.

[laughingplace<3]

Hello, have you ever seen the swimmers (who swim on swim teams, etc.) with the GREEN hair? That's what too much chlorine does to you. I'm not saying that will happen to you if you skip a shower, but you get the point of what chlorine does. Why you would want that on you, I don't know. If you're a kid, I think that swimming and then going back to the parks and showering at night is ok.

However, swimming is NEVER an exception for a shower, EVER! They even make special shampoos to take those chemicals out of your hair! They dry your hair up, aren't good for color-treated hair (AT ALL), ..... ew.

[#1donaldfan]

Very good question.....we've had a very long running joke that we take "pool showers".....it's funny you mentioned it, as I would have NEVER had the "guts" to.....my kids tell me everytime they run toward the pool.....we're going for our pool shower now!!!:mickey:

[merlinmagic4]

To everyone saying how disgusting pools are I just want to put your mind at ease a LITTLE bit. I worked at a day camp for 8 years and we went to a public pool in Philadelphia (In a so-so neighborhood) every day. The amount of chlorine thrown in that pool was absolutely ridiculous. The chlorine really does kill almost all bacteria. BUT you should still rinse off because it's just not good to walk around with those chemicals on you all the time. So my concern about not showering isn't what was picked up in the pool, rather what was not washed off previously and then getting that chlorine off.

This is true. My son is immune suppressed and we are supposed to be careful about a lot of things but it is perfectly fine for him to swim in a public pool. :thumbsup:

[Gooftroop5]

The pool is better than nothing which some people do but a shower to get the chemicals off is the best bet. The chemicals dry out your skin & hair.

Of course if you live where we live sometimes I think there is less chlorine in the pool then when I take a shower.

[Stitchahula]

What we've been known to do is shower in the AM go to the parks then when we come back to the hotel jump in the pool to rinse off park grime and rinse off. We then go to bed and wake up shower and start all over again, however you might want to atleast rinse off at the pool shower to get some of the chemicals off. That is the only way I can think that replacing a shower with a dip in the pool is ok.

[princessjojo]

Another vote for your DW. I have to agree with many who mentioned that the chlorine will pretty much kill whatever is in the water so yes, the water is "clean" but I can't think of any reason why I wouldn't shower after being in a pool. Sure I may postpone the full fledge body scrubbing until I go to bed that evening, but I would still rinse the excess chlorine off when I got out of the pool. Just to get rid of the smell of chlorine if for no other reason.

Then again, I am the one who feels the uncanny need to bathe in the morning before I go out and then again after coming home from the hospital or before I go to bed that evening.

[laughingplace<3]

Then again, I am the one who feels the uncanny need to bathe in the morning before I go out and then again after coming home from the hospital or before I go to bed that evening.

I'm like that too. I am always showering because being clean is a number one priority of mine. In fact, I am a person who washes their feet more than once a day and washes their hands obsessively. So maybe this shows up in my opinion? :blush:

[crazypoohbear]

being a mom of two boys I can say that a pool is not a shower. but having two boys I can also say that a pool is better than nothing :blush:
I would let it slide once or twice during vacation... after all it's vacation.
We would try to get them to rinse off after the pool before falling into bed exhausted at the end of the night but if they didn't so be it.

[castlegirl]

My husband, who is a Scoutmaster and takes 20+ boys to scout camp for a week, tells the boys every year:

"Swimming is not bathing"

Which he says it is quite evident who only goes swimming after a few days! ;)

[2disneyfans]

As a blonde child, I had the green hair experience while we were vacationing in Florida. While we showered once per day, it was not always AFTER swimming. The chlorine was very heavily added in the pools there, and I ended up with green hair. It required special shampoo to remove, and I definitely showered after swimming after that. :)

[garymacd]

As a former lifeguard, I have to say,

"Do you have any idea what people do in the pool???" :ack:

Don't freak out, the chlorine kills most of the bacteria. There is also the sweat and grime and dirt and dead skin cells (and OTHER body products - ick) that come from people. You are supposed to shower with soap and water before entering the pool.

Having said this, (I feel better now) I swam every day for about ten years as I trained to become a lifeguard then worked through high school, college and after, and never got sick from the water, but I never felt clean afterwards unless I showered. My hair (while I had it) was also like straw unless I washed and conditioned it. It was alright if I was going to be up on the guard tower for a few hours, but going out afterwards?? No way.

Sometimes, you just have to know a battle lost and, as countless husbands have learned, me included, submit to "She Who Must Be Obeyed." -Rumpole of the Bailey

[Quest4fun]

I used to think that the pool was a giant tub that you could do cannonballs in. After my first semester of chemestry I learned how soap worked. Here's the difference between the stuff on a rope and the stuff in a jug.

Chlorine neutralized by bacteria by pretty much killing it. Anything water soluble will take leave or body shortly after getting wet so you may notice the mud you were stomping in taking leave of your feet as you kick in the water. The dirt is gone but the grime remains. You may think because you smell like chlorine that the filth on your body has been cleansed. Nope. Your BO is simply masked by the prominent odor of chlorine that saturated the upper layers of skin. That newfound thick head of hair you have is the result of all the grime in the water sticking to you. Yeah, I know, it's gross.

Soap is far more impressive. Like chlorine you're left with a mildly pleasant odor. The similarities pretty much end there unless we're talking antibacterial soap then you get an additional similarity. The purpose of soap is to serve as a liason between water and filth. The oils on your skin are not soluble and need an agent to bond with if they're to be washed away.

"But Graham, couldn't I feasably take a bar of soap into the pool to get clean while having the time of my life?"

That's a good question Roger. I have a simple answer. Would you bathe in the toilet? You'd probably get cleaner than you would washing in your pool. Just make sure you flush a couple times first. This method has been shown to take longer though and it can be difficult to rinse.

In summary, soap works better when the water is as clean and free of chemicals as possible. The chemicals in your pool do a really good job of making sure everything you have stuck to your body remains stuck to your body. That's what they're there for. Adding soap to the mix probably isn't a good idea otherwise they'd recommend we treat our pools with Pantene instead of chlorine.

This concludes today's lesson. Tomorrow we'll be making plutonium out of common household items. We'll also learn how sheeps bladders can be used to prevent earthquakes.

[garymacd]

This concludes today's lesson. Tomorrow we'll be making plutonium out of common household items. We'll also learn how sheeps bladders can be used to prevent earthquakes.

OOOH Goody!!!

Can't Wait!

Love science.

[MissMaryPoppins]

I've always showered after I swim. The chlorine makes my hair feel gross. If I'm on vacation and have plans to go out after my swim I'll definetly shower. Nothing feels worse than that grimy , been sweating, all day feeling. A swim is definetly not a shower. A few years ago my father and I were at the pool bar at the Wilderness Lodge and suddenly the pool was cleared out. We weren't sure what was going on so I asked the bartender. She said to me "Have you ever seen 'Caddyshack?" We said yes and she said "I'll just leave it that." Just hearing that made me want to shower and I hadn't even been in the pool.