Having a pool is a godsend during the hot months. They are perfect for keeping us cool and entertained during the warm days as we are diving in and out of the water. Pools are also relaxing, but they are rarely relaxing when dirty and in desperate need of a cleanup. If yours needs a bit of attention, you might want to consider investing in a portable pressure washer.
Why a pressure washer? When you empty your pool to clean the tiles, that’s a wide area to clean that will be covered in algae and other gunk, this could take hours to clean. However, using a pressure washer, this task is massively shortened, but you need to follow my guide below on how to do this properly so that your pool is properly cleaned and your pressure washer remains protected.
Is It Safe to Pressure Wash Tiles?
Before I get into the nitty-gritty of cleaning your pool with a pressure washer, I first wanted to answer the burning questions that I hear often, can we or can we not use pressure washers on the tiles? Will the tiles crack from the pressure of the power washer? Is it safe to use it on my pool?
The answer to this isn’t straight forward, it all depends on the pressure rating of your pressure washer, for example, if you have a pressure washer that produces the sort of PSI ranges that a commercial pressure washer will create, those being well over 4000 PSI, then I would suggest caution when using it with your pool. The tiles may well survive, but the grout holding them in may be weakened. Which would lead to your pool tiles eventually breaking.
Most people don’t have a pressure washer that powerful, so as long as you have something up to 3000 PSI, you’ll be fine, this will work really well for your pool. If you are worried still go for something with a lower PSI range, perhaps 2000 PSI, you have the perfect power washer for your car and pool!
How to Use the Pressure Washer to Clean the Pool?
Cleaning your pool with a pressure washer is basically the same as you normally do, just a darn site quicker. That said, here’s how I suggest you clean your pool properly with a power unit.
- Use the right pressure washer
If you really want to ensure that your pool is clean, then you want to get the right type of pressure washer. For pools, steam pressure washers have proven themselves to be the most efficient, environment, and children friendly. Why? Well, the steam kills the bacteria and other grime, and the pressure removes it. Meaning no harmful detergents to deal with.
You want a device that can produce water around 300 degrees, this will make sure that your pool has been properly sanitized.
- Clear the pool
You can try all you want, but you won’t be able to clean your pool tiles with a pressure washer if the pool is full of water. So you need to empty your pool. That said, there are waterproof pressure washer options which can be used to clean a pool that’s still full. But you do need to remove the debris from the pool by hand.
- Use the right pressure
Depending on your pressure washer, the instructions may say the right pressure setting for using it with pool tiles. Ideally, I suggest starting with the lowest setting possible and increasing from there. This way, you can manage the pressure and ensure that the tiles remain unharmed.
Stay on a low pressure unless you see that it’s not cleaning properly, that’s when you should increase. If you notice any damage to the tile or grout, then decrease the pressure. Once you’ve cleaned your pool once or twice, you’ll know the right setup for your pressure washer.
- Separate the cleaning into sections
If you want your cleaning to go well, you need to break your pool into sections and work on one section at a time. Time your time to thoroughly pressure wash each specific section, once you’ve completely cleaned it, you can move onto the next one.
This might seem like a tedious process that will eat up a lot of time, but actually, it will save you time, and the results will be worth it. Plus, it allows you to focus on an area, so you won’t miss any bits.
- Maintain the correct distance
An important thing you need to remember is that your pressure washer is releasing a jet stream of incredibly concentrated water. There is so much force behind it. Because of this, you need to maintain the correct distance between the spray nozzle and the pool tiles.
This is easy to achieve with a portable pressure washer or any pressure washer, really. This distance protects not only your tiles but also you from the splashback. If you are using a steam pressure washer, the splashback can be very hot, and the last thing you want to do is burn yourself.
I suggest a distance of 18 inches you can go closer, but do so carefully and slowly, like with adjusting the pressure above, the closer you get, the more power is impacting a small area, the further you are away, the wider the area, so the power is spread out.
- Attach the correct spray nozzle tip
This is something I see people getting wrong all the time. You need to use the right spray nozzle tip. Pressure washers release huge amounts of pressure, and that pressure is regulated by the spray nozzle tips. So you need to use something like the 15-degree nozzle, which will reduce the pressure and widen your cleaning area. Never go more direct than this. In fact, the wider the degree, the better, this will ensure no damage to your tiles.
Closing Thoughts
Cleaning pool tiles with a portable pressure washer is something that anyone can do. Just remember that when it comes to pools and tiles that less is more, so you don’t want to hit these with the most powerful pressure washer you can find as they will just damage the grout and eventually the time. A nice light-duty pressure washer will happily clean each section leaving you with a sparkling and shiny pool.
