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There is a brown bathtub like ring around our new IG vinyl liner pool, and it is located at the wateline. I think it is dirt and oil?- probably residue from the construction. PB says he will clean it off, and mention using muratic acid. I guess he would dilute it? He cautioned about using other cleaners- says they break down the liner. He also says suntan lotion will break down the liner. Is that correct? What is safe to clean exposed liner and fiberglass steps? Thanks, Web
NO-NO-NO-NO. Don't let that PB near the thing. He, she, them are IDIOTS.
Cleaning that ring is easy and safe. I use a scrub brush I got at a poolstore that looks like a coarse foam pad. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water in a bucket and go at the ring. Others on this forum have other methods of cleaning it off and I suppose there are safe cleaners available but I never used anything but baking soda. In years on this forum I have NEVER seen acid used on a vinyl liner for anything except lowering pH. Then, you keep it away from the liner.
Al
For really bad rings, I use a cleaner made for this purpose. However, I lower the water level and get as little as possible in the pool water because there are phosphates in the cleaner. Phosphates can feed algae. For most cleaning, I mix borax and baking soda and use a strong solution with a plastic brush. It works pretty well. Vinyl liner companies say that is is very important to keep the ph in the right range for a pool. Additionally, the part above the water line is the part most likely to get brittle and cause real problems first. I toally agree with Al that you should not use muriatic acid. Most likely, the pool person wants to use this because it will get rid of the problem quickly and easily. Something milder applied with more elbow grease is better for your pool long range.
On my waterline I have used the Mr Clean erasers and it has worked like a charm. I have read on this site that others have done the same with no problems.
The "eraser" tends to break down quickly because of the Chlorine in the pool so you may want to have a few on hand.
We have a product for cleaning the waterline of pool liners called GrimeAway. It is sulfuric acid, hydrocloric acid and phosphoric acid I think. Even still, while I sell that product, I normally recommend baking soda or vinegar to clean most pools. I don't make any money this way, but it seems to work better for the customer, so what the hell.
Brad
Waterworks Pools
I stopped PB from using acid on liner. But he wants to clean the fiberglass steps with it. Should I stop him? He has already cleaned the concrete that splattered on the outside edge of the steps, and it (cleaning agent) left white spots on the concrete deck where the cleaner(acid?) dripped. He does not want to wash the concrete deck with muratic acid, (says it will ruin concrete) but wants to use acid to clean the steps on the inside of the pool. Is something strange here?
Can the concrete be acid washed? If so, how? Would the coping and steps and so forth need to be taped off, so the mixture would not damage them? Thanks again.
It's OK to use muriatic acid on the steps. We've done that with no problems, and it cleans them great.
PB says that he used water and rag only to clean the excess splattered concrete off the deck side of the steps and spa. However, I find that hard to believe, because there are white areas on the concrete deck that look kind of like they are bleached out or whiten by whatever dripped on it. He claims that water dripping on the concrete, within the first 8 hours of a fresh pour, will leave white areas. As a result, I have white spots all the way around the steps and spa where they are set in concrete deck. If what he says is true, I wish he would have let water drip on the entire deck, because it would have removed the red stains. I can understand that water would affect the finish, but to make it look so white I find hard to believe. Does anyone know if what he is claiming is true?