Wet Swimsuits everywhere

[joannqn]

I have three kids in swimming lessons twice a week. We have no mud room and only one bathroom. So, I have all these super wet towels and swimsuits hanging all over our bathroom all the time, in addition to our towels for bathing. It's not a pretty sight, and we don't have enough hanging space for all of it so towels aren't drying thoroughly between uses.

 

What do you do with towels and swimsuits between uses? Help!

[ChristusG]

I feel your pain. My two are in swimming lessons last week and this week. Every. Single. Day. Plus, we have our own pool. I've started tossing the swimsuits and towels into the dryer as soon as we walk in the door from lessons. Otherwise, there are wet, dripping suits everywhere.

[twilkin]

Do they have a spot in their rooms they could hang them up on? Or just get in the habit of collecting all the wet stuff as soon as they get out of the water, run it through a quick wash and dry it. I know, just what you needed, more laundry.

[chiguirre]

A wood laundry drying rack is great for swimming gear. You can set it up outside in a sunny patch or in the bathroom.

[Lolly]

The standing laundry racks work great. Because our problem is year round, I have put quilt racks in each child's room and they hang their towels and suits on them when they get home. They look just a little nicer. An over the back of the door towel rack in the room can work as well. My mom hung towel racks in each bedroom.

[Chris in VA]

I feel your pain. My two are in swimming lessons last week and this week. Every. Single. Day. Plus, we have our own pool. I've started tossing the swimsuits and towels into the dryer as soon as we walk in the door from lessons. Otherwise, there are wet, dripping suits everywhere.

 

This is what I do--the dryer can be hard on swimsuits, but with the way my kids grow (at least when they are pre-16 or so), suits only last a year anyway, so I don't mind drying them this way.

[plansrme]

Each child has a hook in the garage for his or her towel. Wet pool towels never come in the house except for the (very) occasional laundering. A friend has a clothes line in her garage, but I just put hooks in the wall. Swimsuits dry faster than towels and hang over the door knobs in their rooms.

 

I have an Ikea cabinet (with doors, to keep the dust off) in the garage for dry pool towels and the family pool bag, which stays stocked with sunscreen, pool toys, etc.

 

Terri

[joannqn]

A wood laundry drying rack is great for swimming gear. You can set it up outside in a sunny patch or in the bathroom.

 

 

:rofl: I live in the land of eternal rain! :rofl:

 

Sorry, couldn't pass that one up. Actually, we had three beautiful 60 degree sunny days in a row. It was awesome, and we actually got our garden started finally. Then it poured all night on the blanket we accidentally left outside, and both of my sons' only pair of shoes, and filled the sandbox we left open.

[joannqn]

Can you install a towel bar on a hollow core door?

[cjbeach]

Add to that a few more days + sand and that's my life. I don't ever want to move closer to the SAND, I mean,uh beach. ;) My van is covered in sand. I could help beach erosion with the sand in my van.

 

And then the sand-covered, wet,goopy beach toys, practice board, boogie boards,skim baords, etc... somehow make it into the house from the garage and the sand winds up in my house. Blech.

[Jean in Newcastle]

At an Asian market you can often get a round plastic clothes hanger http://www.storepulls.com/products/Assorted_Colors_Round_Plastic_Clothes_Hanger-131743-2986.html The handle is wide enough to go over a shower curtain rod (because Asian clothes lines are actually thick dowels). I use something like that in my bathroom.

[Teachin'Mine]

Can you install a towel bar on a hollow core door?

 

Yes - use molly screws. :)

 

You can also use the suction cup hooks inside the bath surround or shower walls. Unless you have an area that isn't hit with spray from the shower, the suits will have to be removed when someone showers or they'll be perpetually wet. But it can help.

 

I like the idea of using the back of the door. :)

[In The Great White North]

If you use a regular washer or dryer for a lycra suit (like a Speedo), it will cause more wear (and likely not last anywhere near a year.)

 

Dc hang their suits on their doorknobs. This only works if they've rolled them up in their towels on the way home so they don't drip. It works even better if they roll their suits up in their towels then stand on it. The suit dryers at the pool work great, but they also cause more wear and tear.

[Starr]

If you don't have much space you can put a drying rack in your tub for the towels. Just take the whole thing out and put it in the hall if they need to bathe. I second the suits on the door knobs. Other option is towels in the dryer and hang the suits.

[kalanamak]

I tumble mine on low and keep an eye on them, so they don't get hothothot.

[joannqn]

Thanks for the ideas. I think the best option for us will be some way of hanging them in their rooms, either on the back of the door or on the wall behind the door, maybe.

[swimmermom3]

My laundry room is not very big; sink w/cabinet, washer and dryer on along one wall, window at the far end, and a blank opposite wall. Floor space is a little narrower than a hallway. The blank wall has 3 towel racks staggered at various heights for each child's towel and suit. The older kids lay their suits on plastic hangers that hang on a bar over the sink. I have an ironing board hanger that is very sturdy and those massive swim bags hang from it to keep them off the floor.

[joannqn]

My laundry room is not very big; sink w/cabinet, washer and dryer on along one wall, window at the far end, and a blank opposite wall. Floor space is a little narrower than a hallway. The blank wall has 3 towel racks staggered at various heights for each child's towel and suit. The older kids lay their suits on plastic hangers that hang on a bar over the sink. I have an ironing board hanger that is very sturdy and those massive swim bags hang from it to keep them off the floor.

 

Your laundry room sounds heavenly to me. My "laundry room" is in the dirt cellar. A third of the floor is rough cement; the furnace and hot water heater are up on blocks and the washer and dryer are on their feet twisted as high as they go in that portion of the cellar. The rest of the cellar is a giant mound of dirt holding the 8x8 house supports steady. Everything is raised because the cellar floods during the winter. The sump pump keeps it from actually flooding but the floor is sopping wet most of the winter. I have no window, wall, or sink down there...just the cobwebs and dirt. :D

[Laura Corin]

Can you set up an outdoor line for dry days?

 

Laura

[In The Great White North]

I have an ironing board hanger that is very sturdy and those massive swim bags hang from it to keep them off the floor.

 

What did you use to screw it in? Dc's swim bags have actually torn a (fairly sturdy) coat hook out of the wall (1 x 6 wood, not drywall.)

[Caribbean Queen]

outside clothes line

[Teachin'Mine]

I forgot our best trick for handling this. We switched from using towels at the pool to using the foamy soak it all up and wring it out thingys! Can you tell I've forgotten the name of them. :lol:

 

You can get them at Walmart and they soak up water like you wouldn't believe. It's what the swimmers and divers use in the Olympics - that small square of a "cloth". Then after showering, we use it to dry off and after squeezing out, roll up rinsed out bathing suit in it. This foamy thingy goes back in it's plastic case, and the bathing suits get hung up inside the shower. Unfortunately, dd likes to wrap up in one of the large beach towels, so we still end up with one soaking towel that we hang up too and then throw in the next wash.

[EarleneW]

I hear you- I have 3 on swim team- They practice every day and we have suits and towels EVERYWHERE!

[plansrme]

I forgot our best trick for handling this. We switched from using towels at the pool to using the foamy soak it all up and wring it out thingys! Can you tell I've forgotten the name of them. :lol:

 

You can get them at Walmart and they soak up water like you wouldn't believe. It's what the swimmers and divers use in the Olympics - that small square of a "cloth". Then after showering' date=' we use it to dry off and after squeezing out, roll up rinsed out bathing suit in it. This foamy thingy goes back in it's plastic case, and the bathing suits get hung up inside the shower. Unfortunately, dd likes to wrap up in one of the large beach towels, so we still end up with one soaking towel that we hang up too and then throw in the next wash.[/quote']

 

swimoutlet.com has these for about $6. They are great for swim meets when they're getting in and out of the pool a lot. We still go through one big pool towel, as the foamy thing doesn't do much for keeping you warm, but the big towel goes home dry.

 

Terri

[Teachin'Mine]

swimoutlet.com has these for about $6. They are great for swim meets when they're getting in and out of the pool a lot. We still go through one big pool towel, as the foamy thing doesn't do much for keeping you warm, but the big towel goes home dry.

 

Terri

 

 

We try to have her dry off with the foamy thing first, but she usually gets out of the water and wraps up right away. But those foamy things are awesome!!! :)

[Ferdie]

Can you install a towel bar on a hollow core door?

 

You can also use over the door clothes hooks. You can buy them at Target, Walmart or a hardware store. THey look like this and don't need any installation:

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Over-the-Door-Hooks-Chrome/10973671

[swimmermom3]

Your laundry room sounds heavenly to me. My "laundry room" is in the dirt cellar. A third of the floor is rough cement; the furnace and hot water heater are up on blocks and the washer and dryer are on their feet twisted as high as they go in that portion of the cellar. The rest of the cellar is a giant mound of dirt holding the 8x8 house supports steady. Everything is raised because the cellar floods during the winter. The sump pump keeps it from actually flooding but the floor is sopping wet most of the winter. I have no window, wall, or sink down there...just the cobwebs and dirt. :D

 

Oh rats! I can see why you won't be hanging suits and towels down there. What's the stairwell like going down to the cellar? Is it open on both sides or is there a place for towel bars? Of course, if you have little ones, it's not the safest place.

 

What did you use to screw it in? Dc's swim bags have actually torn a (fairly sturdy) coat hook out of the wall (1 x 6 wood, not drywall.)

 

Mollybolts and lots of them! Actually, the rack has two screws on each side. We are looking for another one like it. They have to be study to hold an ironing board and an iron.

[Lolly]

swimoutlet.com has these for about $6. They are great for swim meets when they're getting in and out of the pool a lot. We still go through one big pool towel, as the foamy thing doesn't do much for keeping you warm, but the big towel goes home dry.

 

Terri

 

Not when you are kneeling on them to turn cards for distance events! Our towels come home almost dripping wet.:glare::D:lol:

[In The Great White North]

Not when you are kneeling on them to turn cards for distance events! Our towels come home almost dripping wet.:glare::D:lol:

 

Use a kickboard if ti's available.

 

Warning: the "Sammy" things mold in their cute little plastic cases. Overnight.

[plansrme]

Not when you are kneeling on them to turn cards for distance events! Our towels come home almost dripping wet.:glare::D:lol:

 

No no no, that's what the kickboard is for!

 

I think swim meet sponsors could make a ton of money by offering a clothes dryer. To heck with what the Europeans think of us--wouldn't it be great to pay a dollar or so to throw your wet towels in the dryer at an all-day meet and get them back, warm and dry?

 

Terri

[kalanamak]

Thanks for the ideas. I think the best option for us will be some way of hanging them in their rooms, either on the back of the door or on the wall behind the door, maybe.

 

When it is just one boy's suit, putting it over the vent in the bathroom. That vent is always open, to help air out the BR in our wet climate. In summer, it goes in the sun on the back porch. If I have lots of suits, that's when I bring in the drier.

[Lolly]

Use a kickboard if ti's available.

 

Warning: the "Sammy" things mold in their cute little plastic cases. Overnight.

 

No no no, that's what the kickboard is for!

 

I think swim meet sponsors could make a ton of money by offering a clothes dryer. To heck with what the Europeans think of us--wouldn't it be great to pay a dollar or so to throw your wet towels in the dryer at an all-day meet and get them back, warm and dry?

 

Terri

 

We don't have kick boards available at meets. I do try and make sure the hotels we stay in have a dryer available. It helps. Especially when you have 4 swimming which produce between 8-12 wet towels a day.

[keptwoman]

A rack hanging from the roof of the garage? You could put it on a pulley so you can raise and lower it. We have one in our covered outdoor area and it's brilliant.