With time, swimming pool interiors accumulate scum and calcium scales. If the muck goes uncleaned, it could turn your pool into a health hazard. Most of us get stuck when it comes to getting the scum deposits from the pool tiles.
Pressure washers are the best in removing stubborn stains from your pool tiles. They are reliable gadgets when it comes to pool cleaning.
It is easy to get a pressure washer. But the real hustle here is in knowing how to clean pool tile with a pressure washer. As you’ll see, the washers need skills and some strength in controlling them.
Contents
Is It Safe to Pressure Wash Your Pool Tiles?
It is important to address this question before we get into the pressure washing tips.
If you have used a pressure washer before, you may be asking yourself the same question. Is it safe to use a pressure washer to clean your pool tiles?
Pressure washers are very strong while in action. If mishandled, the pressure from these machines could damage your pool tiles.
Most pool tiles are either porcelain or ceramic. Uncontrolled pressure on the tile surfaces could break the tiles. That’s why you need these 5 tips on how to clean pool tiles with pressure washers without breaking them.
5 Tips on How to Clean Pool Tile With Pressure Washer
1. Use the right pressure – Not too high nor too low
A common mistake when pressure washing pool tiles is applying too much pressure. The high pressure weakens the grout, making the tiles susceptible to breakage. A 3000 PSI is enough to get the job well done.
It is also important to understand your tile types – are they the strong or weak type? If you are not sure, start off with low pressures to test your tile’s power. A 2000-2600 PSI would be a great start point.
You can adjust the pressure if you’re sure the tiles are strong enough to handle higher pressures. The goal here is to clean the tiles, not to damage them.
2. Maintain the Right Distance
Ensuring that you keep some safe distance from the spray point is another important tip. Pressure washers eject very concentrated jet streams.
These shoots are strong enough to damage brittle tiles if you’re too close to the tiles.
Keeping some distance away from the target tiles would reduce the impact of the water jets on the tiles. Our interest is to have the tiles cleaned up while avoiding any damages whatsoever.
3. Choose the Right Blasting Media
Pressure washers use bead blasting to wipe away calcium scaling on pool tiles. It involves blasting stream jets of water on the tiles that need cleaning.
There are different media used in blasting the calcium deposits from the tiles. The most common are these three;
- Glass bead blasting
- Salt blasting
- Soda blasting
Each of the three works differently depending on the type of scaling and the type of pool tile. Using the wrong media could cause serious damage to your tiles.
4. Choose the Right Pressure Washing Nozzle
Most starters get this one wrong – choosing the right nozzle for your machine.
Pressure washers have powerful thrusts during the cleaning exercise. Picking the wrong nozzle could cause extreme force that would break your tiles.
We recommend that you choose a low-pressure nozzle. This will reduce the impact on the surface of the tiles. You can seek help from your pressure washer dealer when selecting the right nozzle.
5. Use Least Time on One Spot
Last but not least, avoid overstaying on one point when cleaning pool tiles. The pressurized water jets are very powerful. Staying on one point for long could break the brittle tiles.
20-30 seconds is enough tile for each cleaning spot. You can spend extra seconds on spots with stubborn grime deposits. But check for any damages after every 30 seconds.
Especially when using high-pressure machines.
You might have used the right media, a low-pressure nozzle, and even kept the right distance. But it is important to use the least time at a single point.
Read Also: Pressure Washer Stalls Under Load – Best Solutions
FAQs
Where do calcium scales come from?
Calcium scales are caused by an imbalance in the chemical composition in the pool water. When the water pH rises above 7.8, and the alkalinity is above 120, scaling is inevitable.
How does pressure washing work?
Pressure washing applies a technique called bead blasting. Compressed air is compressed to low pressure and used to blast the media to the target area for cleaning.
Do you have to drain your pool during pressure washing?
The simple answer would be yes and no. It all depends on the method used to clean the pool tiles. Some blast cleaning methods would only require lower water levels up to 8 or 9 inches. High-pressure cleaning is best done when the pool is drained.
Read Also: Top 5 Best Vacuum for Intex Above Ground Pool
Wrap up
Pool cleaning and maintenance is no longer a hard job to do. Pressure washing is now made easy when you follow the tips in this post.
As we’ve seen, pressure washers would damage your tiles only when used the wrong way. We have done the most part by letting you in on how to clean pool tiles with pressure washers. Put the tips into practice and your pool tiles will always be in good shape.
Relevant Resources:
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- Top 5 Best Gas Pressure Washer Under 300
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- Top 5 Best Commercial Hot Water Pressure Washer
- 7 Best Pressure Washer Sandblasting Kit
- 5 Best Mrliance Pressure Washer Reviews
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