HELP Laundry detergent in pool

[cleancloths]

You might try throwing in some Downey fabric softener. No, I'm not joking. I own a laundromat, and when customers put to much soap in a washer we add some fabric softener and it kills the suds.

[CarlD]

I wouldn't. Another chemical with an unknown effect? Bad idea. IF I was going to experiment, I'd do it by increasing calcium levels to make the water harder as suds doesn't do well in hard water--and calcium is perfectly safe in pool water as long as you stay within limits..

[chem geek]

I agree with Carl. Hard water doesn't suds as well and in fact having the CH raised to around 120 ppm is a way of reducing foaming in spas and vinyl pools. In a plaster pool, the CH is already high enough.

Another technique that works in spas is to aerate the water to force more suds, then skim them off the top of the water.

I doubt that enough was added for sudsing to be that much. I just mentioned it as a possible side effect.

Richard

[happyjack]

what do you have to do to use bbb in spas

[chem geek]

what do you have to do to use bbb in spas

You can read the following about the Dichlor-then-bleach method:
http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/in...howtopic=13634
Dichlor/bleach Method in a Nutshell
Chlorine Demand
Decontamination Procedure

If you want to use bromine instead, then read the following (the links on oxidizer demand and decontamination above still apply):
waterbear's Post on 3-step Bromine Method

[waterbear]

You might try throwing in some Downey fabric softener. No, I'm not joking. I own a laundromat, and when customers put to much soap in a washer we add some fabric softener and it kills the suds.

Actually, this is not a crazy as it sounds. The detergents are basically anionic surfactants, usually SLS and related sulfates (negatively charged) and the fabric softener is basically cationic surfactants, which have a positive charge (and very similar if no identical to some algaecides used in pools) so instead of fabric softener I would use a cationic algaecide like a linear quat (benzalkonium chlorides and other akyl chlorides) or polyquat to reduce the sudsing. Linear quats do suds on their own but should neutralize the sudsing of an anionic surfactant and vice versa just like fabric softener (or hair conditioner, also based on quats) does. .
I would then use a very strong dose of enzyme product to break down whatever can be broken down and then shock to oxidize after giving the enzyme time to work, perhaps a few days.
(yes I realize that this is an old thread that was hijacked with someone asking about BBB for spas but cleancloths WAS onto something that has the chemistry behind it to back it up!)