Caring For Your Vinyl Pool Liner — 5 Tips & Tricks
Caring For Your Vinyl Pool Liner — 5 Tips & Tricks
Your vinyl pool liner is an investment. If you want it to last and provide years of fun for your family, you must take care of it. With that in mind, we’ve put together some handy tips and tricks to help you protect your vinyl pool liner from tears, leaks, fading, and other damage.
1. Don’t overuse or underuse chemicals.
Overusing chemicals — like bleach, pool shocks, and chlorine — can cause stains, fading, wrinkles, and corrosion, and make your liner brittle. Along the same lines, not using chemicals to keep your water clean and balanced can also cause issues, including algae growth, which can stain your liner or lead to fading.
2. Keep the water chemistry balanced.
Overall, it’s best to test your water chemistry frequently (at least weekly — but more often if you’re in the pool on a regular basis) and make sure levels are appropriate. Ideal levels are as follows:
Chlorine: 1.0-2.0 ppm
pH: 7.2-7.8
Calcium Hardness: 180-220 ppm
Alkalinity: 80-120 ppm
Dissolved solids: below 5000 ppm
Cyanuric Acid: 40-80 ppm
Chloramine: Below 0.4 ppm
3. Always read the directions.
When using chemicals, follow all directions and safety guidelines noted by the manufacturer of your pool liner and the chemicals. Accidentally mixing the wrong chemicals, using the incorrect amounts, or adding them at the wrong time may not only damage your liner but can cause chemical reactions that can be dangerous to humans and pets or cause the chemicals to be ineffective.
4. Don’t cover your pool after adding chemicals…
Pool CoverYou want to wait at least 24 hours before covering your pool with a pool cover after you add chemicals. Creating a closed environment can cause chemical concentrations that can damage your liner. Be sure to test the water again before adding your cover.
5. …but cover it other times when not in use.
Covering your pool when you’re not using it helps prevent unnecessary weathering and keeps the sun from fading your liner. It also keeps out debris and wild animals that could cause scratching and other damage.
