That lingering chlorine smell after swimming isn’t actually chlorine itself. It’s chloramines, chemical byproducts that form when chlorine reacts with sweat, body oils, and urine in pool water. These compounds cling stubbornly to skin, hair, and fabric, which is why a quick rinse in the shower doesn’t always cut it. Getting rid of the smell requires neutralizing those chloramines, not just washing them away.
Why the Smell Sticks Around
Pure chlorine in a well-maintained pool has surprisingly little odor. The strong “pool smell” most people associate with chlorine is produced by chloramines, which form when dissolved chlorine binds to nitrogen-containing compounds from swimmers’ bodies. Chloramines are volatile, meaning they escape from the water surface into the air, and they also bond tightly to proteins in your skin and hair. This is why you can shower thoroughly and still catch a whiff of pool on yourself hours later.
Removing Chlorine Smell From Skin
Rinsing off immediately after leaving the pool is the single most effective step. The longer chloramines sit on your skin, the deeper they absorb. Use soap or body wash rather than water alone, since chloramines bind to oils and need a surfactant to break free.
Vitamin C is a reliable chloramine neutralizer. Crushing a few vitamin C tablets into a paste and rubbing it on your skin before showering breaks down chloramines on contact. Some swimmers keep a spray bottle of dissolved vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in their gym bag for a quick spritz before rinsing. You can also find body washes marketed to swimmers that contain ascorbic acid as their active ingredient.
If you don’t have vitamin C handy, rubbing a small amount of coconut oil or olive oil onto your skin before showering helps lift chloramines. The oil loosens the chemical bond, and soap then washes everything away together.
Getting Chlorine Out of Hair
Hair is particularly vulnerable because chloramines penetrate the outer cuticle layer and settle into the porous interior of each strand. Blonde or color-treated hair, which is more porous, absorbs even more. This is also why frequent swimmers sometimes notice a greenish tint, which comes from copper compounds in pool water binding to damaged hair proteins.
A pre-swim rinse with fresh water helps. Wet hair absorbs less pool water, the same way a sponge that’s already damp picks up less liquid. Wearing a swim cap adds another layer of protection, though it won’t create a perfect seal.
After swimming, chelating shampoos are designed specifically for this problem. They contain ingredients like EDTA, a chelating agent that grabs onto mineral and chemical deposits and strips them from hair. Some also include sodium thiosulfate, which directly neutralizes chlorine. These shampoos are stronger than daily-use products, so using them once or twice a week rather than every wash prevents over-drying.
A simple home remedy works well too: rinse your hair with a mixture of one part apple cider vinegar to four parts water after shampooing. The mild acid helps close the hair cuticle and release trapped chloramines. Leave it on for a minute or two, then rinse with cool water.
Removing Chlorine Smell From Swimwear and Clothes
Chloramines break down the elastic fibers in swimsuits over time, so removing them quickly protects both the fabric and your nose. Rinse your suit in cold water as soon as possible after swimming. Don’t wring it out, which stresses the elastic. Instead, press it gently between towels.
For washing, add half a cup of baking soda to your regular wash cycle. Baking soda neutralizes the acidic chloramine compounds and pulls the smell out of fabric without damaging elasticity the way hot water or bleach would. Wash swimwear on a gentle cycle with cold water.
White vinegar is another option. Soaking your suit in a basin with one cup of white vinegar and cold water for 30 minutes before washing breaks down chloramines effectively. Don’t combine vinegar and baking soda in the same soak, since they neutralize each other and you lose the benefit of both.
Avoid putting swimsuits in the dryer. Heat accelerates the breakdown of spandex and lycra. Lay the suit flat on a towel to air dry, out of direct sunlight.
Clearing Chlorine Smell From Indoor Spaces
If you swim in an indoor pool and notice the smell is especially strong, the problem is almost certainly poor ventilation rather than too much chlorine. The CDC notes that chloramines build up in indoor pool air when ventilation systems recirculate moisture without bringing in enough fresh outside air. Dehumidifiers alone don’t solve the problem because they remove moisture but not the chloramine gases riding in that moisture.
For home pools or hot tubs in enclosed spaces, the fix is directing airflow across the water surface and exhausting that air outside. Opening windows or running exhaust fans that vent outdoors makes a noticeable difference. The goal is to sweep chloramine gases off the water surface before they accumulate in the room.
If your bathroom smells like chlorine after a swim, hanging your wet swimsuit and towel outside or in a well-ventilated area rather than in the bathroom prevents the smell from concentrating in a small space.
Reducing Chlorine Exposure in the First Place
Showering before you get in the pool is one of the most overlooked strategies. Rinsing off sweat, body oils, and cosmetics means there’s less material for chlorine to react with, which means fewer chloramines form in the first place. This helps everyone in the pool, not just you.
Applying a thin layer of a barrier lotion or pre-swim lotion before getting in creates a film between your skin and the water. These products are designed to reduce how much chlorinated water your skin absorbs. They won’t block everything, but swimmers who use them consistently report noticeably less lingering smell.
Timing matters too. Pools that have just been shocked (treated with a large dose of chlorine) tend to produce more chloramines as the fresh chlorine reacts with accumulated contaminants. Swimming a day after a shock treatment rather than the same day typically means less exposure.