# Does anyone shower before using a public pool? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113 "2020-09-08T18:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113/41 "2020-09-16T17:16:44Z")
In my HS swimming class, we showered after the class- they didn’t give us enough time to shower before. Aside from that, the only public pools I’ve ever used were at hotels- which have neither signs nor showers. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113/42 "2020-09-16T17:22:29Z")
It’s so strange to me that people keep saying this. Maybe it varies by state. I think of signs as being ubiquitous at hotel pools, along with a poolside shower. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113/43 "2020-09-16T18:35:35Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Protip: you can do both! I routinely do both. I’m really puzzled by all the people who don’t rinse off before jumping into shared water. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113/44 "2020-09-16T21:32:28Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > It’s so strange to me that people keep saying this. Same. It has literally _never_ occurred to me to do such a thing. That said, I’ve really only been to public pools as a little kid through my teens, so maybe there was a sign at the entrance that I never noticed. If there was, it was never ever brought to my attention and the idea was never mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113/46 "2020-09-25T15:40:27Z")
In the UK, this ‘shower before pool’ signage is something that seems to have creeped in without me noticing - we certainly didn’t have it when I was a child in the 70s (but we did have the shallow disinfected bath to step into). I went to the outdoor pool at my sports club for the first time recently and noticed that (a) signs asked you to shower and (b) nobody did, as far as I could see. The lifeguard paid no notice. Didn’t help that there weren’t any outdoor showers by the pool - maybe people had showered in the changing rooms beforehand, although I doubt it. Most people seemed to be there to sunbathe rather than swim. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113/47 "2020-09-25T19:24:50Z")
My former health club in NYC had a shower-before-pool rule as well. (Which basically means rinse off for 30 seconds in your bathing suit before jumping in.) They had a couple shower heads right on the pool deck for that purpose. It’s a good rule. They also enforced mandatory swim caps, which I found annoying. But apparently it helps keep hair out of the filter. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113/48 "2020-09-26T04:58:49Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > This is the first time I’ve _ever_ heard of this being a thing! I certainly never once went in the shower before jumping into the pool as a kid and I don’t remember anyone else doing so either. It’s been many many years since I’ve been to a public pool, is this something that started recently? Nope. I took swimming lessons when I was in kindergarten, so 1982-83, at our local Y (in Massachusetts) and we always showered before our lesson. Us littles wore our bathing suits for the showers, but I have no idea what the adults did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-shower-before-using-a-public-pool/920113.md?page=2)