10 reasons swimmers stopped letting chlorine follow them home
It washes off the chlorine and salt that shower gel just perfumes over — without stripping skin the water's already had a go at. One bar: hair, body, hands, the lot.
“Read this before your next swim.”
Pick your kit99-day replace-or-refund guarantee · Ships from our Dublin workshop
How it compares to what's in your swim bag now
| The Black Stuff | Pool-bag shower gel | A quick rinse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The chlorine smell | Washed off, first shower | Perfumed over it | Follows you to work |
| Your skin after | Moisturised — glycerin kept in | Stripped + tight | Dry, itchy, tight |
| Smell | Sea air, eucalyptus, menthol | Synthetic 'Sport Fresh' | The leisure centre |
| Made by | 35 people in a Dublin workshop | Multinational | — |
| Does the whole shower | Hair, body + hands | Body only | Nothing |
| In the swim bag | One bar, no leaks | Half-empty bottle, leaking | Empty |
10 reasons to make the switch
It washes the chlorine smell off. First shower.
Chlorine and salt cling to your skin long after you've towelled off. The quick rinse at the pool doesn't shift it, and shower gel just perfumes over it. A proper lather worked in with the Silverback cloth actually washes it off — so the pool doesn't follow you into the office.
Your skin's just been through chlorine. Don't strip it twice.
Cold-process soap keeps its natural glycerin — the moisturiser most commercial brands strip out and sell back to you as lotion. After a swim, that's the difference between skin that feels washed and skin that feels sandpapered.
Kind to skin that chlorine already picks on.
No synthetic fragrance, no SLS, no artificial preservatives — the usual suspects for irritated skin, none of them in the bar. Dogs Bay Beach and Wicklow Waterfalls both suit sensitive skin.
Smells like the sea you swim in. Not 'Ocean Breeze' from a lab.
Dogs Bay Beach is named after a real beach in Connemara — sand dunes and wild berries, scented with essential oils only. Eucalyptus on Ice and Wicklow Waterfalls bring the cold-water hit: peppermint, eucalyptus and menthol.
Made in Dublin. Cold-processed, 50 bars at a time.
Hand-cut and hand-labelled by 35 people in a Sandyford workshop — not stamped out in a factory you'll never see.
Cured 3–4 weeks, so it survives the swim bag.
The long cure makes the bar rock-hard: 21+ showers out of one, and with the teak dish to drain it, it won't turn to mush like cheap handmade soap — even living in a damp bag between sessions.
It's your whole after-swim shower — not just a bar.
One bar does hair, body and hands, so the leaking shower gel bottle leaves the bag for good. The bigger kits add the cloth that works the lather in, the teak dish that doubles each bar's life, and a travel locker built for exactly this — a wet bag and a hard bar.
Zero risk: 99 days to love it, or your money back.
Not happy with your kit? Tell us within 99 days and we'll replace it free or refund you — your call. No questions, nothing to post back. What's your shower gel ever guaranteed you?
Made by a lad who started in his kitchen.
John started this alone in lockdown, 2021. Still founder-led — he reads every review and answers customers himself. Try getting that from a supermarket shower gel.
4.8 on Trustpilot. Swimmers from Galway to Finland.
Rated Excellent across 420+ reviews — sea swimmers in Galway, pool swimmers in Sweden, lake-and-sauna swimmers in Finland. They don't switch back.
What's in the Swimmers Bundle
Two rough bars to lift the chlorine and salt, two smooth bars for the everyday, the matching deodorant, the Silverback cloth and a teak dish — the full kit for the shower after the swim. Want the lot? The Full Kit adds a fifth soap, second deo, travel locker and three colognes.
Pick your kit
★★★★★ 4.8/5 on Trustpilot · loved by swimmers from Galway to Finland
Order today — posted within 48 hours from our Dublin workshop
Straight up: we make next to nothing on this kit at the launch price. It's a bet — once you've had one post-swim shower with it, we reckon you'll be back for more. That's the whole catch.
- Dogs Bay Beach, Eucalyptus on Ice, Wicklow Waterfalls
- Just want proof it works? Start here.
- 4 soaps (2 rough, 2 smooth)
- Wicklow Waterfalls deodorant
- Silverback cloth + teak dish
- 5 soaps + 2 deodorants
- Silverback cloth + teak dish
- Soap Locker travel box
- Atomiser + 3 cologne EDPs
Every kit is covered by our 99-day replace-or-refund guarantee — no questions asked.
What swimmers actually say
Smells great, skin feels really good no irritation like other products I've tried over the years. I sea swim a lot so it's important for me to have a good soap and so far it's spot on and the best I've used.
Great product. Great for my skin. Smells awesome. Long lasting. My son is a swimmer and has problems with the chlorine and gets eczema but the soap helps his skin.
Using it after I swim (3x a week) and my skin feels good and moisturised even after the pool and spa. I like that it's a product for men from a genuine Irish business.
The deodorant is excellent - great, long lasting smell (even after swimming). The soap also has a great smell and good on skin.
Dogs Bay Beach. Like a refreshing dip in the sea. Beautiful natural coastal aroma and every shower feels like a good wild swim off the West coast of Ireland. Ocean fresh all the way!
I enjoy the feeling of cleanliness after a sauna and swim in the lake. The Black Stuff soaps add to that refreshing feeling. Your soaps and deodorants are the "real deal." I would never hesitate to recommend your products to anyone.
I started this in my kitchen in January 2021. No lab, no marketing department — just bars I'd actually use myself. Five years on there's 35 of us in a Sandyford workshop turning out about a million bars a year, still cold-processed 50 at a time. If the first bar you try doesn't become your new favourite, we replace it free. That's the deal.
