How do I clean my pool before putting it away for the season?

Question

We've got one of those easy-set pools (12' x 3') and we're getting ready to empty it out and put it up for the year. It's accumulated some leaves and dirt at the bottom and I'm wondering what to clean all the bottom sludge with? We used all the standard pool chemicals throughout the year so I'm assuming bleach would be okay, right? That'll kill the grass as we are rinsing though, won't it?

Answer 1

we use a pool vac that runs off the water hose, to suck all the junk out, then just drain it, and let it dry , then fold or roll it up, and put it away,
yes bleach will hurt the grass, use plain water to rinse,

Answer 2

You don't need to use chemicals like bleach to remove leaves and sludge. If your pool button is not just a sheet of vinyl, a wide plastic putty knife should do fine to scrape off the junk.

If you need to dispose of bleach in case you have algae stains, you can always throw in a box of baking soda to neutralize the bleach. Pool acid is made from chlorine too, just like bleach.

To make sure you don't over do it, you can use the pool water testing kit as a guage. Those kits tells you when you need to add acid in the pool. You want the neutralized water to be on the low end of the scale (where it says you need a lot of acid). Don't go past that. Too much alkaline (baking soda) is not that great either.

Answer 3

if you are going to use bleach, just use the concentration you want to clean the bottom, and then add a lot of water in before you dump it out on the grass. diluting it will weaken it and probably not harm the grass.

Answer 4

Bleach will be fine and it will not kill the grass - Just make sure it is diluted in water.

Im sure you would not have used un-diluted bleach anyway!! Rinse thoroughly and the bleach will be so diluted the grass will not even notice.

Answer 5

You would think that bleach would kill grass. Try pouring it on straight from the bottle on unwanted grass, instead of roundup. Didn't do a thing at my house.

Answer 6

I would empty it and using dish washing soap you don't want anything harsh on it! Plus, you don't know if bleach will discolor it or put a hole in it! It will definitely kill the grass!

Answer 7

use soap, water and a srub brush