So I’ve started this swimming thing, and there are all these things about it that are a giant pain in the ass and I don’t know how other people deal with them. Like the swimsuit thing - so I don’t change there at the pool because I’m heading home anyway, right? I go home, take a shower, wring out my swimsuit, drape it over the shower curtain rod or the side of the tub… and it drips and drips all over the bathroom and is in the way when my boyfriend goes to take a shower. I know some gyms have those little machines to suck the water out of your suit, but mine doesn’t.
So do you just get water all over your bathroom all the time or what?
You don’t need to dry it. Just wring it out, and put it in a plastic bag. As long as you swim every day, it won’t get moldy. (BTW, rinse it in non-pool water before you wring it.) This is what I do.
Oof. Is getting into the damp swimsuit the next day (or next swim session, whichever) not impossible? I’d think it would be. Anyway, I’ve always found it to be. Perhaps my suits are too small (a not unfounded accusation, let me tell you).
The labels on most of the swimsuits I’ve owned recommend hanging them to dry, apparently because heat is hard on the lycra.
As soon as I get home from the pool, I hang my suit in the laundry room, where I’ve installed a hook just for that purpose (perhaps you could install a hook in your bathroom?). I wring it out really well at the pool before I even stick it in my bag, so by the time I hang it, it really doesn’t drip all that much. It’s certainly 100% dry by the next time I need it, which is every second day.
My gym does actually have one of those spin dry machines, but I found it made my swimsuits deteriorate a lot faster than just hanging it.
I just hang mine on the towel rack about the tub. If I’m coming from the pool, it’s already dry enough when I get home. If I come from the beach, I might shower with it on to get the sand out. Then it drips all over, but I don’t really care.
A trip I learned while travelling. Lay a towel on a flat surface and put the bathing suit on it. Roll up the towel so the bathing suit layers up in it. Squish for a bit and you bathing suit will dry considerably (not all the way, but it’ll be much better).
And don’t waste a cent on those rip-off drops for “swimmer’s ear.” Put a little rubbing alcohol in your ears after swimming every time, and you’ll never get it. However, in my experience, if you should be so unfortunate to get it somehow, boric acid mixed with rubbing alcohol (99 Cents Only store for, well, 99 cents) will kill the infection a lot more cheaply than what the doctor prescribes you. (This is not medical advice, however.)
That’s what I do with my “competition suit” the manly Speedo. I use the salad-spinner at the gym, then when I get home I wash it to get the chlorine out (suit lasts longer), then I roll it up in a hand towel and step on it.
My other suit is more like board shorts, and that one I just toss on the regular drying rack with my other workout stuff.
Yes - trying to get your bra back on after you’ve been swimming for a while and your skin is damp and a bit waterlogged. I have to do the hook-in-front and turn-it-around maneuver and the bra just will…not…turn…around when I am damp. Gah!!
I happen to have a shower caddy that hangs over my shower head, and it has hooks on the bottom of it for Og-knows-what but they sure are handy for hanging a suit on. Lucky for me my roommate, The King Of Too Many Showers, is nice enough to remove the suit from the shower before turning on the water.
I think before I got my swimsuit-hanger-and-shower-caddy, I just wringed it out and put it on the towel rack on the back of the door. Or maybe over the curtain bar. Honestly, after a good wringing, I never noticed any drip on the floor.
So yeah, you need something hooky to hang it inside your shower. They do sell such hooks, independent of shower caddies, for hanging back brushes and loofahs.
Oh, cute story - this morning when I went for my lesson there were a billion little black kids learning to swim just finishing up their class. This little girl in the locker room asked me if I was here to swim, and I said yes, I’m taking a lesson just like you are! And she gave me a dirty look and said, “Nuh-uh! White ladies know how to swim!” She wasn’t going to let me put one over on her, no sirree.
I have a hot tub so there are always wet bathing suits and towels. My solution is to hang the wet suits on a towel rack sitting on a tray designed for muddy shoes. The tray catches the drips and the whole thing is only 8" deep so you can put it almost anywhere (in a corner, a closet, or behind a bedroom door).
What I do: After swimming, shower while still suited at the pool to rinse the chlorine out of the suit or else the chlorine will dissolve the elastic. Why go home to shower? You’re already halfway done. Finish up at the pool and be done in half the time. Roll up suit in towel, go home.
Multiple suits.
I’ve taken to having 2 swimming suits. Every couple of years, we go on a vacation where we end up swimming frequently, and I HATE putting on damp swimming suits. Spring for a second suit. That way, after rolling your suit up in a towel to get out most of the water, you can let it dry for a longer time.
Are you travelling home still wearing your wet swimming costume? That sounds horrible.
I have a small (maybe 7x3x3 in) sponge bag with travel bottles in that I take swimming. That way I have my own shampoo, conditioner etc. I bought the bottles empty and refill them from my main supply. Why bother getting dressed only to go home, get undressed and shower? I also do the rolling up the costume in the towel that others have described. By the time I get home it’s dry enough to hang without dripping. Alternatively you can put it in with a load of washing to get the chlorine out.
