How To Clean An Automatic Pool Cover?

Pool covers have been around for a long time, but they’ve never been popular among pool owners except for the winter season when the freezing temperatures make taking a dip in the pool a bad idea. The effort it takes to put on and off your pool takes half the fun away from splashing around in the pool.

Thanks to modern technology, automatic pool covers have become the de facto solution for thousands of pool owners across the world. But like everything else, an automatic pool cover also requires regular maintenance to function properly. Here’s everything you need to know about cleaning automatic pool covers.

Key Takeaways

• Cleaning an automatic pool cover isn’t as hard as it seems.
• Knowing your way around household tools is more than enough for basic cleaning and maintenance.
• You should get a professional to check on the pool cover at least once a year to ensure it’s running smoothly.

Why Use an Automatic Pool Cover?

Can you imagine yourself huffing and puffing while fumbling with your pool cover every time you take a dip? Probably not, which is probably why you’ve been putting off your plans regarding purchasing a pool cover so far. This is where automatic pool covers come to the rescue; retractable pool covers that can be removed or cover the surface of your pool at the push of a button.

Owning an automatic pool cover has many advantages aside from saving you physical exertion- they can help improve the filtration of the pool, provide a safety net for toddlers and children, conserve water when in use, and help you reduce energy costs as some automatic pool covers are solar powered.

With all these benefits, it would be unwise not to get an automatic pool cover for your pool, especially if you use it frequently or have children in your family.

How to Clean an Automatic Pool Cover?

Like all things pool-related, cleaning and maintaining your automatic pool cover is the secret to long-lasting durability and optimum performance. However, you can’t just go about cleaning it like a regular pool cover; an automatic pool cover comprises multiple moving parts that need individual care and attention.

The primary cleaning activities of an automatic pool cover are almost similar to a regular pool cover:

• Clean the debris and leaves that have fallen on top of the pool cover with a rake or brush.
• Rinse the surface of the pool cover with some water and soft detergent with a garden hose.
• Scrub the surface of the automatic pool cover clean with a soft brush.

But the way these steps are divided is what makes them unique. The cleaning cycle of an automatic pool cover can be divided into 3 stages- daily, weekly, and yearly maintenance and cleaning.

Daily Maintenance and Cleaning for Automatic Pool Covers

To ensure proper cleaning of your automatic pool cover on a daily basis, follow through with these steps:

• Install a cover pump for the cover so that any extra water that gets stored on top of the cover after rain or a swimming session can be pumped out.
• Use a water testing kit or strips to check the chemical levels of the water. Certain chemicals like chlorine can corrode the inner surface of the automatic pool cover.
• Dust or clean off any debris that’s accumulated on top of the pool cover.

Weekly Maintenance and Cleaning Tasks for Automatic Pool Covers

To ensure proper cleaning of your automatic pool cover on a weekly basis, follow through with these steps:

• If not used frequently, retract the cover at least once a week to ensure that the internal mechanisms are working properly and don’t get rusted or stuck.
• With a pool cover in place, evaporation is less of an issue as it happens at a slower. But eventually, it does happen, and when it does, you need to make sure that the water level doesn’t go below the skimming point. If it does, then puts a lot of strain on the automatic pool cover’s fasteners, webbings, ropes, and tracks, all of which significantly decrease the lifespan of the cover.
• Fix pool leaks as soon as you see one as it relates to the pool maintenance tip above.
• After treating your water with chemicals, leave the cover open for at least two hours to allow the gas formations from the chemical and water to dissipate. If left closed, these gases can corrode the inner surface of the pool cover.

Yearly Maintenance and Cleaning Tasks for Automatic Pool Covers

To ensure proper cleaning of your automatic pool on a yearly basis, follow through with these steps:

• Clean the cover tracks of the pool cover at least once a year. Use a garden hose for best results as it will also clean away any chemical residue on the tracks.
• The housing box is one of the most important components of an automatic pool cover to function. Make sure to clean it at least once a year so that the internal mechanism performs smoothly. If it isn’t cleaned at least once a year, the water clogging can damage the internal systems.
• Call in a professional pool technician to take a look at the whole system to identify parts that have degraded or need replacement before completely breaking down.

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Maintenance Tips for Your Automatic Pool Cover’s Fabric

The fabric of your automatic pool cover is just as important as the other components if not more because of all the wear and tear. If anything happens to the fabric, then the efficiency of your automatic pool cover gets reduced significantly. Here are a few things to keep note of regarding the pool cover’s fabric:

• Prolonged exposure to the sun and the pool’s chemicals can cause the fabric to leak, loosen, or peel off. Make sure to avoid directly exposing the automatic pool cover to the sun and don’t overuse chemicals in the pool.
• Check if the surface of the fabric has gone stiff or brittle. If it has then it’s time to get the fabric replaced.
• Untangle the webbing if you find it tangled up after strong winds or rain as it stretches the fabric unevenly, causing it to tear.

FAQs

1. What’s the best spray-on pool cover cleaner?

There’s no particular verdict on this. Usually, the more expensive sprays from known brands work better than non-branded ones.

2. Is a homemade pool cover cleaner good enough?

Homemade pool cover cleaners can come in handy in a pinch, but they aren’t a proper replacement for store-bought pool cover cleaners.

3. How to clean pool cover after winter?

Cleaning a pool cover after winter is no different from cleaning it at any time of the year except you need to let the snow thaw before you start the cleaning process.

Final Thoughts

After reading all this you might be thinking that’s a lot of effort for cleaning and maintaining a simple pool cover. But the truth is that once you get accustomed to the steps, they won’t feel like a chore anymore. Automatic pool covers are expensive investments for your pool, taking proper care of them will ensure you get your money’s worth for years to come.

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