Question regarding leaf stain removal

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poodlegirl

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Mar 28, 2009
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Baton Rouge, LA
I have a question regarding leaf stain removal. I recently purchased the "Stain Remover" and "Metal Free" from Leslie's. I have not used
it yet. I am not using the BBB method at this time. Is there a problem with these products that I purchased? At the store, they made
it sound like a simple process as long I make sure my PH was at the recommended levels (7.4 to 7.6) and Chlorine level below 1.0. I really
don't want to have my pool chemistry messed up at the time I want to start using it for the summer.
 
The Stain Remover from Leslies is Ascorbic acid.
http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Pool-Ch ... 14101.html

I have used AA to remove metal stains (iron) and I have also used it to remove stubborn leaf stains from vinyl that would not totally go away with chlorine alone.
The down side of these products is that they will lower your FC to 0, lower your PH, and lower your Alkalinity.
It may not be a good idea to deal with these stains at the same time you are trying to clear and balance your water for the swim season.
Give the chlorine a chance to work on the leaf stains over the Summer and if they still remain after the swim season, then you can try the AA treatment.

Metal Free is a sequestering agent and is used to keep metals suspended in the water and not allow them to deposit on your pool.
I don't understand how this product would help with leaf stains.
 
When I went to Leslie's..... I told them that I had leaf stains and that is what they gave me. They told me the stains from the leafs were
like a metal stain. I guess I've been had!!! I figured they were being honest. So....I guess I should just wait for the Chlorine to do
it's trick? Maybe Leslie's will let me return these items. Thanks!
 
I have another question/problem now. I used the Vitamin C tablets to see if it would get off the leaf stains. Sure enough, they did. So.... I decided that I would just toss the vitamin C tablets one by one in my pool and let them sit on the leaf stains. I used my pole with the brush on it to position them so they would sit directly on the stain. Sometimes one tablet per stain. Sometimes two per stain..depending on how big the stain. Anyway.... this actually worked like a charm! I came back to my pool an hour later and ALL of the stains disappeared!!!

BUT......the next week.... I noticed there was yellow staining near my tile and a little on the side of my pool in the deep end. Mainly near the skimmer and the little cut out/bench inside my pool. So... I decided to see if the vitamin C tablet would remove it and it did! Now.. this week I look and the yellowish stain is back where I had removed it before. By the way, none of the spots where I dropped the vitamin C tablets onthe bottom have the yellowish stain. I am trying to figure out if this is just the stain trying to make its way out of the pool and what I can do about it. I definitely do not think it is anything else like copper/other metal stains. I do not use algaesides or have a heater. Do I need to use something else to escort this stain out of my pool? I thought I had found the "Magic Cure" for easy leaf stain removal but I guess there is always more to it!!!!!!!
 
Vitamin C lifts the metals off of the pool and puts them into the water. The metals in the water will commonly re-deposit on the pool unless you use a sequestrant. Sequestrant binds to the metals and holds them in suspension so they can't re-deposit. The only problem is that the sequestrant breaks down over time, so you need to be adding more regularly.
 
But, if it was just leaf stains, which I know it was, because I remember the week I got them. (My cleaner had went out the week that the most leaves were falling in the fall.) Why would I need something that gets rid of metal? The only thing I would know to do is go to Leslie's and get the Metal free stuff. Would that be the only thing I need? There is the Leslie's stain remover but it is just absorbic acid. Or... just use my vitamin C tablets again and use the Metal free right afterwards. But..... that seems I'm right back to where I started from regarding whether I needed to use the Metal free stuff or not.

If I don't need to use metal free.. what would be a product I could use for this?
 
If it was just leaves the vitamin C would not have removed the stain. Yellow stains removed by vitamin C are iron. My guess is that you have iron in the water and the PH went up around where the leaves were, causing the stains to show up there.

Metal Free is a sequestrant, but it is not one we recommend. ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic the Pink Stuff (regular), the Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and the Purple Stuff (SWG) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find many other brands with similar products, some of which are noticeably less expensive. Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective.
 
Just a quick Field Report on this topic (I'm about to start my own thread on my stain issue).

Pine needle stains don't react to a tri-chlor chunk placed on them however, a <very small> amount of scrubbing with a lime slice lifts them quickly :?
 
I do know where I can get Jack's Magic brand here in town. If I get that brand....I guess the Jack's Magic (the pink stuff) is what I would need. I have a guinite pool finished with the Diamond Brite finish (not a saltwater pool). Is that the only thing I need?

Since those yellow stains are back in the pool, a few places near the skimmer and a little on the wall in the deep end.......should I try and remove those first? If so,
how should remove them? With the vitamin C tablets again?
 

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It depends on how extensive the stains are. If the stains are only in a few areas, you can lower the PH to 7.2 add sequestrant and treat any areas that the sequestrant doesn't get with a local application of vitamin C tablets in a sock or stocking. If the stains cover a large area you will probably need to do an AA treatment (details are in this topic).
 
I have a few more questions....sorry...

1) Are you saying that the sequestrant alone may lift the stain I have near the skimmer on the wall, etc? Or, should I use the vitamin c tablets first and then hurry and use the sequestrant?
2) Am I suppose to put the filter on a certain setting? Is it suppose to be on "Recirculate" instead of "Filter" once I put the sequestrant in?
3) Does the chlorine level have to be at a certain number?
Thank you
 
There is some chance that sequestrant alone might lift the stains. If sequestrant alone doesn't do it, you can treat local areas with vitamin C tablets.

No special filter settings are required.

It is best if the PH is on the low end, around 7.2, when you add sequestrant. Assuming you are trying sequestrant and not doing a full AA treatment, nothing special is required about the FC level as long as it isn't way high.
 
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