Everyone wants to enjoy a product or service that takes less effort to handle. The same goes for the fiberglass pool that is easy to clean and maintain. A fiberglass pool owner doesn’t have to think too much about their pool maintenance because it is quite an almost effortless task.
Fiberglass pools were made in one piece, which makes them easy to clean. They are also durable and require fewer chemicals. However, this doesn’t mean it can be neglected. It should be kept clean at all times, and there are certain pool vacuums for this purpose.
The most suitable way to handle a devoted cleaning routine is by choosing one of the best fiberglass pool cleaners. While there are a whole lot of different models out there, we have put together a reliable list to choose from. In this article, we will also mention some factors that influence the maintenance of your fiberglass pool.
Best Pool Vacuum for Fiberglass Pools
- Best Overall: Dolphin Premier Robotic Pool Cleaner
If you’re looking for a simple summary, this does everything.
This pool cleaner is easy to set up and doesn’t get easily stuck like some models that get stuck halfway through cleaning.
It has an increased 87% energy efficiency than older models in the market, making it more durable. This will greatly benefit you because you wouldn’t need to worry about repairs now and then.
The only downside to this model is its cost. However, it is expected for a model that never gets stuck while cleaning and that comes with a three-year warranty. It’s safe to say that it is worth buying.
Pros
- It helps to clean pools faster than most models.
- It is very reliable. It hardly ever gets stuck, so you can confidently leave it to clean while you do something else.
- Thorough in cleaning.
- Easy to set up
Cons
- Too pricey.
- Polaris F9550 Pool Vacuum(Robotic)
This pool cleaner is an all-in-one cleaner. Just like the Dolphin Premier, you can go do something else while it cleans out your pool. It picks up any size of debris from your pool without making strange noises. In terms of price, it is cheaper than Dolphin Premier, so it is a good choice for people with a lower budget.
One downside of this pool cleaner is that it doesn’t ‘completely’ clean your pool. Using the remote may worsen the situation because it will take a long time before it responds. It may also take more time than normal to clean out your pool.
Pros
- It has a great traction
- Doesn’t need to be closely watched.
Cons
- It is slow
- It doesn’t clean stairs.
- Best Value: Polaris Vac-Sweep 360 Pool Cleaner
Unlike the other two mentioned, this pool cleaner is a pressure-side pool vacuum. This means that the water in your pool powers it on a pressure line.
It easily picks up different sizes of debris ranging from leaves to sand. The Polaris Vac-sweep comes with a sweep hose that helps to properly clean the tiny corners of your pool.
Compared to other Vac-Sweep models, the 360 doesn’t need an additional booster pump, because three hours or less is enough for it to thoroughly clean your pool.
It is highly recommended for in-ground fiberglass pools.
One downside of it is that it has difficulty gaining traction on fiberglass, and it is impossible to clean above-ground fiberglass. If you have this type of fiberglass pool, it would be best to go for another option.
Pros
- Good at cleaning small and large particles
- Quite affordable compared to other models
- It is easy to install
- Strong vacuuming power
Cons
- Experiences difficulty in gaining traction on fiberglass
- Its mesh screen gets clogged easily
- Its filter bag is small, so it may need constant emptying
- Best Robotic: DOLPHIN Nautilus CC Plus Automatic Robotic Pool Cleaner
This pool cleaner is a popular robotic model that is quite affordable. This model is a literal pool-cleaning machine.
Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus makes use of a more advanced technology called the Clever Clean System which uses onboard sensors to draw out paths in your pool to properly clean it out. While operating, it can also notice barriers at the bottom of your pool and avoid them while continuing its normal course.
Most robotic models would cost a lot to do this much work, but the Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus costs as much as any pressure-side pool cleaner.
It can clean up your 50 feet of in-ground fiberglass pools, and some people claim it can clean above-ground fiberglass pools as well.
Within two hours, the robotic model scrubs and cleans the floors and walls of your pool.
It is quite easy to set up. Living up to its name, you just need to set it up, switch it on, drop it in the pool, and it does all the work.
Some downsides to this pool cleaner are that it doesn’t perform so well on stairs, and has poor customer service.
Pros
- An affordable model
- It is time-saving compared to other models
- It can clean as deep as 50 feet
- Double filters
Cons
- Poor manufacturer’s customer service
- It doesn’t clean the stairs properly.
- Hayward W3PHS21CST Aquanaut Suction Pool Cleaner, 200
AquaNaut’s 200 & 400 are a suction type of pool cleaners, and they are designed in a unique way to clean any type of pool, no matter the size or shape. AquaNaut 200 is preferably for smaller pools up to 16′ × 32′.
It comes in two or four-wheel drive models. They both work in similar ways, so customers can go for either.
It can take up large debris without clogging, thanks to the AquaNaut V-Flex technology that provides maximum power at any flow. This makes it possible to clear out large debris from the pool.
This model can clean any type of pool efficiently. The 4-wheel drive covers large pools and pools up to 20′ × 40.
AquaNaut has three throats that help to increase the suction at any flow. This makes it easier to improve suction performance at a lower flow, allowing larger debris to easily pass.
It consists of a small throat, medium throat(medium), and large throat with different flow rates and different sizes of the pump.
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How do you vacuum a fiberglass pool?
You cannot use metallic vacuum cleaners or similar harsh material equipment for cleaning the pool. The metal parts will damage your get coat finish and the fiberglass will be ruined. Things like crushes and steel wool also must not be used.
The fiberglass pool vacuum mostly has something that improves their movement, like wheels with tires for better adherence and similar. Some are equipped with soft brushes suitable for this kind of material. If you have a challenging pool, like a lot of steps or objects on the surface, then keep in mind these kinds of gadgets would facilitate the cleaning.
One thing is for sure, the cleaner will release you within a time spent cleaning the pool. Although some of them need guidance and supervision, you won’t have to clean debris manually and pick up falling leaves and twigs in your pool. Instead, you will have more time to swim and rest.
Follow these easy steps to learn how to vacuum a fiberglass pool efficiently
- Never underestimate how vigorous vacuuming your fiberglass pool can be. It is quite difficult than skim cleaning a regular pool, so you should be adequately ready. Make sure to take breaks after a while.
- Begin by vacuuming by the shallow end of your pool, working towards the deep end using long strokes. If any sediment is, ensure to come back and clean it again. Overlap your vacuum stokes always, to ensure you don’t miss any sediment.
- Take your time and patiently vacuum your fiberglass pool to avoid mistakes. Remember this is not a skim cleaning, you don’t need to rush! This is because moving the head of your vacuum too fast may scatter any sediment resting underneath your pool thereby making the pool water cloudy.
- If the pool water does become very cloudy due to the disturbed sediment, then take an hour or two break to allow the sediment to settle. , return and continue vacuuming.
- Finish the vacuum stokes at the deep end of your fiberglass pool. You can adjust your telescopic height where necessary.
Now that you are done vacuuming your fiberglass pool, it’s also very important that you clean your vacuum.
To do this, unscrew the vacuum’s head and drain any excess water accumulated during the pool cleaning exercise.
After cleaning the vacuum, replace the head with a brush. Then use the brush to scrub down the surface of your fiberglass pool.
Scrub any blemishes caused by organic dirt or debris available.
You should also double-check your filter to see if it is performing optimally. Vacuuming is most cases your filter is under additional strain.
Make sure that no blockages have occurred as a result of your cleaning exercise.
However, this will be less likely to happen if you have been vacuuming for some time.
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Why You Should Vacuum Your Pool Yourself
Vacuuming your pool comes with great benefits you can ever imagine. It might come off as an overwhelming experience at first, but with time you’ll become accustomed to the techniques.
Some of the advantages of vacuuming your pool yourself include:
A cheaper option
You don’t need to hire an outside service to do this for you and this could save you a few costs. However, to do this you should be knowledgeable on how to use the equipment.
Otherwise, learn how to do it online or hire a one-time pool cleaner, watch and learn how he does it so that next time you wouldn’t require his services.
Durability
Vacuuming the pool yourself is better because you’ll be mindful of how you do it to avoid damaging your property.
An outside service might be in a hurry to go for another client and might end up doing a bad or incomplete job for your pool.
On the other hand, you would be more inclined to do a thorough job because you may not be in a hurry to attend to something else. You might have set the day aside for vacuuming your pool mostly.
Cleaning your pool thoroughly but carefully increases its durability making the pool last for a very long time.
Maintaining the PH Level
Regular vacuuming of your pool can prevent organic germs, dirt, and debris from affecting your pool’s PH level negatively.
It has been proven that dirt and debris from a pool that lacks maintenance gather up to form organic compounds that will greatly affect the Ph balance of your pool.
So get up and vacuum your pool regularly to avoid this situation. You don’t have to wait until this dirt a completely visible before vacuuming your pool.
Also, vacuuming your pool might save you some huge amount of money you may spend in returning the pool to its normal shape.
A form of exercise
Vacuuming your pool is a good workout for your arms! In this scenario, it’s a win-win situation because you’ll clean the pool and at the same time exercise your body.
Lifting and vacuuming stretch the muscle around your arm and you are not required to remain at a particular spot when vacuuming, hence it stretches your legs too.
Note: Vacuuming the pool yourself is a very good idea. However, you should have the knowledge and skills to do that in other to avoid mistakes that may ruin your pool.
Scroll up on this article to learn how to effectively vacuum your pool to avoid any error.
Also, you must make use of standard pool vacuums like the ones in this article for better and easy performance.
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How Often Should You Vacuum Your fiberglass pool?
Vacuuming fiberglass pools should be done on regular basis. At least once a week, ideally twice. In the case where you don’t experience a lot of debris such as dirt, leaves, bugs, dust, etc. once a week is okay.
Vacuuming helps in controlling the PH balance in your pool efficiently. It serves as a better regular maintenance and cleaning process you can easily do to keep your fiberglass pool clean and healthy always.
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What to Look for in a Pool Cleaner
- Type
When looking for the best pool cleaner for your pool, you will come across three different types of pool cleaners. Suction, pressure side, and robotic are the three types of pool cleaners, each having its advantages and disadvantages.
Suction pool cleaners are the most affordable, however, it takes more effort to operate when compared to other types. It uses your pool’s pump to clean out debris by suctioning it with a long hose connected to the skimmer.
It cleans randomly, unlike the robotic model that plans out an optimal path for itself. Electric bill costs also add up because of its use of your pump system. So, while you might decide to cut off some expenses while purchasing this model, you’re also spending as much on electric bills.
Pressure pools on the other hand are moderately priced, although it still makes use of your pool’s pump and filter. It also increases your electric bill costs. The main difference between a suction cleaner and a pressure cleaner is that the latter uses a booster pump to increase pressure.
As pressure is added to the water, it powers the wheels of the pressure pool cleaner to clean out the pool. These types of cleaners cone along with a bag which can be emptied.
Robotic pool cleaners are the most expensive. If you’re on a tight budget, the robotic cleaner probably isn’t the right choice for you. However, it takes less effort to clean your pool and lengthens the durability of your pool’s filter. It doesn’t need any pump or circulating system to operate because it uses the software.
- Automatic vs. manual
There are manual and automatic models of pool cleaners. Robotic pool cleaners are usually automatic, although some pressure and suction pool cleaners can be automatic as well. However, robotic models have better coverage. Automatic pool cleaners clean your pools unsupervised, scrubbing the floor and walls of your pool.
The disadvantage of automatic pool cleaners is that it is slow, and may get stuck while cleaning.
The manual type of pool cleaners needs assistance. It needs to be guided around the pool for it to clean. These types are much more affordable than automatic pool cleaners, but you will need to do the work.
- Cleaning Coverage
Different pool cleaners have different cleaning coverage. Some of them are built to clean only the floor of pools, while some can clean the floor and walls. Some special models can clean the stairs, waterline, and covers. If your pool has tight corners, you should go for a pool cleaner that can reach those corners.
- Traction
Fiberglass pools have the advantage of having less grime because the floors are less porous than concrete pools. However, this comes at a disadvantage because it becomes harder for pool cleaners to gain traction on them.
The Polaris F9550 on the list is one of the best pool cleaners with good traction.
- Big debris vs. small
For fiberglass pools located under trees, it is only normal to find leaves and branches littered in your pool. You might want to go for a pool cleaner that can effectively clean large debris than one that is better suited for smaller debris. Pool cleaners that exchange bags for filters can also be a good alternative.
The Dolphin Premier Robotic pool cleaner is a good idea because you can swap out a filter for a bag.
If your pool is prone to get dirtied by sand, you should go for a pool cleaner that can easily pick up small debris.
How to Maintain a Fiberglass Pool
While fiberglass pools are easy to maintain and clean, there are still important tips that you just can’t miss. Simplicity and low-maintenance are the best two words to describe fiberglass pool maintenance. However, a fiberglass pool owner has to take different elements of the fiberglass pool such as the chemistry, its pool surface, etc.
- Fiberglass Pool Cleaning
Different models fit the type of fiberglass pool you own(above-ground or in-ground). If you have an in-ground fiberglass pool, the best pool cleaner model to go for is the robotic model. Fiberglass pools that are located under trees are prone to have leaves and bugs in them. Robotic pool cleaners would make it easier and faster to clean out all these particles. They can also clean smaller and smoother particles like sand. So, robotic models are the best models to go for if you want to pick out every particle from your fiberglass pool while you relax.
- Maintaining Water Level
The most suitable way to clean your fiberglass pools is by leaving the pool’s water level at the center of its skimmer plate. Once the water level is higher or lower than the skimmer plate, it may affect the effectiveness of whatever pool cleaner model that you purchase.
While trying to go for the right water level of your pool, avoid pumping out its water without any experience. Pool drainage always follows certain procedures that shouldn’t be carelessly ignored for it to stay undamaged. Fiberglass salt water pool maintenance also follows the same procedure.
- Water chemistry maintenance
It is only normal to make do with some chemicals when setting up a pool. Its water needs to be maintained by the right amount of chemicals in it. The best pH levels for fiberglass pools range from 7.2 to 7.6 and alkalinity should be at 80-120 ppm.
Some people use a home kit to measure the chemicals in their pools, however, it is advised to seek professional help.
- Surface Maintenance
The use of a pool cleaner is not limited to filtering your pool water, but scrubbing and washing its floor and wall. A good cleaner scrubs the pool surface, walls, and edges.
Pool cleaners for fiberglass pools were designed in a way to protect your fiberglass pool from any unnecessary damage, and it doesn’t make use of harsh chemicals to clean it.
How do Pool Cleaners Function?
Pool cleaners were basically designed to clean pools by picking up leaves, grains, dust, and other debris that may affect the cleanliness of the pool.
Automatic pool cleaners come with hoses that are connected to your pool’s skimmer or in some cases, a built-in vacuum line. The pool vacuum moves throughout the pool’s floor and walls, cleaning up debris by suctioning it through the hoses, and sending it to the skimmer or the vacuum line, if available.
Different pool vacuums have their own way of functioning. While some may follow a random part while cleaning, some other pool cleaners will use a mapped-out route.
How Long do Pool Cleaners Last?
Just like any other equipment, how you maintain and store it is a factor to how long it lasts. If it is continuously exposed to chlorine and harmful chemicals, its durability will be shortened. Most manufacturers advise their buyers to remove the unit from the pool after a successful pool cleaning.
You can use your pool cleaner for at least five or more years if you replace some essential parts.
Conclusion on Best Pool Vacuum For Fiberglass Pool
A pool such as a fiberglass pool suffering from a lack of regular vacuuming may not last longer than expected.
Debris, such as leaves may form organic substances that will make the pool look bad and no one would want to use it.
As expensive as building a fiberglass pool is, you must maintain it regularly. Vacuuming the pool may not be as difficult as it sounds.
For effective vacuuming, follow the guide above. To get the best pool vacuuming experience, grab the recommended vacuum above. Swim safe!
