Towels go into the laundry, wet suits get rinsed out while showering and hung on hooks inside the shower and/or on the showerheads.

We hang the towels on the pool fence so they can use them next time. Their suits go over the side of the bathtub. We have 6 in our family so I know what it means to have lots of them. I already feel like I wash so many loads of towels I couldn't imagine if they only used them once. I wish I had a better system, but until I hear something better this is the best we can do.

We put the towels in the dryer when we are done swimming for the day. Wet suits air dry in the bathtub and shower. Sometimes they go in the dryer.

I just purchased a towel rack from Frontgate for outside drying of towels in between swims.

Swimsuits get hung over the laundry tub in the laundry room or in the towel bar in the showers. Our towels were getting hung over the pool fence to dry (that is what you see most people doing around here) because I just can't imagine the laundry if I washed them every time. We just recently started hanging them over the backs of our high-back patio chairs because we've had some windy days and they would blow off of the pool fence and into the pool. When they dry, I fold them back up and set them neatly on top of our mini-fridge. I'll wash them after every 2-3 uses. The kids each have their own towels (Thomas the tank engine, Cars for my son and my daughter has a Twister game towel and Hello Kitty) so it is the same child using a particular towel each time.

Last year we started limiting our kids to TWO pool towels per swim season. We bought color coded towels, and each kid had to be responsible for his/her own towels. They could use one while the other was being washed/dried. It forced them to hang them up to dry when they realized they couldn't just pull another one from the shelf.

Wet suits get hung in our bathroom as well.

We installed an additional shower curtian rod in our shower/tub about an inch or so from the shower wall. Wet suits go over the rod, and all of those drips go in the tub, not down the side. The second rod was on of those spring rods, so it's not a permenant thing. Also this bathroom is in the basement, so it's mainly used for the pool / basement / spare bathroom.

Towels air dry outside. I love the idea of assigned towels. Great way to teach responsibility and concequences!

This year were ditching the above ground pool off of the basement and building an inground pool with a cabanna (no restroom, just a changing area) off of the living room. The main traffic flow is about to change drastically, so we'll see if this still works anymore. Kids tend to seek out the path of least resistance!

-Renee

ROFL Padrefan! I feel your pain!

Scrapula, that Frontgate system is sweet, but wow at $200 I think I'll just settle for lusting.

Throwing the towels in the dryer would work. I could wash them daily too, but living in SoCal, I know we are facing a drought and I can't justify washing a towel after one use.

DH doesn't want them draped over the pool fence for the eye sore factor I was talking about. We don't have bathtubs in every room and I don't want suits dripping on floors. I can have the kids hang their suits on the showerheads - when they get tall enough - but they can reach the valves, and hopefully the suits would be dry in the morning.

I like the idea of color coded towels per kid and the responsibility factor. Target run!

Little Country gal: we built an outdoor (heated) shower next to the pool so we could rinse off right out of the pool. Its just a shower head and valve stuck on the outside of the cabana, with a drain. That way we aren't wrapping a towel around us, going into our own bathrooms (no common bath like you have, with the possiblity of putting up a rod), showering, and then getting a second towel wet. No one wants a clothes line in their shower, :-( dang.

We could get two racks like these from Ikea ($17) outside our laundry room door. This one seems to have enough horizontal real estate. All the other ones are pretty vertical and the towels may not dry sufficiently.

We picked up a towel rack at the local pool store....Pinch A Penny in Florida. Its made out of white pvc pipes about 4 ft tall with three horizontal pipes so a towel can be hung in half over the bar. It was around $30. Google Towel Tree, I just checked there is one similar at Target only it has a blue base, mine is white. pooltoys.com todayspatio.com patiofurnitureinc.com poolmart.com They vary in price and size so check a few stores. I am sure you can get it inexpensive.
I wash the towels after 3 swims or when they get that funny smell. We hang them on the outdoor rack, even the swim suits. It looks better than draping over the fence. I hide it in the corner when we are not using it.

OMG gk5040 my hubs LOVES to make things out of PVC. We have my son's old science project - a 'cart' made out of PVC pipes - thats just sitting in the side yard. We can recycle it!

Keep the ideas coming folks!

I bet you could duplicate it very easily. Good luck. If you send me your email, I will email you a picture of ours.....I dont know how to post a picture. gk5040@aol.com

Cindy

Cindy, I just sent you my email. DH is excited about making this a 'family building project'. Thanks!

To post a picture, you have to sign up with a picture hosting site like photobucket. Upload your picture - use 'browse' to help find your source (camera, memory stick, etc.). Some folks use tinypic also but it doesn't save your photos in your account. Photobucket has tags you can cut and paste right into the 'message' box. I usually just right click to grab the text. Then I enter:

[img src=******] NOTE: replace the [] with

where the ****** are where you 'paste' your 'copy'. If that doesn't work, let me know!

My parents have the PVC one and it has been great.

We, on the other hand, have a bathroom off of the pool. We put one of those over the door racks on it. We got it as Lowes. It has two rows of silver hooks. As we go in we hang up the towels and after we shower (and rinse out the bathing suits) we reach around and hang them on the door. It's much better for us then the drying rack, because it's one less thing on the patio and it doesn't fall over.

I thought it was a temporary solution but we love it.

Good luck!

Padrefan...you ALWAYS crack me up. I feel the same way about the pool toys! Maybe the next time my kids leave their stuff out I should hang their bathing suits up on those hooks with my sons still in them! "You're going to do what when you get down?"

Kristen

Towels hang on the fence. Suits either in the bathrooms or on the fence(mine and DH are always in the bathroom). I don't think of hanging towels/suits on fences as an eyesore but the sign of a well loved and used pool!

Amen, ld14051

DH and I went to Lowe's today. He bought about $45 worth of PVC pipes and parts to construct this thing.

Stay tuned for the weekend assembly (hopefully).....

We too have a towel tree. Jessy you may be bummed but it is made out of all PVC, already constructed, with a weighted base, and it cost me $25. I got it on Ebay.

We hang lifejackets on it too. Eventually I'd like to get a nice-looking one though. It's not very pretty looking.

Well, I am lucky enough to live in Phoenix (ugh!). Nothing stays wet for more than 2 minutes, LOL! We hang them on the fence or on the chairs. I wash them about every third day. Each of my kids has a special towel and is very protective of it.

My worst problem is all the toys. Someone suggested a mesh hammock like they us for camping so things can dry out at the same time. I really like the idea, but not sure where to hang it. What do you do with your toys?

Snookums - no problem. We actually saw a tree at a pool supply store just before our trip to Lowe's. My DH is the kind of guy who wants stuff done 'his way' - bigger, better, badder. So whats a few extra dollars in the midst of a whole house, 4.5 year remodel, LOL! The tree we saw was actually a little small for what I wanted - we have large towels and I wanted a wider span.

houseful I'll be looking to see what others post for toys. We have a

WOW!! I love you pool Jessyf! Please tell me what you have for decking. It is just the color I want for mine.

You're fortunate to have that cabana too. Is there a bathroom in it?

We hang pool towels and suits on the pool fence to dry and in summer they dry quick. I would be washing and drying endlessly if we did not do that, pool towels are definitly used more than once.I am trying to be a bit more green and as I come from England where everyone hangs out their washing to dry I am going to invest in a revolving dryer you know the kind on a pole with lots of lines attached. I have found a discreet spot out of site and that will be our new drying spot.

reno fan: I LOVED your idea of two colour coded towels per family member so much that I just went to Target and bought eight of their 5ft striped beach towels in four different colours (on sale $4 each). It is a great way to teach the kids (and DH) to be responsible for their own towel!

padrefan: your photo is priceless!!

tinamccullagh: I here you. I'm from Canada and my mom always hung all our laundry out dry (even when it was minus 25C). I'm not sure why North Americans have gotten away from that in recent years...I guess because it is just too easy to throw the wet laundry into the dryer. I too plan to buy one of those revolving clothes lines to tuck away out of site.

Wow, what a view, wish Florida had some hills:)

gk5040, Florida does have hills. I went to college at St. Leo University. It's on a top of a hill looking over Lake Jovita. Brooksville has some nice hills, too. There's a housing community called Southern Hills and they have many hillside lots to build your house on.

These are both on the same ridge that runs through central Pasco county and Hernando county.

Never been there, didnt know we had "hills" in Florida:)