Smelly swimsuits

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K

ksanders57

0
Aug 16, 2012
8
Columbus, Ohio
Pool Size
7600
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
We have an 18 ft round above ground pool with a SWG with a sand filter. The pump runs continuously and the SWG is on during daylight hours.

For the past month or so, our swimsuits and skin smell like chlorine when we get out of the pool. I have read other posts about chlorine smell and have been testing for chloramines. They are always 0.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Here are my test results from this evening using the TFP test kit:

FC - 5.5 ppm
pH - 7.8
TA - 70
CH - 230
CYA - 50
Salt - 2650 ppm

Thanks,
Keith
 
The smell is CC. May not be enough to measure.

Are the bathing suits laundered between use or just left to dry?
 
How to put this delicately.

CC are a result of FC reacting with organic matter and oxidizing it.

You may have no CC's in your pool because you are measuring the pool water and the water has no organic material in it.

However, the swimsuits may have organic matter in them.

Note that I am not trying to be nasty or cute here. Maybe you are washing them in a detergent that leaves a reactive residue, maybe they sit in a wet pile and mildew grows, who knows.

Try taking a swimsuit, wash it in a neutral detergent, and then dunk it in the pool. See if it still smells like CC.


-dave
 
After swimming, all swimsuits come off and are put in the washing machine. I wash them separately from everything else using the lowest amount of detergent in the measuring cup as well as 1/2 cup of OxiClean (peroxide helps to neutralize any FC or CCs left in the suit). After the wash they go into the dryer (separately again) and I dry them on Air-Only mode. No fabric softeners in the wash and no dryer sheets in the dryer.

Never have any issues with them....
 
Our swimsuits, and skin, ALWAYS have that CC smell after swimming in the pool. I can't smell it IN the pool, or near the pool though. Pool ALWAYS tests at .5 or less CCs...... No one else ever seems to smell it or at least ever comments about it, I always get comments about the pool NOT having "that chlorine smell" I've just been writing it off as us having sensitive sniffers.:scratch::scratch::scratch:
 
JoyfulNoise said:
After swimming, all swimsuits come off and are put in the washing machine. I wash them separately from everything else using the lowest amount of detergent in the measuring cup as well as 1/2 cup of OxiClean (peroxide helps to neutralize any FC or CCs left in the suit). After the wash they go into the dryer (separately again) and I dry them on Air-Only mode. No fabric softeners in the wash and no dryer sheets in the dryer.

Never have any issues with them....
Click to expand...

^^^Ditto... except I use 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the wash and hang them out on the clothesline for an additional dose of disinfection from the sun while they dry. :cool:
 
I hear Apple cider vinegar is better for good health, you might want consider switching....although someone might mistake you for coleslaw....
 

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Cool. I was going to start a thread about this. I've never had measurable CC. My numbers are always spot on. Never smell chlorine in or about the pool. But can smell it on my skin when I get out of the pool. Not strong, but it's there. I'm much more comfortable after a swim since using TFPC. My pool guys were morons so no mystery there. But someone pointed out the itching was more likely pH. Anywho, I was going to ask others if they can smell chlorine on their skin after a TFP dip. Apparently others do.

I figured this: I'm organic. So the chlorine in the pool is just doing its job. Either on my loose skin, or sweat or whatever...

I only hang up my suit on a hook. Wash it every once in a while (I figure it just had a chlorine bath!!). Haven't noticed any issues, but my air is "quick dry" where I live, so nothing stays wet for long.

Not to divert this thread too much... but my eyes are not always fresh as a daisy after a swim. With salt water like tears and pH in the 7s, I was hoping for better. They sometimes bother me a bit for as long as a few hours after a swim. Since my pH rides the upper range, I experimented a bit by trying 7.5. I thought I noticed better feeling eyes afterward, but it wasn't much of an experiment. I went back up to 7.7-7.8 pretty quick as I'm focusing on CSI over eyeballs just now. But I'm curious to know: can anyone else feel the difference in their eyes between pH7.5 water and pH7.8 water?

I'm assuming lowering FC won't help the smell on my skin. At least not unless I go far below recommended, which is not an option. So I'll stay tuned here for any ideas about how to minimize both the chlorine smell and the slight eye irritation...
 
Stop rubbing your eyes when you come up from under the water. Blink, don’t rub. Rubbing your eyes pushes chlorinated water into your conjunctiva and nasolacrimal duct causing irritation.

As for pH....your tears and bodily fluids have very strong pH buffers built into them. Pool water will not change that. So the pH of the fluids in and around your eyes wil not shift a whole lot....unless you’re RUBBING them and forcing water into your eyes.

Don’t rub, blink....
 
Dirk said:
Cool. I was going to start a thread about this. I've never had measurable CC. My numbers are always spot on. Never smell chlorine in or about the pool. But can smell it on my skin when I get out of the pool. Not strong, but it's there. I'm much more comfortable after a swim since using TFPC. My pool guys were morons so no mystery there. But someone pointed out the itching was more likely pH. Anywho, I was going to ask others if they can smell chlorine on their skin after a TFP dip. Apparently others do.
Click to expand...
Natural skin pH is mid 5's, when it's too alkaline it can become drier and more sensitive. Hair & scalp pH is around 5 give or take .5, that's why pool water can make your hair dry and brittle. Rinsing your hair with diluted vinegar (white or apple cider) makes your hair feel softer because it helps restore the proper pH.

Dirk said:
I figured this: I'm organic. So the chlorine in the pool is just doing its job. Either on my loose skin, or sweat or whatever...
Click to expand...
I agree! I also wonder how much this is related to the use of sunscreens, lotions etc. maybe that's why some notice it more.

Dirk said:
I only hang up my suit on a hook. Wash it every once in a while (I figure it just had a chlorine bath!!). Haven't noticed any issues, but my air is "quick dry" where I live, so nothing stays wet for long.
Click to expand...
Is that hook in the sun? I also think that some fabrics hold odors more than others. Natural vs. synthetics.

Dirk said:
Not to divert this thread too much... but my eyes are not always fresh as a daisy after a swim. With salt water like tears and pH in the 7s, I was hoping for better. They sometimes bother me a bit for as long as a few hours after a swim. Since my pH rides the upper range, I experimented a bit by trying 7.5. I thought I noticed better feeling eyes afterward, but it wasn't much of an experiment. I went back up to 7.7-7.8 pretty quick as I'm focusing on CSI over eyeballs just now. But I'm curious to know: can anyone else feel the difference in their eyes between pH7.5 water and pH7.8 water?

I'm assuming lowering FC won't help the smell on my skin. At least not unless I go far below recommended, which is not an option. So I'll stay tuned here for any ideas about how to minimize both the chlorine smell and the slight eye irritation...
Click to expand...
I remember an opthomalogist once telling me that the pH of our eyes is around 7, but it changes throughout the day. I seem to recall it's lowest after your eyes have been closed for a while... in the morning or after a nap. Maybe that explains why sometimes your eyes are more irritated than others.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Don’t rub, blink....
Click to expand...

I'll pay better attention and see if that's what I'm doing. Thanks.

Winnie-the-Pool said:
Natural skin pH is mid 5's, when it's too alkaline it can become drier and more sensitive. Hair & scalp pH is around 5 give or take .5, that's why pool water can make your hair dry and brittle. Rinsing your hair with diluted vinegar (white or apple cider) makes your hair feel softer because it helps restore the proper pH.

I agree! I also wonder how much this is related to the use of sunscreens, lotions etc. maybe that's why some notice it more.

Is that hook in the sun? I also think that some fabrics hold odors more than others. Natural vs. synthetics.

I remember an opthomalogist once telling me that the pH of our eyes is around 7, but it changes throughout the day. I seem to recall it's lowest after your eyes have been closed for a while... in the morning or after a nap. Maybe that explains why sometimes your eyes are more irritated than others.
Click to expand...

Skin is mid 5's as in 5.5?! Huh.

I wear no lotions, so it's just me and the chlorine. If chlorine can dissolve bugs and leaves, isn't it going after my skin, too? At least to some degree?

Hook is inside, in by bathroom. So, ya know, the worst place to dry something out. But it's still fine.

I thought I learned here that eyes are 7.5. So I figured 7.5 pool water would feel better than 7.8. But Matt's saying that the eyes can protect themselves, pH-wise. I'll try and catch myself rubbing them... I'm fairly certain I'm doing something with the towel. I know I'm not blinking them dry, so I suspect I'm pushing on them in some way with the towel. And maybe I'm rubbing them while I'm swimming and playing in the water without thinking about it...
 
Dirk said:
Skin is mid 5's as in 5.5?! Huh.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's why soaps are so irritating, they are alkaline.

Dirk said:
I wear no lotions, so it's just me and the chlorine. If chlorine can dissolve bugs and leaves, isn't it going after my skin, too? At least to some degree?
Click to expand...
I said I agree, I'm just saying that maybe for folks that use those products the scent may be stronger or more noticeable.

Dirk said:
but my air is "quick dry" where I live,
Click to expand...
Dirk said:
Hook is inside, in by bathroom. So, ya know, the worst place to dry something out. But it's still fine.
Click to expand...
How is your air in your bathroom "quick dry" based on where you live? :scratch: LOL!

Dirk said:
I thought I learned here that eyes are 7.5. So I figured 7.5 pool water would feel better than 7.8. But Matt's saying that the eyes can protect themselves, pH-wise. I'll try and catch myself rubbing them... I'm fairly certain I'm doing something with the towel. I know I'm not blinking them dry, so I suspect I'm pushing on them in some way with the towel. And maybe I'm rubbing them while I'm swimming and playing in the water without thinking about it...
Click to expand...
The conversation with the opthomalogist was specifically about why the children's eyes were sometimes more irritated than others after swimming... and I remember thinking I'm not lowering my pH to 7, but maybe that was the lower end of the range, as they did say it changes throughout the day.

I'm going to have to agree to disagree with Matt. If your eyes could protect themselves, it wouldn't matter what the pH of eye drops are and it wouldn't matter what solution is used for an eyewash to neutralize chemical splashes to the eye.

Though I agree you should "pat" with a towel and not rub.
 
I said I agree, I'm just saying that maybe for folks that use those products the scent may be stronger or more noticeable.
Click to expand...

I just meant there's nothing between my skin and the chlorine. I would have guessed that maybe a lotion could provide a layer of protection against chlorine? Seems there'd be a study about this somewhere...

How is your air in your bathroom "quick dry" based on where you live?
Click to expand...
I just know some locals are better than others. In my previous house, near the ocean, everything was affected by the air. Crackers in the cupboards, tools in my garage, towels on the rack, etc. I had to think about, and battle, moisture and corrosion and mold all the time. Where I live now everything is dry, and dries more quickly when it gets wet, inside the house and out. No mold on the window frames. I can wash a dirty shovel and leave it out and it'll dry before it rusts. Things like that. Quick dry!
 
Dirk said:
I just know some locals are better than others. In my previous house, near the ocean, everything was affected by the air. Crackers in the cupboards, tools in my garage, towels on the rack, etc. I had to think about, and battle, moisture and corrosion and mold all the time. Where I live now everything is dry, and dries more quickly when it gets wet, inside the house and out. No mold on the window frames. I can wash a dirty shovel and leave it out and it'll dry before it rusts. Things like that. Quick dry!
Click to expand...
Ok, I'll let you slide on that. :wink:
 

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