Question on Closing an Above Ground Pool

[dlmtechnology]

I know its a few months away, heck I'm still trying to open my pool and clear it up, but not having any instructions on closing (I've just always tossed whatever the store said into the pool, put a pillow in and covered it up) I have a question.

Pillows....
Is more than one better than just one? I always figured the purpose of the pillow was two fold, one it helped to relieve pressure from the ice on the wall and two it brought the leaves and watery gook to a place I could reach it. So it got me thinking, what would happen if one got enough pillows to form a criss-crossing X like pattern and then covered the pool. What if you took it a step further and went all crazy and filled the entire surface with pillows, wouldn't the leaves and water then just roll off the sides of the pool? (although as I type this I suppose given a big enough storm the ground could be eroded away allowing for pool wall failure)

Also, what is the life expectancy of a pillow? The past few years mine either leak or pop over the winter and my cover ends up sagging, or falling in to the pool (and then I'm left with the mess I've got now :|

 

[Smykowski]

Based on my experience, all a pillow does is keep the cover from sinking from the water of rain and melting snow. As for lifespan, a couple years, tops.

 

[redhdgirl417]

Last year was my first year of closing our new pool, did not use a pillow and all was fine. I keep reading on here how others had theirs pop. We just made sure we put a bit of water on the top of the winter cover to help keep it down and we also used the shrink wrap around the edge of the pool cover to keep it tight against the top of the pool.