Do I Need A Net For Pool Cleaning? (Explained)

When you first get a pool, the maintenance and care can be overwhelming. When you start out, it is difficult to know what tools you really need and what equipment will make your life easier while maintaining the quality of your pool water.

A net for pool cleaning is an essential purchase to remove larger debris from your pool. Regardless of how well you cover your pool, surface debris will still get through. There are many options available to skim your pool, including using a pool skimmer net, pool rake or automatic skimmer.

Pool maintenance can feel overwhelming at first, but once you understand the options out there, it can make your life much easier and owning a pool becomes fun.

In this article, I will look at:

• Do I need a net for pool cleaning?
• Should I get a pool skimmer net or pool leaf rake?
• How often should I skim my pool?
• What is the best method for using a pool net?
• What is a good pool leaf rake net?
• How do I clean my pool without a net?

Do I Need A Net For Pool Cleaning?

Owning a pool is a wonderful luxury that can bring hours of fun to you and the family. However, pools require maintenance and daily cleaning to ensure the water is clean and safe for everyone.

A net for pool cleaning is an essential tool to skim the surface of your pool to keep it clean. Whether you use a pool skimmer net, which is a small flat net for surface debris or a pool rake, which is a deeper net great for larger pools, it is advisable to remove surface debris and skim your pool surface every day.

When I first got a pool, I was shocked by how much debris gets into the pool every day. You can cover your pool but somehow, “bits and bobs” of leaves and bugs will find their way in there.

For me, a pool net is an essential item.

It might seem daunting having to skim your pool every day, but there are tools that can make this task easier, such as getting the right pool net for your pool or purchasing an automatic pool skimmer that will suck surface debris from your pool.

Should I Get A Pool Skimmer Net Or Pool Leaf Rake?

When you first start shopping for a pool net, you will see two main types:

A Pool Skimmer Net – This is a small and flat fine mesh, with a telescopic arm that is great for skimming debris from a small pool. For example, an above-ground garden pool that is less than 3 meters.

A Pool Leaf Rake Net – This is a deep and fine mesh with a telescopic arm that is great for skimming debris from a large pool. If you have a pool larger than 3 meters, this is by far the better choice as you will collect more debris and it will remain in the net as you fish leaves out of your pool.

From my experience, a pool skimmer net is good for a small above ground garden pool. However, once you have a bigger pool, for example, larger than 3 meters, a pool skimmer net is not good enough for the job.

For larger pools, the pool lead rake is by far the better buy. Although twice the price, it will get the job done in half the time as it can collect a lot of leaves. In addition, because the net is deep, it will hold in a lot of debris while cleaning.

How Often Should I Skim My Pool?

On average, you should skim your pool every day. The more you skim your pool, i.e. skim the debris from the surface, the healthier your pool will be.

I appreciate that skimming your pool every day might seem like a daunting task, but if you do it every day, it can take just a couple of minutes.

It is a great way to extend the life of your pool filter system and to keep the water in great condition.

I see my pool skimming task as a pleasant break. It gets me out in the garden, and fishing out leaves from my pool is a mindful and relaxing task.

If you see pool skimming as a relaxing outdoor task that can be done in your break, it becomes much easier.

You will have a pristine pool while getting some fresh air and exercise.

What Is The Best Way To Use A Pool Net?

You can make your life much easier if you know the best way to use a pool skimmer or pool rake.

1. Firstly, work out what direction the current is flowing in your pool.
2. Position yourself and the pool net so the current is flowing into the net.
3. By doing this, the water flow is doing the work. As the water circulates, it will float debris into your net, instead of you having to chase around the pool after it.

Here is a great explainer video that shows the right way to skim your pool manually.

What Is A Good Pool Leaf Rake Net?

There are some very affordable and good leaf nets or pool leaf rakes on the market.

A good leaf net for your pool will have:

1. A fine mesh to capture and trap tiny debris and larger leaves.
2. A long telescopic arm so you can reach the full pool width without having to get in.
3. A slanted lip to make scooping leaves and debris off the surface easier.

Here are some examples of leaf nets or pool rakes for a pool

How Do I Clean My Pool Without A Net?

Skimming the surface of your pool to remove floating debris is a necessary step in pool maintenance.

If you do not regularly clean your pool by skimming the surface debris, the debris will sink to the bottom, wear out your filter pump, and use up your pool chemicals.

If you do not want to clean your pool manually each day with a net, it is possible to automate the process.

This is certainly something to consider if you have a larger pool, as a daily skimming routine can be time-consuming and involve a lot of manual labour.

Below is a very neat and effective automated pool skimming example for an aboveground pool.

This skimmer from Intex connects to your existing filter pump outlet. As water is sucked out of your pool by the filter pump, the basket collects leaves and water surface debris.

It is a clever and affordable solution, and as you have to run your filter pump daily to keep your water clean, you are also getting your pool surface skimmed.

There are some other more advanced and expensive options if you have a larger in-ground pool, for example, solar-powered floating pool skimmers.

These skimmers float on the surface and can be solar or wind-powered, but the price can be very expensive.

To be honest, at present I have not found an affordable automated pool skimmer that I trust, so cannot recommend one in particular. If I find one I like, I will add it to this blog.

For fun, it is worth looking at this video to see that there are creative and automated pool skimming options out there!