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Has Fall Landed in your Pool? Extreme Leaf Removal

leaves in swimming pool

Autumn breezes and warm fall days. Beautiful to look at, but if your pool is surrounded by lots of deciduous trees – it can also make a lot of work to keep the pool clean.

I consider myself an expert in pool leaf removal, having personally removed over a million floating and sunken leaves, by my own estimation.

Here’s how to reduce the work, and get the leaves out of your pool with less effort.

Optimize the Skimmer Flow

Adjust the skimmers so that they are pulling at their strongest. You may want to close or nearly close the main drain valve to increase skimmer suction.

Skim It From InTheSwim.com

Check to make sure that your skimmer weirs are in place. Weirs help increase the flow of water into the skimmer, and help to lock leaves inside the skimmer when the pump shuts off.

Skim-It attaches easily to most inground and above ground pool skimmers, an arm that reaches out and grabs leaves passing by, directing them into the skimmer. One of our best sellers, it can increase your skimmer performance, and the spring loaded design installs or removes in seconds without any tools.

Optimize the Return Flow

A circular flow of water around the pool helps to gently guide floating leaves in front of the skimmer, helping to trap them before they sink. Aim one or more eyeball fittings towards the surface, to get a small amount of surface action or ripple in the water. This helps to carry leaves around the pool to the skimmer more effectively. Eyeball fittings like the

Extreme Leaf Removal Tools

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leaf gulper pool attachment

Leaf Gulper: When the leaves are so deep that they are clogging up the vacuum head or you need to empty the basket every 5 minutes, the Leaf Gulper is the answer.

Modeled after the Jandy Leaf Master, it works with the pressure from your garden hose, the better the hose pressure, the better and faster it will vacuum.

leaf rake for swimming pool
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Leaf Rakes: Still using the dip ‘n flip type of pool skim net? For heavy pool leaf problems, there is no tool better suited than a good Leaf Rake. For surface work, you can drag it behind you at the tile line, or use a push and pull method across the pool surface, from side to side.

Leaf Rakes are also great for scooping leaves off of the floor. When you get really good at it, you can move faster than with a Leaf Gulper. Push the net slowly across the floor bouncing just slightly to create a small current. Do a quick flip turn and hard pull back when you reach the end of your pole, or the other side of the pool.

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leaf catcher mesh close up comparison to penny

Leaf Catchers: Catching the leaves before they fall into the pool – now that’s genius! Leaf catchers are commonly used to go over top of a solid pool cover, and then removed (with all of the leaves) once the leaves have fallen.

Leaf Catchers also be used without a cover, as a leaf net cover during autumn. Use the grommets in the corners to pull the Leaf Catcher tight over the pool, so that leaves stay dry, and can blow off the cover.

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leaf canister pool vacuum attachment

Leaf Canisters: If you are vacuuming a lot of leaves in through the skimmer, you know how quickly the pump basket can fill up. You can use a Skimmer Vac Plate, and vacuum into the skimmer basket instead, which is much larger than the pump basket.

For those really big jobs however, the skimmer basket is even too small. With our in-line Leaf Canister and a 3 ft extension hose, connected to your vacuum hose, you can vacuum for longer without stopping. The design allows for consistent suction, even when the canister is full of leaves.

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leaf catcher pool ladder attachment

Leaf-Bone Leaf Net Skimmer Clip, a $12 tool that falls into the It’s-So-Simple-It’s-Genius category of new additions to the pool maintenance world. The Leaf Bone fits any 1.90” in ground pool ladder handrail, installs in seconds, and will save you and your skimmer baskets from excessive manual leaf removal.

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swim pro leaf basket

Leaf Baskets: Not just any skimmer basket, but a SkimPro skimmer basket with a tower design that allows water flow even when the basket is full.

If you’ve ever had a skimmer basket break due to getting clogged with leaves, you’ll appreciate the smart design. The tower also functions as a handy handle to lift the basket out easily, even with

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swimming pool circulation outlet

Circular flow patterns are best to keep sending the leaves in front of the skimmer. Aim your return fittings so that there is a slight ripple on the surface, to keep the leaves moving. Use eyeball fittings to direct the water flow from all returns, in the same direction of flow, creating a slight ripple that continues around the pool. So important, we’ve said it twice.

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skimmer weir for pool

Water level – Keep your water level in the middle of the tile so that the skimmer can do its job. If the water level is too high, the leaves will just but up against the top of the skimmer, and not be skimmed. Of course if the water is too low, the skimmer sucks air, and you may lose prime or even damage the pool pump. Skimmer weirs! If your flapper-door thingy is missing, your skimmer does not work half as well, and when the pump shuts off, leaves come floatin’ on out again!

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Landscaping is either part of the solution, or – part of the problem. A substantial trimming to your surrounding trees every few years, in addition to pruning the dead branches every fall, will keep your work load down. Trimming back the length of very long and heavy branches, may prevent an unexpected break due to it’s size, especially in heavy wind or ice storms.

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Pool Covers are an obvious solution to your leaf problem. In addition to the Leaf Net mesh cover mentioned above, Auto pool covers or solar covers keep your pool clean while keeping heat in the pool. Cleaning the auto cover or solar blanket is a bit of a trade-off, but may be easier than cleaning the pool.

To clean an automatic cover, pump most water off, and use a leaf blower or garden hose to clean the cover as it rolls up. When you are left with only 5-6 ft of cover still over the pool, use a leaf rake on a pole to scoop the leaves up. For solar covers, pull them over to where you have most deck space, and use a blower or hose to clean. Then make a fold, clean, make a fold, clean, etc.If you have a reel, clean it off as you roll it up. In both cases,  be ready to scoop out the last bit that falls in the pool.

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Leaf Blocks – hedges and bushes, low fences, storage boxes and retaining walls – set up to block the prevailing wind across the pool, can help keep leaves out of the pool. If trees are shedding a lot of litter around your pool, bushes, ground covers and decorative fences, or low retaining walls, can help keep the leaves up against a barrier and away from the pool.

Pool Stains from Leaves

Stain Free is an amazing pool stain remover

After correcting a leaf overload problem, plastered pools may be stained from the tannins in the leaves. Balancing the water and shocking the pool will usually remove leaf stains. Extreme leaf stains in a plastered pool may require acid washing to see any real removal success.

Vinyl pools may stain on the steps and ladders more easily than the vinyl. If balancing the pool and raising the chlorine level for a few weeks doesn’t help to remove leaf stains on a vinyl pool, look to Stain Free to remove it naturally, with Vitamin C!

Happy Fall, Y’all!

15 thoughts on “Has Fall Landed in your Pool? Extreme Leaf Removal

  1. Molly Bryson

    My pool is a saltwater pool that hasn’t been covered for two years. The pool stores said to add salt, adjust the PH, add algeized, rake the leaves with the new sand filter and cloronatator both running 24 hrs a day. It’s needing to be backwashes every 2-3 hrs. Should I turn them both off and get all the leaves and more dirt off the bottom then retest the water and start all over with adding chemicals and running both of them.

    • Molly, I would drain and refill the pool, any pool that has sat for two years. The water, if you can get it clear, will be problematic and troublesome. I’m sure you have a reason for not wanting to drain the pool, but the premise may be faulty. In other words, your fears may not come true. But if you don’t want to drain or even partially drain and refill, then yes, spend more time removing the solids and then lower the pH level to 7.0 and shock the pool with large amounts of calcium hypochlorite and/or sodium hypochlorite (pool shock), until the water turns blue/grey in color, (could take 15-25 lbs!) with the pump running. Brush the pool, and Then Floc the pool with Aluminum Sulfate (Alum), 4 lbs per 10,000 gallons. The following day, fill the pool full of water and vacuum to waste, slowly, to remove the jelly-like settled stuff on the pool floor.

  2. Crystal Cantwell

    So my pool is a swamp and has about 2 to 3 foot of leaves and maybe more. It is green like a pond and just nasty I fought with all summer last year not knowing what I was doing. So do I get all the leaves out first then worry about shock and algae? What is a good leaf goulper and where do I get one! We already have 2 pool rakes and I know how hard the work is. So how many leaves should I get out before I turn my pump on and shock because it’s so nasty u can’t see bottom. Thanks

    • I would normally do the heavy work with (pool) Leaf Rakes, slowly pushing across the floor to the other side, a quick flip and slowly pull back to your side. Keep trash cans on deck, with small holes in the bottom to drain water. Two strong people working hard for 60-90 minutes should do it, you’ll be able to feel when the leaves are gone, and when the net comes up nearly empty. Then get the pump running, lower the pH level, and shock the $%^&* out of it, with 3 lbs per 10,000 gals. Run filter non-stop, shock again if the chlorine level falls to near zero within 24-hours, (which is likely). Recheck the pH, and Hit it hard again. You want pH level around 7.2 for best shock results. Brush pool daily for a few days, and when water clears, vacuum to waste (if possible). Then treat with a phosphate remover chemical, like PhosFree, because you are likely contaminated. Run chlorine level high this year, 2-3 ppm, just an extra tab or two each week, and use a weekly dose of algaecide. Also recommended to change your filter media (new cartridge or new filter sand). Do all that – and you will likely have an algae free summer. 🙂 Good Luck!

  3. I can’t actually see the leaves that I’m supposed to be raking. Would it be okay if I shocked the pool with the leaves in it and then vacuumed the leaves and then shocked it once more after all of it is clean?

    • Hi Kay, you could do that as you suggest, the reason I suggest to remove the leaves first is that the organic matter will use-up some of the shock, so some will be wasted attacking the leaves and not working on the water, no big deal. You can scoop leaves from the floor of the pool without seeing them however, by running a Leaf Rake across the floor, and flipping it quickly when you reach the other side…

      • Hi David, I been googling for a problem similar to this. We scooped plenty of leaves, 2 garbage cans there was a lot of disgusting gunk and leaves and now it’s been like two weeks and these garbage cans are still here and it’s smelling a lot. I have no clue what to do with it, I’m so frustrated! I feel like the next virus is going to come out of this😂😖

        • Well, we usually find a spot on the property, but if not, dump the cans into large black trash bags, 6 mil, and set out for the trash man.

  4. Hi Davy,

    New homeowner, house came with above ground pool. It wasn’t maintained while on the market so it’s a smelly mess full of big leaves and other debris. My family was so excited to have a pool but I called pool companies and they said they couldn’t help me because I don’t have a deck? There has to be a way to get it clean before this coming summer. Please HELP!!

    • Hi Jessica, well those pool guys are being picky – must have a lot of business. Anyway, the best thing to do would be to replace the liner, and the water, and perhaps a few other doo-dads like faceplates and gaskets, and hopefully the pump/filter is working. You can find many blog posts on this here blog about how to replace your liner. So I would plan on doing that, along with some hopefully light wall prep and floor prep, after the old liner comes out. If you have a cartridge filter, plan on a new cartridge, and you will need pool chemicals and a test kit, and some pool cleaning tools, etc. to maintain the pool, beginning immediately after filling, and not stopping until you cover and winterize. They (pools) need almost constant care, or at least some attention every few days. Get the size (diameter) of the pool, and the depth, and start planning for your liner replacement, then chemicals and cleaning tools… might be $600+ depending on pool size.

  5. I have large amounts of leaves in my 34×16 in ground pool. My gardeners ripped the pool cover so all the leaves are on the bottom. There must be 4 to five feet of leaves all over the bottom. I have ran the filter for a few weeks. The water is thicker because of the leaves. I have a broken neck so I can’t do the work. Pool matenance companies say get the water clear or we won’t come. With tons of leaves you can’t get the water perfect. What can I do?

    • Hi Donna, I have cleaned pools as you describe, it is not impossible, but it is a full day of grueling work using Pool Leaf Rakes, and scooping / dredging the leaves, and dumping them into poolside trash cans. A Leaf Master (aka Leaf Gulper) is also a good tool for this project. Your pool is not that large, two people, working hard, could knock it out in 2-3 hours, probably. Then check the pH (adjust to 7.2-ish) and shock the pool heavily with chlorine pool shock, brush-brush-brush, and filter-filter-filter.

  6. I probably have A big problem on my hands. Fall is in my pool. Our winter cover broke. We were already late on closing on the pool so we have been fighting the alage and leaves. I am concerned if I just close it when my cover comes in the bottom of the pool will be stained and gross.

  7. I have seen hotel pool guys put a liquid on the surface that forces leaves into a tight circle. He then scoops them all up with one or two basket swipes. What is that liquid?

    • Hi, there are a few brands, but one I know of is jacks’ magic surface magic. Just a few drops, and it lowers surface tension, allowing leaves and debris, even dust – to quickly blow to one side or corner of the pool.

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