How to Get the Chlorine Smell Out of an Indoor Pool Room
That harsh chlorine smell hanging over your indoor pool is a sign of a chemistry and airflow problem, and the fix is not more chlorine. What you are smelling is chloramines, the compounds that form when free chlorine binds to sweat, body oils, lotions, and yes, the occasional bit of urine that swimmers track into the water. Those chloramines are heavier than air, so they pool right above the water surface and settle into the breathing zone where they sting your eyes and burn the back of your throat.
If you want a calmer, better smelling space to unwind in once the swimming is done, a clean burning candle in the adjoining changing room or lounge helps, and our full beeswax candle collection is a good place to start. But first, let us fix the air itself.
Why Your Pool Room Actually Smells Like That
Here is the thing most people get backwards. A strong chemical odor does not mean your pool has too much chlorine. It usually means the opposite.
When there is not enough free chlorine to fully oxidize the organic waste in the water, that leftover waste bonds with the chlorine you do have and forms chloramines. Chloramines are the sharp, eye watering smell everyone associates with pools. A well maintained pool should barely smell at all.
According to the CDC, chloramines are the direct result of chlorine reacting with swimmer waste, and they are what cause the red eyes and respiratory irritation people wrongly blame on the chlorine itself.
The Two Front Fix: Water and Air
You cannot solve this with one move. The smell comes from two places at once, so you treat both.
1. Fix the Water Chemistry First
Start by testing your combined chlorine level. You want it below 0.4 ppm. Anywhere above that and the room will smell and your swimmers will feel it.
To clear existing chloramines, you shock the pool, also called breakpoint chlorination or superchlorination. The rule of thumb is to raise free chlorine to roughly ten times the measured combined chlorine level. That breaks the molecular bonds and releases the chloramines as harmless nitrogen gas.
Keep your pH balanced between 7.2 and 7.6 so the chlorine can actually do its job. Chlorine at the wrong pH is lazy chlorine.
Many facilities add a secondary sanitizer like UV or ozone, which destroys chloramines continuously and cuts down how much chlorine you burn through in the first place.
2. Move the Air, Do Not Just Recirculate It
This is where most pool rooms fail. A dehumidifier alone will not save you. It pulls moisture, but it recycles the same chloramine heavy air right back into the room.
What you actually need is fresh outdoor air coming in and chloramine polluted air going out. Because chloramines are heavier than air, they settle low, near the water and the deck. So your exhaust returns need to sit low too. Return grilles mounted up high are the single most common design mistake, they let the bad air stratify and stagnate exactly where people are breathing.
Source capture ventilation, which draws air from just above the water surface, is the gold standard. If you have operable windows, cross ventilation genuinely helps disperse trapped gas, though you will need to manage humidity and temperature at the same time.
3. Cut the Contaminants at the Door
The cheapest fix on this list. Have everyone take a quick soap shower before they get in. Sweat, oils, and lotion are the raw material chloramines are made from, so rinsing them off before swimming means less waste for the chlorine to react with. Fewer contaminants, fewer chloramines, less smell.
Mistakes That Make It Worse
A few habits actively sabotage air quality, so avoid these:
- Blasting fans across the water. A fan pointed straight at the pool surface speeds up evaporation, spikes your humidity, and pushes even more chloramines up into the breathing zone. ASHRAE guidance keeps air movement over the water under 30 feet per minute for exactly this reason.
- Sealing the room to save on heating. Choking down fresh air exchange in winter to keep heating bills low traps those heavy gases right where swimmers breathe. Corrosion and irritation cost more in the long run.
- Assuming a dehumidifier is enough. It handles moisture, not air quality. You still need real exhaust and fresh intake.
What About the Rooms Around the Pool?
Once the pool room air is under control, the smell tends to creep into changing rooms, lounges, and hallways. This is where a genuinely clean candle earns its place, and where being picky about ingredients matters.
Paraffin candles are a petroleum byproduct, and burning them releases benzene, toluene, and formaldehyde into the air. In a space you are already trying to keep breathable, that is the last thing you want. Many soy candles are blended with paraffin and loaded with toxic fragrances containing phthalates and parabens, which does not help either.
Beeswax is a different story. It is a naturally occurring wax, a byproduct of honey production, with no chemical processing and the cleanest burn of any candle wax. Every MBur candle is 100% beeswax, uses non toxic, phthalate free fragrance, and skips chemical dyes entirely. Beeswax is also naturally hypoallergenic, which is a nice bonus in a room full of people who are already sensitive to chemical irritation.
"I absolutely love these candles! I instantly notice the difference in the air quality, in comparison to the Bath and Body scented candles. I love Bath and Body's candles but I acknowledge that it caused a slight headache and other minor respiratory discomfort. Awesome products. Totally addicted." Jason H.
If you want something bright and clean to counter that heavy pool room air in the lounge, Zesty leans fresh with notes of ocean breeze, mandarin, and lavender. For a spa like calm in a changing area, Wine Down is a soft blend of lavender, chamomile, and sage that reviewers with scent sensitivities keep coming back to. The 40 hour size runs $32, and the 80 hour size, the longest burning we make, is $65.
A Quick Word on Sensitivity
Chloramine irritation is real, and a cleaner candle is simply less likely to add to it because it is not pumping benzene and toluene into the air on top of everything else. That said, if you or your swimmers have a diagnosed respiratory condition like asthma, follow your doctor's guidance on air quality. A candle sets a mood, it does not treat anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the indoor pool room smell so strongly of chlorine?
The smell is chloramines, which form when free chlorine binds with sweat, oils, and urine. It is a sign of contaminant buildup, not clean water. Once you have fixed the water and air, a clean burning option from our beeswax candle collection keeps the surrounding rooms smelling fresh without adding chemicals to the air.
Does a strong chemical smell mean there is too much chlorine?
No. A heavy odor almost always means there is not enough free chlorine to break down contaminants, so chloramines build up instead. Shock the pool to reset it.
Can opening windows really help?
Yes. Fresh air cross ventilation disperses trapped chloramine gas, as long as you manage humidity and temperature at the same time. It works best paired with low level exhaust.
What candle is safest to burn near a pool area?
A 100% beeswax candle with a wooden wick and phthalate free fragrance, since it burns clean and will not add VOCs to air you are already working to improve. Wine Down is a good pick for a calm changing room feel.
The Bottom Line
The chlorine smell in your indoor pool room comes from chloramines, so the fix is to shock the water to breakpoint, balance your pH, and move fresh air in while exhausting the heavy stuff from down low near the surface. Get those working together and the sharp smell disappears at the source. For the lounges and changing rooms around the pool, skip the paraffin and reach for something clean. Our beeswax candles carry hundreds of reviews from people who notice the difference in air quality, with Jason above being one of many.
Ready to keep the air around your pool clean and inviting? Browse the full MBur beeswax candle collection.
Shop our candles
