How To Clean Pool Tiles With Vinegar And Pressure Washer?

It’s summer. Your pool looks perfectly cool and aesthetically beautiful. You just got rid of all dead leaves, insects and other debris. You even did the vacuuming with the best vacuum for tile floors to get rid of any remaining rubbish.

But when you take a closer look, you find a layer of calcium carbonate all over the tiles.

Gross! Now you are worrying about how to remove it. Well, calm down and relax. We have the perfect solution for you. But, before going into the details about the cleaning process, you should first know what makes the hard calcium carbonate accumulate on the tiles like that.

Firstly, the water in swimming pools is usually hard since it has a higher ratio of calcium in it. The problem with this is that over time, layers of this excessive calcium start collecting on the tiles and making the tiles look dirty yellow and very unsightly.

Secondly, other factors like heat and the alkalinity of water also contribute to this. When the heat rises, the alkalinity of water also rises slightly. Water starts to evaporate at the same time, leaving behind the calcium carbonate in the remaining water. This calcium carbonate then slowly starts to form a thick layer onto the tiles.

How To Clean Pool Tiles With Vinegar And Pressure Washer

What Is Getting Deposited on the Pool Tiles?

There are normally two types of scaling on the tiles of a pool. The harder stuff is calcium silicate and takes more effort to be cleaned, than just scrubbing alone. The reason is that this scaling stays longer than the calcium carbonate.

Calcium carbonate is relatively easier to be remove. It generally gets converted into lime and bubbles, and washes away easily, leaving the tiles clean again.

Different Methods for Cleaning Pool Tiles

You need to get rid of these calcium deposits not only because this gives the pool an unpleasant look, but because it also damages the pool and its equipment.

Now, when you have an idea of how badly these deposits affect your pool tiles, you will know that the longer it stays, the more difficult it gets to remove them. Therefore, keep an eye on the tiles and try to clean them on a weekly basis to avoid the whole fiasco later on.

There are different methods to do this by using baking soda, muriatic acid or dish soap, for cleaning the pool. But the following methods are considered to be the most effective ones amongst all:

Vinegar
Pressure Washer/Power Washing

1. Cleaning the pool Tiles with Vinegar

Usually, calcium from hard water is very difficult to remove. Strong acids are not recommended because it might damage the fragile surface of the tiles. So, in such cases, vinegar is often the best and the easiest option.

Although vinegar is the most effective remedy for cleaning the pool tiles, yet one has to be patient whenever using this method since the results are not quick. The molecules of vinegar react with the calcium slowly, and hence the process takes some time.

Vinegar can be used in different ways. For the common method of cleaning, you will need an old brush and a spray bottle with 5% solution of vinegar inside it.

Once you are done getting all the necessary products, get into the pool and start by spraying the vinegar over the surface of the pool tile where the calcium carbonate has accumulated. Keep scrubbing until all the calcium carbonate comes off, and then use water to wash the residue away. You may also use a tile floor mop.

Another effective way is to soak some paper towels in vinegar, and microwave them to raise their temperature a bit. When the towels are fairly warm, get them out and use them to scrub the dirty area until the calcium carbonate starts coming off. This method should take about 10-30 minutes approximately.

This method works by dissolving the lime away and leaving the tiles good and clean. Before starting this method on all the tiles, make sure to first test it out on a small portion of the wall which is not that visible from outside.

This is a precautionary step which you must do in order to find out if the vinegar does any damage to the color of the tiles. You can also clean carpets with vinegar.

2. Cleaning the Pool Tiles with A Pressure Washer

You are looking for some professional way to tackle the dirt on the pool tiles. Then you may take the help of a pressure washer.

At first, choose a good quality pressure washer for effective cleaning. The pressure and temperature of the washer should be such adjusted so that it enables you to clean the pool tiles quickly.

Once the pressure and temperature of the device are adjusted, the next thing you have to do is to remove all the debris and dead leaves from the pool.

You will not need to apply any detergent or chemical to the surface while using the pressure washer. The machine is generated with a pump system or a boiler which heats the water to generate steam. It is this steam that is used to clean the deposited dirt from the tiles. You can read our steam cleaner reviews for tile floors.

Steam pressure and temperature may go as high as 330 Fahrenheit. The higher the heat, the more effective it will be. At the right temperature and pressure, the steam can dissolve and remove even the hardest of stains with ease. This can also be achieved by a steam cleaner like McCulloch Mc 1385.

The pressure is the most effective way to clean the pool tiles of all the unwanted accumulation, but certain points should be kept in mind in order to use it in the best way possible.

Firstly, you must make sure that the machine is set up according to the manual. This means that the inlet, the outlet and all the accessories should be set in the proper way in order to avoid any inconvenience.
The steam pressure and temperature should be very high in order to achieve the best results.
Before cleaning the whole surface area, make sure to check a little portion of the tile for cracks, by applying steam on them. If there are no cracks, then you can go ahead with the rest of the process.

Can Vinegar and a Pressure Washer Be Used to Clean Pebble Shower Floors?

Yes, vinegar and a pressure washer can be used for cleaning pebble shower floors. The acidity in vinegar helps to dissolve grime and mineral deposits, while the pressure washer effectively rinses away the loosened dirt and debris. This cleaning pebble shower floor explanation demonstrates an eco-friendly and efficient method for keeping your shower floor clean.

Final Thoughts

Keeping your pool clean by removing all the dirt and unwanted accumulation might be a tedious job, but it is not impossible.

If you know the type of impurity that is affecting the cleanliness of the pool, you can plan a strategic cleaning process accordingly. There are all kinds of pool cleaning methods- some are costly while others aren’t.

The most important step is to understand the problem first. If you can do that, you can easily choose the right cleaning method for your pool type. So go ahead and investigate the pool properly before making a decision. Good luck!