Disinfecting the Pool Deck and Other Water Chores

Cleaning your pool deck and cleaning the pool area shouldn’t be time-consuming. Spending summer days in the pool is a time-honored tradition. However, many families will spend countless hours cleaning up after pool time. This can take some of the fun out of the summer. Here are a few simple pool area cleaning tips you can use to keep summer fun!

Pool Area Cleaning Tips

Start with Pool Deck Maintenance

One area that can easily get messy is the pool deck. With water spilling on it, people eating on it, and so much more, the pool deck can quickly become messy. Spending a bit of time on basic pool deck maintenance can save you a great deal of work at the end of the summer months. Even better, most of the maintenance tasks you will need to do won’t take a great deal of time from you. Here are a few places to get started:

• Start by stain treating your pool deck - Do you have stubborn stains from past years? Don’t let them take away from the overall look of your pool deck. Use a quality outdoor stain treatment on these areas before doing any further cleaning. This will help to remove those areas and set you up for a clean pool deck for the rest of the summer.
• Pretreat and pressure wash - If you have a surface that can be safely pressure washed, it can help to pressure wash your pool deck to remove stubborn dirt and grime. Before pressure washing, use a clean grout disinfecting product to pretreat the deck. Make sure to check the care requirements for your surfaces to make sure they are able to safely be pressure washed before using a pressure washer. Not all surfaces can handle pressure washing.
• Make repairs where needed - Items that aren’t properly maintained or cared for can break down and cause more damage to the pool area. Spending a bit of time on basic pool maintenance can save you larger messes later. Check items such as pool pumps, drains, and any areas where there might be standing water around the pool area. It can also help to clean out pool filters, check for holes in screens, and make sure that storage containers don’t have mold, messes, or damage from previous years.

Prepare the Area for Summer Fun

Spending time preparing the area can be a big time saver later in the season. You will be able to spend more time enjoying the summer fun and less on cleaning. A small amount of pre-planning can help you to avoid messes that get out of control later in the season. The great thing is, there are some simple things you can do even now to enjoy your pool more this summer. Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Set up a towel rack or towel drop station - One big contributor to pool messes are towels that get left everywhere. Setting up a few towel drying racks or a laundry bin that is specifically for towels can be a big help. This can help to avoid mold and make it easier to round up towels so they can be cleaned with eco-friendly laundry soap.
• Designate a place for pool items to go after pool time - Items such as pool toys, floats, and more can easily grow mold and become problematic. Removing these items from the pool and putting them somewhere they can properly dry will help to avoid issues. There are a variety of free and cheap storage solutions available to help you put away these items. It can also help to spray down items such as life jackets, floats, and pool toys, with an all-purpose cleaner before storing them.
• Keep cleaning products on standby near the pool area - When spending time at the pool, you may not want to go back into the house to look for cleaning items. Spend a few minutes putting together a cleaning cabinet with an all-purpose cleaner for wiping down surfaces and cleaning messes as well as a grout cleaner for cleaning spills on the pool deck.

Keep the Fun in Summer Playtime

One of the biggest ways to take the fun out of summer playtime is to spend more time cleaning than playing.. When you set up a few simple rules and guidelines for keeping things clean, you are able to keep more of the fun in summer playtime. One of the biggest things you want to do is to make sure all of the work doesn’t fall on one person. Instead, set up a few simple plans for making summer pool time fun for everyone. Here are a few things to consider:

• Assign pool time chores - One way to help prepare for summer fun is to assign pool time chores to everyone who is enjoying the pool area. This might include deciding who is in charge of rounding up towels, taking out the trash, or putting up pool toys. Spending a bit of time giving everyone a job can help to avoid having one person overwhelmed by the clean-up from pool time.
• Take advantage of poolside storage solutions - There are many poolside storage solutions on the market to help keep items put away when they are not being used. These pool toy hanging racks, poolside cabinets, and poolside coolers can be a great way to cut down on clutter and avoid summer poolside messes.
• Clean as you go - Oftentimes when families are having a good time at the pool, they will put off cleaning for later. After swimming many people will be tired and choose to put off clean-up for later. This can quickly become a problem and can leave items sitting wet for too long. To avoid mold and other messes, it’s best to set up a plan to clean as you go. This might mean taking out the trash when it’s full, putting up items when they aren’t being used, or using an all-purpose cleaner to clean up spills and messes when they happen.