How To Clean A Pool Safety Cover

ooh, ugly and gross, needs some work

If you have a mesh or solid safety pool cover (pictured left), removing and storing the pool cover for winter is not so much trouble, but if your pool cover looks more like the one on the right, it's gonna take a bit longer and requires a bit more care.

Here's how to remove both pool cover types, safety pool covers and solid pool covers. But first, a few tips:

1.Get some helpers. Removing a pool cover by yourself is no picnic. Just two people are needed in most cases.

2.Clean it before folding. Leaves, dirt and debris are bad for the fabric and will only end up in the pool when you close it in the fall.

3.Accordion fold the cover, also known as fan-folding. This makes it much easier to put it on the pool next time.

4.Patch any holes that you have now, before putting it away and forgetting about it.

With these tips in mind, here's how to remove, clean and fold a winter pool cover in the most efficient way possible. These methods will work for aboveground pools or in-ground pools.

How to Remove a Safety Pool Cover

Hose, skim, or blow off the pool cover thoroughly.
Hose, broom or blow off the surrounding pool deck.
Loosen all springs with your spring removal tool.
Flip the springs inward on top of the cover after removal.
Tighten down cover anchors with 1/4-inch hex key.
Pull one end of cover over the pool deck 4-6 feet.
With a helper on the other side of the pool, put your foot on the cover seam that runs between you. With your opposite hand, grab the cover where the next seam meets the strap/spring. Pull this seam to meet the pool cover edge.
Continue fan-folding the pool cover, seam to seam, accordion style.
Use a leaf blower or a hose while folding, if needed, to clean debris.
When the cover is folded into one long section, fold this in half, then half again. Roll up the last portion tightly. Stuff it into the cover bag and allow to drain before storing for the summer.

Ten steps seems like a lot, but you know that it only takes 10-15 minutes to remove, clean and fold a safety pool cover. You paid a little more for your efficient, time-saving purchase, and now it's payback time.

How to Remove a Solid Pool Cover

Now, for the rest of you unlucky souls … just kidding! The process is nearly as easy. Since all of the water from the melting snow or rain accumulates on top of a solid cover, the first step is to remove this water. Any kind of cover pump will become your useful tool for the next several hours. Run a hose out to a sewer or the farthest part of the yard.

winter pool leaf net Now, if you are fortunate enough to own a winter leaf catcher, you can pull 99 percent of the leaves and debris off the cover with one easy motion. Leaf catchers are inexpensive, wide-mesh nets that you place on top of your solid pool cover. They are easy to remove from the pool; you can haul the whole mess somewhere appropriate to dump it out.

If you don't have a leaf catcher on the solid pool cover, grab that long pole and start skimming. We need to remove 99 percent of the leafs, sticks, bugs and other debris by hand. Don't make the rookie mistake of pumping all of the water off, but then leave the debris on the cover to bake hard in the sun.

leaf-rake-bag-type-pool-skimmer-net It's much easier to use a leaf rake type of skimmer net to remove the leaves and debris while there is still some water on the cover. Having a helper with a plastic bristled pool brush on a pool pole can help to push the debris into an area where you can scoop it up with a leaf net.

Here's a tip: Tighten up the cover first! It will help to make cleaning and skimming an in-ground solid cover easier if you pull out the wrinkles on the surface. Work your way around the edge of the pool cover, pulling the cover back away from the pool edge, pulling the water bags along with the cover.

After all the debris is off, plug the cover pump back in and remove any remaining water. Now, it's time to remove whatever was holding your cover in place. If it's water tubes, flip open the lids and drain them. Hose them clean, fold them or roll them up, and put them in a box, safely located for next time. If you use the time-saving Aqua Blocks, just pop the tops, empty the water, and stack them up.

For aboveground pools, after all of the water is removed from the cover, loosen the cable/wench assembly and remove the cable that secures the pool cover around the pool. Be careful not to allow the pool cover to fall in the pool as you remove the cable. Have at least one helper on hand, and two would be helpful.

Finally, it's time to pull the pool cover off the pool. If it's windy, pull the cover off lengthwise in the direction the wind is blowing. With a helper on the opposite side of the pool, pull the cover rapidly from one end to the other, keeping it waist high and not letting the edges dip into the water.

If there is still a few gallons of water on the cover, concentrate it into one area and continue pumping. When it's down to a few gallons, both you and your helper can grab up the cover and pull it completely off and away from the pool.

Remove the cover to a clean area, so that you can spray down the cover. Sloping driveways work best, but a clean, grassy hillside will work, too. After rinsing and brushing with a pool brush or push broom, allow the cover to dry before folding. Be careful not to leave the cover over top of grass for too long; it may brown the grass temporarily.

Folding a Pool Cover

fan-folding-pool-cover I've mentioned the term accordion fold or referred to fan-folding several times in this post already. This way of folding your pool cover will make it super easy to reinstall, so it's worth learning and using the method to fold your pool cover.