First year taking care of our pool and I just made a boneheaded mistake. I tried to follow the instructions on the site to use dish detergent to clean my cartridge filters, but I didn’t know the difference between dish soap and detergent and I used six cups of Ajax liquid dish soap. I know the difference now... suds everywhere. I’ve rinsed them with the hose for almost three hours and they’re still covered in suds. I haven’t restarted the pump, so the pool isn’t contaminated, but I don’t know what to do. Is dish soap just an inconvenience that will break down soon? Or am I going to have to replace the filters? That’s around $200 I’d rather not spend because they’re only a season old. Does anyone have a trick for getting the dish soap out??
Dish soap mishap
- Thread starter dwilliams38242
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 58,579
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Oh wow, we need pictures! Sorry -------
Chlorine will break down the surfactants. If you have a trash can you can fill with water and a good dose of bleach and let them soak in that, it should cut down what happens when you put them back in the filter.
Chlorine will break down the surfactants. If you have a trash can you can fill with water and a good dose of bleach and let them soak in that, it should cut down what happens when you put them back in the filter.
Attachments
- May 3, 2014
- 58,579
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Haha, it’s been a disaster! I’ll add the bleach to the water right now. But a little bit of suds won’t ruin anything? I don’t have to throw my filters away? That would be a big relief!
- May 3, 2014
- 58,579
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I cannot see why. It will foam up in the pool. About like using splashless bleach.
Watch over things for a while once you re install them.
Watch over things for a while once you re install them.
Just curious...would vinegar also work? That's what I use in the kitchen to cut the suds.
I would run a hose into the bucket for a couple of hours and you won't have to stand there holding it. (If you have proper drainage of course)
This same event happens when people (been there, done that) use dish soap in a dishwasher rather than dishwasher soap. It creates a bunch of bubbles and a mess to clean up. I think the solution is to use vinegar. try to google that and use that as a guide to breakdown the dish soap on the filters.
Good suggestions! I soaked them in some bleach water last night, and I’ll use some vinegar water before I reinstall them. Thanks guys!