I'm new to the forum and love it here. My pool supplier advised me that consistently using liquid bleach would ruin (fade) my new pool liner. They sell 10% gallons of bleach but just recommend them for occasional shock during an algae bloom. From what I've learned here, it just sounds like they want to keep selling me trichlor pucks at $90 a tub. :blah: So just to confirm, have other vinyl owners seen any issues in the quality ofthe liner using 6% bleach? Thanks!
bleach and vinyl liner
- Thread starter nashville_swimmer
- Start date
If you add chlorinating liquid or bleach quickly in one place, then a vinyl pool without a floor drain (such as most above-ground pools) could potentially get damaged since the chlorinating liquid or bleach in concentrated form is heavier than the water. However, the same thing can happen dumping Cal-Hypo in the water and letting it settle to the bottom. The solution is simple: pour the chlorine slowly over a return flow at the deep end with the pump running and when done lightly brush the side and bottom of the pool in the area where you poured. This thoroughly mixes the chlorine and once mixed it does not separate. You should then have no problems.
Richard
Richard
Hi there, my liner bleached out over 2 years ago using pool store chems like granular shock and not understanding pool chemistry or my pool or properly following instructions. Once I found this site my pool has never been better, and my liner has not changed faded at all, 15 months on BBB and counting. 
Hey neighbor! Same here as FPM - been using bleach to supplement my saltwater generator when needed, and haven't had any fading issues at all.
Chlorine is chlorine. Period. The chlorine in bleach is the same as the chlorine in the pucks. You can get liner bleaching if you IMPROPERLY add ANY form of chlorine to the pool!!
And yes, he just wants to sell you his $$$ pucks!
Welcome to TFP!
And yes, he just wants to sell you his $$$ pucks!
Welcome to TFP!
No liner bleaching here, just sun fading. That is two very different sources. 
2nd year of BBB'ing.
2nd year of BBB'ing.
Someone around here was going to do a test once with several pieces of vinyl and different levels of chlorine. Does anyone know if that ever showed anything?
I was just over checking a friends pool last night. It has a 2 year old vinyl liner and is distinctly faded exactly at the water line. I believe he only uses 1" tabs in a feeder. This definitely tells me its not just sunlight that can fade a liner, unless the sun has more "fading ability" when shining through pool water!
I was just over checking a friends pool last night. It has a 2 year old vinyl liner and is distinctly faded exactly at the water line. I believe he only uses 1" tabs in a feeder. This definitely tells me its not just sunlight that can fade a liner, unless the sun has more "fading ability" when shining through pool water!
Chlorine, any kind of chlorine, can fade liners. Just about any 10+ year old liner will show some fading below the water line. Extremely high FC levels will fade the liner more quickly.
TomU said:
I sent them some vinyl from my step cut-out for the tests. Can't for the life of me remember who it was, and don't ever recall seeing any results posted.
**Edit**
Just checked my pm's, it was KurtV.
Someone the other day talked about having a 26 year old liner. They were running Baquacil in the pool up until just this year (I think). If the chlorine (even at low levels) is slowly fading the liner, it it also slowing destroying it (or making it brittle)? Does anyone ever hear of people getting that kind of liner life out of a chlorine pool? (Don't worry, I'm not switching from BBB!JasonLion said:
)Thanks for the great advice, everyone! It sounds like i was chumped! But no more, thanks to TFP!!!!
p.s. howdy, neighbor mike!
p.s. howdy, neighbor mike!
I'm the person with the old liner -- I just bought the house and am on BBB now. Former owner used Baq for 25 years. The liner seems to be in really good shape, probably stiff though. It has 2 small patches just above the water line where the former owner had installed something. It is a little faded (probably a lot!), but still looks really good.
My pool guy said that he has seen a number of 25-30 year old liners where the owners used Baq. He doesn't like Baq (they don't sell Baq, but do sell a similar Biguanide product), prefers chlorine or some other product, but said that he's never seen a chlorine pool liner last as long as a Baq pool. He thinks that chlorine just ages them a little faster.
Sue
My pool guy said that he has seen a number of 25-30 year old liners where the owners used Baq. He doesn't like Baq (they don't sell Baq, but do sell a similar Biguanide product), prefers chlorine or some other product, but said that he's never seen a chlorine pool liner last as long as a Baq pool. He thinks that chlorine just ages them a little faster.
Sue
Molson
LifeTime Supporter
TomU said:Someone the other day talked about having a 26 year old liner. They were running Baquacil in the pool up until just this year (I think). If the chlorine (even at low levels) is slowly fading the liner, it it also slowing destroying it (or making it brittle)? Does anyone ever hear of people getting that kind of liner life out of a chlorine pool? (Don't worry, I'm not switching from BBB!JasonLion said:
My liner is currently 19 years old. Its a bromine pool, but shocked with bleach and wintered with bleach. There is fading along the tile line, and in the corners, There is quite a few wrinkles and its brittle also in the corners, but hey, its 19 years old.
I had the same fears last year (my first year) and went with granular chlorine.
After reading Manufacturer Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), questions on this site and various other items I could get my hands on; I came to the same conclusion that the Mermaid Queen stated above. Bleach is chlorine and chlorine is bleach. I am using BBB this year with no issues.
Chlorine is Sodium or Calcium Hypochlorite. Look at the active ingredients on the bottles. Clorox from Wal mart or Chlorine from Leslie's....its the same but except for the concentration.
BTW Clorox is on sale at Target two 96oz jugs for $3.
After reading Manufacturer Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), questions on this site and various other items I could get my hands on; I came to the same conclusion that the Mermaid Queen stated above. Bleach is chlorine and chlorine is bleach. I am using BBB this year with no issues.
Chlorine is Sodium or Calcium Hypochlorite. Look at the active ingredients on the bottles. Clorox from Wal mart or Chlorine from Leslie's....its the same but except for the concentration.
BTW Clorox is on sale at Target two 96oz jugs for $3.
A couple of years ago, I had access to liner material less than a year old.
I took one inch squares of liner and placed them (Indoors) in mixtures of 0ppm, 25ppm, 50ppm, and 100ppm, (No CYA)
At the end of a week, I removed the samples and could find no difference in any of them....they were interchangeable.
Not very scientific, but it showed me that fading is almost certainly a long-term effect. Importantly, it indicated to me that the concerns about fading a liner or swimsuit during shocking are almost nonexistant. The length of time your pool is at high levels is too short to have any affect.
I took one inch squares of liner and placed them (Indoors) in mixtures of 0ppm, 25ppm, 50ppm, and 100ppm, (No CYA)
At the end of a week, I removed the samples and could find no difference in any of them....they were interchangeable.
Not very scientific, but it showed me that fading is almost certainly a long-term effect. Importantly, it indicated to me that the concerns about fading a liner or swimsuit during shocking are almost nonexistant. The length of time your pool is at high levels is too short to have any affect.
I notice, at least with the swimsuits, it depends on the manufacturer. Most of the swimsuits I buy do not fade, but there are stores I know that if I buy a swimsuit from there, it will only last one season ( and therefore the store has to be giving it away).
I would guess that liners would be the same way. To say that bleach will fade all liners is too broad. To say that bleach will fade all liners of a particular manufacturer is reasonable.
I would guess that liners would be the same way. To say that bleach will fade all liners is too broad. To say that bleach will fade all liners of a particular manufacturer is reasonable.
A Baqua pool uses Baqua/Baquacil/PHMB as a sanitizer and to prevent algae. It is not an oxidizer and will probably not do anything to vinyl liners. The oxidizer used in Baqua pools is hydrogen peroxide (typically, 27% concentration) and is typically added weekly with a larger shock dose monthly though this depends on the manufacturer (some say to just shock monthly only). So the life of the vinyl liner has more to do with how long the oxidizer hangs around and I suspect that in many Baqua pools there isn't much oxidizer in the water most of the time, contaminants build up, and then get removed periodically during shocking so that the vinyl isn't exposed to an oxidizer at higher concentrations every single day.
As for chlorine in pools, as you know the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in pools significantly reduces chlorine's effective power and this is a good thing when it comes to vinyl pools. The most destructive effects to vinyl are the UV rays in sunlight and very acidic conditions.
Richard
As for chlorine in pools, as you know the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in pools significantly reduces chlorine's effective power and this is a good thing when it comes to vinyl pools. The most destructive effects to vinyl are the UV rays in sunlight and very acidic conditions.
Richard