If your above ground pool liner is rife with mold, mildew, or assorted other types of pool-related grime, you may be curious about how to clean it. Below are the steps you will need to take to make it sparkle. Step 1 - Drain Your Pool Before proceeding to clean your pool liner, you will need to drain the pool. Begin this step by affixing a discharge hose that is connected to a submersible, or "sump," pump to your pool's drain. Then, place the opposite end of the hose into the location you'd like the water to be drained. When carrying out this step, it is very important that you pump the water into a safe location, such as a sewer drain. After deciding on a suitable drainage spot, use the sump pump to completely drain the pool, thus preparing the liner for the cleaning process. The amount of time it will take for your swimming pool to be fully drained is entirely contingent upon its size. Step 2 - Scrub Your Pool Liner Having drained your swimming pool, you're ready to begin cleaning.

Start this step by combining liquid soap with warm water in a large bucket. Dish washing liquid generally works best for this task. You'll know the solution is ready to use once it begins to form suds. Alternatively, if you're not put off by chemicals, there are specially made pool liner cleaning solutions that can be purchased from most swimming pool supply stores. After your cleaning solution has taken shape, use a mop, scrub brush, sponge, or resilient washcloth to apply it and give the pool liner a thorough scrubbing. heated pools in las vegasStart with the sides of the pool, taking care to scrub in broad vertical motions. pool cleaner pump leakingThen, proceed to clean the surface. best way to clean a fluffy rugOnce all areas of your liner have been successfully cleaned, proceed to rinse your cleaning solution with a garden hose.

When performing this step, make a point to not put forth an excessive amount of elbow grease, as this may scoff, scratch, or even tear the liner. Should you encounter any particularly stubborn stains or dirt deposits, try applying a little extra cleaner and, if you're using a sponge or washcloth, switch to a scrub brush or mop. In extreme cases, a wire brush may be used, but do not to apply too much pressure. Step 3 - Refill Your Pool After cleaning your pool liner, you will need to drain the swimming pool of all the hose water with the aid of your drainage hose and sump pump, again taking care to drain the water into a safe location. When refilling your swimming pool, turn on the pool's filter in order to purge any lingering traces of your cleaning solution from the water.What can I use to clean my pool liner? A pool liner can be cleaned with either a bleach and water solution or by using baking soda. Maintaining the correct water chemistry is also essential to preventing stains.

How do you install Intex replacement pool liners? What are some good substitutes for common pool chemicals? How do you keep the water in a paddling pool clean? Properly cleaning a pool liner requires knowing the cause of the stain. If the stains are green or brown, then they are most likely caused by organic substances, such as algae or other plant matter. Reddish brown colors most likely mean the stain is caused by rust. Correcting the pool's water chemistry may remove organic stains without the need to remove the liner or do vigorous scrubbing. The pH level should be between 7.2 and 7.6, and the chlorine levels should be between 1.5 and 2.5. Calcium hardness levels should be at 200 to 300 parts per million, while alkalinity levels should be at 80 to 100 parts per million. When these levels are off-balance, the pool can be an ideal spot for algae or other organisms to grow. Cleaning the skimmer box and other problem areas with a rag covered in baking soda will not only remove some stains, but increase pH and alkaline levels in the pool.

Stains that cannot be removed through correcting chemical levels in the water should be removed with a bleach solution made from one part bleach and two parts water. Draining the pool and removing the liner is necessary for the solution to be effective. The solution should be applied to the liner and allowed to sit for an hour before rinsing. Additional scrubbing may be required. The process is repeated as needed to remove tough stains. Learn more about Pools & Hot Tubs How do you find a leak in your swimming pool? To find a leak in a swimming pool liner, turn the pump and skimmer off. Examine the sides and floor of the pool for weak spots, which often occur when a le... Pools & Hot Tubs How do you find a leak in pool liner? To repair a leak in a pool liner, you must first find it. Use a 5-gallon bucket filled with water to determine if there is a leak. Use food coloring mixed ... How do you compare different pool systems? Compare swimming pool types by considering surface durability, liner options, maintenance requirements and necessary installation time.

How do you remove wrinkles from a pool liner? Though there are several alternatives for removing wrinkles from a pool liner, the simplest way is to use a plunger to apply suction to the liner. What are some pool deck ideas? What is the average size of a swimming pool? What are some tips for saltwater swimming pool maintenance? How do you lower the alkalinity of a pool? What types of rails are available for above ground pools? What are some resources for locating a Raypak RP2100 manual?How to Clean up Green Algae in Vinyl Liner Pools Cleaning up a swampy green pool is no walk in the park, it can take hard work balancing, cleaning and filtering the water to return a dark green pool to swimming condition. And vinyl liner pools, they present a particular challenge. You've probably been told that it's best not to drain a vinyl pool, and you may be rightly concerned about using very harsh chemical treatments that could harm the pool liner. So, what's a vinyl liner pool owner to do?

Here's my recipe for turning around a dark green algae filled vinyl liner pool. The first thing that has to be done is to clean the pool, to remove as much organic debris as possible. There's no way the water will come back if you have a layer of leaves on the bottom of the pool, or floating around on top. Cleaning should be done daily. Vacuuming, skimming and brushing the pool to remove accumulated dirt and algae from the walls and floor. Vacuuming to Waste: If you have the ability to vacuum to waste (with a multiport valve), this will make the process easier. Roll out the backwash hose and put the multiport valve onto the Waste setting. Fill the pool up first, and keep a hose running while vacuuming if necessary, and vacuum fast - before the water level drops too much. Cartridge filters are often plumbed without a way to vacuum to waste, unlike sand or DE filters that have a multiport valve. However, a handy homeowner could install a 3-way Jandy valve between the pump and cartridge filter, or a Tee fitting with a plug, to allow for vacuuming to waste.

Heavy Duty Floor Cleaning: Use Leaf Rakes to scoop the bottom of the floor, being gentle if there are large sticks and heavy debris in the pool. Keep at it until there is only very small dusty debris left in the pool, then vacuum the rest out of the pool. A garden hose vacuum, like the Leaf Gulper is also very helpful for pools that had a pool cover accident, or were left uncovered and neglected for many months, and are filled with large amounts of leaves. Brushing the pool is very important after you get all of the debris out of the pool, and helps to get the small stuff off the walls and floor and into the filter. There's no real reason to add any chemicals until you get all of the gunk out of the pool, so make sure that the pool is about 95% clean before you try to balance the water. Check your pH, Total Alkalinity and add any adjustment chemicals to get these right first. Your pH level should be on the low side, adjust it down in the range of 7.2 - 7.4. Total Alkalinity for vinyl pools should be at least 70 ppm.

If your water is less Alkaline, add Alkalinity Increaser. Calcium Hardness is the next thing to check and adjust. For vinyl pools, calcium should test at least 150 ppm. If you are under this, add calcium carbonate to increase the hardness of your pool water. Cyanuric acid is important to check before you begin chlorinating the pool. Bright sun can burn off a lot of chlorine in a pool without at least 20ppm of cyanuric acid (conditioner or stabilizer) in the water. Add conditioner to the pool if a test shows the level is less than 20 ppm. If you do not have a test kit that can check all of these water balance levels - we have kits and strips with 1-day service (or you can take a water sample to a local pool store). If you pump a liner pool completely out, especially an inground liner pool, the liner may relax and wrinkles can occur when it's filled again. Using a vacuum to set the liner while refilling can be done, but if the liner is very old, it may shrink somewhat, and wrinkle or even tear when being refilled.

But ~ you can drain a third or half of the pool, and refill with a garden hose. Place a submersible pump on the top step in the shallow end, so that there's no danger of pumping out the shallow end. As long as you leave 6" of water across the shallow end floor, the liner should not relax, and give you no problems. If you have a separate main drain line for your pool, use the main drain to drain the pool past the skimmers, just be sure to watch it, so you do not completely drain the pool! As the pool drains, hose and brush off the steps and walls if there are any dirt or stains, but do not use a pressure washer! After replacing 25-50% of green pool water with fresh water, and balancing the water chemistry again, your chlorine shock will be much more effective, so you won't need nearly as much. This saves lots of money, but also is gentler on a vinyl liner. Check your pH level again, and lower if necessary. Then dissolve 1-2 bags of pool shock per 10,000 gallons, by pouring them into a 5-gal bucket that is filled with water.

Use a stirring stick to dissolve and then pour the mixture around the pool edge. Add enough shock until the water turns a cloudy blue color, which shouldn't be more than 2 bags of shock per 10,000 gallons (some shocks are stronger than others). Are you filtering the pool 24/7? Go ahead and let the pump run, backwashing or cleaning the filter as needed. If you really tried all of my suggestions above, and you have a clean pool with balanced water (some of which is fresh refill water), and it's still not clearing after a few days... then I would recommend that you floc the pool. A flocculent is a chemical that bonds to anything floating in the water and sinks it to the pool floor. You have to be able to vacuum to waste all of the "jelly" that settles out the next day. The only pool flocculent I would recommend for green cloudy pools is Phos Floc. Especially for pools that went very green, there is likely a high level of phosphates and nitrates in the water. PhosFloc not only clears the pool water, but it removes phosphates, which lead to algae growth.