Welcome to the second part of a 4-part series on above ground pool liners. In this one, we talk about getting wrinkles out of your pool liner
- Installing a Pool Liner
- Getting Wrinkles Out of a Liner (this page)
- Patching a Liner
- Repairing a Liner
A pool liner provides excellent cushioning to your feet while you are in an above ground pool liner. Sometimes, however, these pool liners develop wrinkles on them, which is something that you must expect when you buy or own one.
Getting rid of these wrinkles is an easy process. Once you notice them, you should try to deal with them as soon as possible. Let us look into some methods by which you can get rid of these wrinkles.
Table of Contents
Add Fresh Water
One possible reason for wrinkles developing in your pool liner is if the water in your pool has been sitting like that for a while. Beyond a certain period of time, old or low levels of pool water can lead to wrinkles.
To deal with this, simply refill your pool and replace the old water with fresh water. Once you have done this, you can slowly start trying to flatten the wrinkles out on your own or with the help of some tools or some other people.
Give it some time and your pool line will be back to normal soon enough.
Heat Up the Water
If your pool is filled with cold water, your pool liner is more likely to develop wrinkles in it. This is because the cold water will harden up the liner, leading to wrinkles. An obvious solution to this is to heat up your water to a warm enough temperature. This should be around 90-92℉.
At other times, the optimal temperature of your pool should be between 83℉ and 88℉.
Normally, this should be enough to smoothen out the pool liner and to get rid of the wrinkles. If this doesn’t happen and you still notice the wrinkles, then try softening them using your feel or a plunger. You can also buy a brush for this purpose.
Walk Over the Liner
This is a simple and fun way to smoothen out some of the wrinkles in your pool liner. Simply put on some shoes and walk all over the pool liner. However, make sure that the shoes you wear do not have rough soles as these might damage your liner even further.
Use shoes with lighter and softer soles and stretch out the wrinkles as you walk over them. This will easily get rid of some of the wrinkles.
However, this method is probably not enough to get rid of all the bigger wrinkles in the liner, so it would be best if you combined this method with another one.
Use a Toilet Plunger
Another way to deal with the wrinkles in your pool liner is to use a toilet plunger. Ensure that the plunger you are using is new, unused and clean to prevent any bacteria from entering your pool.
Place this plunger on each side of the wrinkle and plunge the liner in your direction. This should help you get rid of the wrinkle. Repeat this process for the whole liner.
This can be a somewhat tiresome task, especially if you have a big pool. In such a case, ask your friends or family for some help to quicken the process.
Drain the Pool Water
If you realize that the aforementioned methods are simply not enough to get rid of those tough wrinkles, then you might have to drain out your entire pool and then move on to other methods.
It is possible that the wrinkles are worse than you expected. In this case, draining the pool out might be the only way forward. Make sure you know how to do this safely and correctly. If not, read the manual or online instructions to figure it out.
Examine the Landscape
After draining out the pool, you should check and examine the landscape on and around which your pool liner is kept. If there are any shrubs, grass, plants or rocks that you think might be stretching out the area of your pool liners, try to get rid of those completely.
Remove any rough objects that you might find on the ground and even out the landscape completely before you reinstall the pool and pool liner. If the uneven and rough landscape was the issue, then this method should be enough to prevent any further wrinkles from developing again.
You can then try to deal with the existing wrinkles.
Use a Shop Vacuum
After draining out the pool, use a shop vacuum to suck out all the wrinkles in your pool liner. To do this, make sure that your liner is sufficiently wet while vacuuming. Start using the vacuum but ensure that you do so between the liner and the frame of the pool. Do not use the vacuum directly on the liner as this might damage it.
You can also use it in reverse by blowing some air from the vacuum between the liner and the wall of the pool. This should remove the wrinkles from the liner, after which you can suck out the extra air as well.
Look for Leaks
It is entirely possible that there are some minor leaks in your pool. This could be a major cause of wrinkles in your pool liner as the water could be finding its way under the liner and folding it over or tenting it up in some places, making that spot wrinkle up.
This is why you must try to look for leaks and locate them efficiently and on time. Once you have located them, you will need to repair the leak on your own or by asking for help. This might require you to drain out the pool completely.
After repairing it, smoothen out any existing wrinkles and place the liner back. This will usually solve the problem.
Call a Professional
It is not a healthy practice for your pool to keep draining it out too frequently as this can lead to several issues to the wall and structure of your above ground pool. What’s more, the cost of paying your water bills and balancing out the chlorine levels in the pool can be a lot to deal with.
In this case or in case none of the above methods are working for you, it would be best to call a professional service person to help you out. They will be able to find an easy solution, after which they might be able to use their professional resources to get rid of the wrinkles in your pool liner.
While you might have to pay for this service, it can be a good way to get rid of those wrinkles once and for all.
Replace the Liner
It is highly possible that none of the above methods will work well enough to remove the wrinkles from your liner. If you find that they are simply not going away, then you might have to accept the fact that nothing you do will remove them completely.
In this kind of situation, your best bet would be to replace the liner by buying a new one. While looking for a new one, make sure you buy one that is of high quality and good material so that you can prevent it from developing wrinkles again.
Ensure that the ground is also completely even before you install the new liner.
Final Remarks
Through this guide, we listed down some simple methods to help you get rid of wrinkles from your above ground pool liner. Most of these methods are easy to carry out on your own with or without the help of some tools and people around you.
Remember, if none of these methods work, you should call a professional to help out. If that doesn’t help either, it might be worth it to buy a new liner itself and ensure that you maintain good enough conditions to prevent tough wrinkles from developing.
Now that you know what to do, go ahead and try it out. Give your pool liner a wrinkle-free and long-lasting life!