The Complete Pre- and Post-Swim Routine (Head to Toe)

Quick answer

A complete swim routine has three parts: protect before you swim, extract after, then restore. Before you get in, rinse with clean water and lay down a barrier, conditioner on your hair, lotion on your skin, eye gel around your eyes, so less chlorine reaches you in the first place. After you get out, wash with a chlorine-removing shampoo and body wash to lift the chlorine that bonded anyway, then re-condition and re-lotion to put back the moisture it stripped, and use the eye gel again to de-puff. The rule that trips most people up: shampoo and body wash are post-swim only (they remove), while conditioner, body lotion, and eye gel are dual-use (they protect before and restore after).

Why a half-routine doesn't work

I'm a swimmer, and for years my whole routine was "shower after." Scrub with whatever was in the locker room, towel off, leave. My hair felt like straw, my skin was tight and itchy by the afternoon, and I had goggle rings under my eyes most of the day. I thought that was just the cost of being in the water. It isn't, it's the cost of doing only half the job.

Here's the thing chlorine does. It doesn't sit on the surface waiting to be rinsed off. It bonds to your hair fibre and your skin, strips the natural oils that keep both soft, and the longer it sits the more it dries you out. So a routine that's only "wash after" is always playing catch-up, you're trying to remove damage that already happened. And a routine that's only "protect before" leaves the chlorine that got through sitting on you all day.

The fix is to think head to toe and in three phases. Protect what you can before you get in. Extract what got through once you're out. Then restore the moisture chlorine took. Miss any one of those and you feel it, usually in your hair first, then your skin, then those tired-looking eyes.

The routine: PROTECT → EXTRACT → RESTORE

This is the exact ritual I follow, and it's the system I built TRIHARD around. It covers all three places chlorine hits you: hair, skin, and the delicate area around your eyes.

PROTECT (before you swim)

The goal here is simple, get less chlorine onto you in the first place. Prevention is always easier than removal.

• Rinse with clean water first. Hair and skin are like sponges. Soak them in clean tap water before you get in and they absorb far less pool water once you're swimming. This is the free step nobody does.
• Hair barrier. Work a Pre & Post Swim Conditioner through your hair before your cap goes on. It lays down a protective layer so less chlorine reaches the fibre.
• Skin barrier. Smooth on Pre & Post Swim Body Lotion to put a barrier between your skin and the water and reduce how much chlorine it absorbs.
• Eye area. Apply the Goggle Marks Eye Gel around your eyes, not in them, before your goggles go on, to help protect that thin periorbital skin from goggle pressure and irritation.

One rule for this phase: do not reach for shampoo or body wash here. Those are removal products; there's nothing to remove yet. They come later.

EXTRACT (after you swim)

As soon as you're out, your job is to lift the chlorine that bonded despite the barrier. This is the non-negotiable phase.

• Hair. Wash with a true chlorine-removing shampoo. A chlorine-removal formula binds to the chlorine and lifts it off the hair instead of just sudsing the surface, and it neutralises that pool-deck smell rather than masking it. This is a post-swim product on purpose.
• Skin. Wash with the After-Swim Body Wash to remove chlorine and saltwater from your skin and relieve that tight, dried-out feeling. Like the shampoo, it's an after-only product.

RESTORE (finish)

Removing chlorine is only two-thirds of the job. It left your hair and skin stripped, so the last phase puts the moisture back, and de-puffs the eyes.

• Re-condition. Run the same Pre & Post Swim Conditioner through after shampooing. Post-swim it works with Argan oil, Vitamin B5, and Shea to soften and smooth. Skip it and your hair is clean but still dry.
• Re-lotion. Smooth on the Body Lotion again to hydrate and soothe the skin chlorine dried out.
• Eye gel again. Use the Eye Gel to de-puff and soothe goggle marks. The built-in ceramic applicator gives an instant cooling feel where you need it.

That's the full loop, protect, extract, restore, across hair, skin, and eyes. Three of these products do double duty (conditioner, lotion, eye gel protect and restore), and two are after-only (shampoo and body wash). Get that timing right and the whole thing clicks.

The minimum viable routine (for swim parents and occasional swimmers)

You don't have to run all ten steps to get most of the benefit. I built TRIHARD as a triathlete, but the people who need this most often aren't athletes at all, swim parents at weekly lessons, families at a water park, anyone who soaks in a hot tub, occasional pool-goers. You're taking the same chlorine hit, just without the daily habits a lap swimmer builds.

If the full ritual is more than you'll keep up with, here's the scaled-down version that still moves the needle:

1. Rinse with clean water before getting in. Free, fast, and it genuinely reduces how much chlorine soaks in.
2. Wash with a chlorine-removal shampoo and body wash after. This is the one phase you shouldn't skip, it's what actually lifts the chlorine.
3. Re-condition or re-lotion if your hair or skin tends to feel dry afterward.

For kids specifically, the same protect-then-remove logic applies, and TRIHARD makes a dedicated kids' line formulated for younger swimmers. Rinse them before the lesson, wash them after, that alone makes a visible difference.

How is TRIHARD different?

TRIHARD is the only swim-care brand built around both pre-swim protection and post-swim removal, a true 360° system instead of a single bottle, which is exactly why it can cover a head-to-toe routine. Every formula is dermatologically tested and powered by PLECOTECH™, our patent-pending technology built on a ratio of 100% natural red algae, Dead Sea minerals, and botanical extracts that neutralise and remove chlorine rather than masking it. All products are made in the USA, we're the only swim-care brand using recycled-plastic packaging, and we're backed by the largest roster of supporting athletes in the category.

If you want the whole system in one go: The Tri-Care (Shampoo + Conditioner + Body Wash) is the core hair-and-skin loop, the Chlorine-Removal Care Kit adds the Body Lotion and Eye Gel for the full head-to-toe ritual, and the Build Your Own Bundle lets you pick any three or more and save up to 20% if you'd rather assemble your own.

FAQ

What's the right order for a pre- and post-swim routine? Three phases: protect, extract, restore. Before you swim, rinse with clean water and apply conditioner, body lotion, and eye gel as barriers. After, wash with a chlorine-removal shampoo and body wash. Then re-condition, re-lotion, and use the eye gel again to restore moisture and de-puff.

Which products go before swimming and which go after? Conditioner, body lotion, and eye gel are dual-use, they protect before and restore after. Shampoo and body wash are after-only; they remove chlorine, so there's nothing for them to do before you get in.

Do I really need a pre-swim step, or is washing after enough? Washing after is the most important phase, so if you only do one thing, do that. But a pre-swim barrier means less chlorine bonds in the first place, which makes the after-wash more effective and your hair and skin less dried out over time.

I just take my kids to swim lessons a few times a week, what's the minimum? Rinse them with clean water before the lesson and wash with a chlorine-removal shampoo and body wash after. That two-step version covers most of the benefit. TRIHARD also makes a dedicated kids' line for younger swimmers.

Can I use this routine for a hot tub or water park, not just a pool? Yes. Hot tubs, water parks, and resort pools expose your hair and skin to chlorine or bromine the same way a lap pool does. The same protect-then-extract-then-restore routine applies wherever you've been in treated water.