Swim party question - Page 2

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 


This whole thing must really be regional. To me, a party where you bring your own swim cap would be like bringing your own single-person bouncy house to a party. It's just not something most people would have, though obviously a bouncy house would be a bit more expensive! To have to pay $5 for a swim cap that we'd never use again, plus buy a gift for the child, would not be in my budget & I'd decline the invite unless it was a super close friend.
 

When I lived in NYC all of the pools required everyone (even if you were bald) to wear a swim cap. The membership was super cheap for a local pool ($50/year for me, ds was free), and so we had caps. I think in some urban areas its pretty standard for pools to require caps. I'm not sure why, but I've been to many places that require caps.

[pigpokey]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 


But don't most skating rinks have rental skates too? And I think most people have bathing suits & towels. I don't think most people have swim caps (unless you live in an area where this is more common, maybe?)

People who *Do* have swim caps really have them and will be happy to lend you an old one.   In this situation find a friend or Freecycler who has kids on team.

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by pigpokey 

People who *Do* have swim caps really have them and will be happy to lend you an old one.   In this situation find a friend or Freecycler who has kids on team.

Yeah, when I was on swim team I had at least 10. They just appeared, or I bought in bulk maybe? IDK, if you got an invite and asked around people would surely have some to share.

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by Super~Single~Mama 
 I'm not sure why, but I've been to many places that require caps.

I was curious about this myself, so I did a little searching on the web and a couple places I saw said that facilities require swim caps, in order to protect filters from becoming clogged with hair. (Of course, this got me thinking that swim caps really only protects the filters against from hair from the skull...so do they really make that big of a difference?)

[pigpokey]

No where we go requires caps and I don't think the "filter clogging" argument for them is a very good one. 

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by pigpokey 

No where we go requires caps and I don't think the "filter clogging" argument for them is a very good one. 

I think in my last city it was to prevent lice from spreading, but I don't know. (I was in a large urban city, and I could see that being a problem when everyone is in such close quarters)

And I think that the filter argument is probable better. When women have long hair, it can clog the filters pretty bad - leg hair, armpit hair, wouldn't be nearly as much as a woman with long hair. Of course, they can't say that women have to wear caps, and men don't - so its a universal thing.

[ollyoxenfree]

It could also be a liability issue with long hair. There are some horrific stories about people drowning with long hair tangled in pool drains. The suction can be pretty powerful at the outlet. It's probably easier to enforce a rule that everyone wears a cap than decide arguments about whether one person's hair is too long or short enough to get out of wearing a cap.