Hairnet dealies

[carnivalday]

Okay, so now Im shopping for the pool like I shop for the pups. But I dont understand the hairnet dealies? I understand why you would use them, but I dont know how they would work. If you put a hairnet over the top of the basket, isnt it just going to float and not catch stuff? Im probably missing something here (ya think???). Maybe someone can give me a highly technical scientific explanation (not) on how to make these nets work.

 

[Texas Splash]

When you slip it over the skimmer basket, it hangs inside the basket. When the pump is on, it lays inside the basket nicely and catches all the small stuff.

 

[Texas Splash]

Like this:

 

[carnivalday]

What happens when the pump is off?

 

[Texas Splash]

It may tend to float up. Some folks place a small rock or weight of some kind in there to keep it in the bottom.

 

[carnivalday]

Simple enough solution. I like the idea of the hairnets, just toss when you take them out. Is the weave on them tight enough to filter pollen?

 

[Texas Splash]

Yes, you will be surprised how much stuff those things catch you never knew were going straight to the main filter. For me it's all about the small bugs. Very nice and convenient. I can't imagine never using one.

 

[carnivalday]

I can get pretty heavy on the pollen here, so if they will filter pollen, that would be great. Off to Amazon I go! Thanks, Pat!

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

If it turns out your pollen is too fine and passes through hair nets, you can get "skimmer socks" which have a finer weave. Their disadvantage is they're not as cheap as hair nets so you want to wash them instead of toss them.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You're going to see large amounts of fluffy pollen in that skimmer sock. We have gobs of yellow pine pollen in the spring here in Georgia. I can't imagine putting all that into my sand filter.

We used reusable skimmer socks for years until Skippy complained about having to wash them out. We always kept two to switch out quickly. I hate the idea of adding hairnets to the landfill and they don't exactly decompose and degrade, but since Skippy's the one doing the skimmer checks I finally gave in.

Maddie

 

[l1ltaral1l]

Amazon.com

I haven't used them yet (new build this past fall), but I ordered these. And now have enough for all the lunch ladies in my sons school

 

[BowserB]

Yes on floating up. I keep a marble stone in each basket to hold them down when the pump is off. Not crazy about adding to landfills either, but these hairnets are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things which include tons of plastic water bottles, MacDonalds trash, and Keurig K-cups each day (I use the reusable K-cups and my favorite coffee which I dump into the flower bed when used, so maybe that compensates for my hairnets.) I back rinse the hair nets every day or every other day, depending on how much stuff has blown in. Typically a disposable hair net lasts a week or ten days before I have to replace it, so my landfill impact is minimal. The hairnets catch a lot of pollen carriers, but the pollen itself, not likely. It's the other stuff that otherwise goes through your pump basket and onto the main filter cartridge that the hairnet stops, that really helps a lot. Last time I cleaned the four Pentair filter cartridges, there was very little I could see on the cartridges at all.

 

[carnivalday]

Well, as usual, for me, when I cant decide what to do, I do both! So I ordered both the skimmer socks and the hair nets. I would imagine pollen would be seasonal so hopefully I can use the hairnets as well as the socks. And Im all about trying to keep my presence out of the landfills, but with me recycling cardboard boxes, hoping my carbon footprint is at a minimum.

 

[sacredcow]

I use the skimmer socks- I bought several packs of them and change them out as-needed, dump all of the big leaves and just toss them in a basket. When I'm getting low on clean ones, I scrape all of the dried stuff off of them and toss them in the washer with other rags I use around the house and a healthy dose of bleach.

Oh, and "as-needed" is often daily in the spring when the yellow snow is coming down; They help TREMENDOUSLY. Never had a problem with them floating up when the pump is off, though.

 

[RMcGirr83]

Don't they tear easily?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Rich,

Not even close... I've been using hairnets for a couple of years and have yet to see one tear..

I suggest that you buy a duplicate set of skimmer baskets.. This allows you to just pull the dirty basket out and slide the clean one in.. Then you just throw away the hairnet and whatever is in it, install a new hairnet on the removed basket and you are ready for the next time you need to clean the skimmer.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[carnivalday]

Got the socks just in time for the storm that blew thru last night. Lots of dirt ended up in the pool, I think from the rain cleaning the cage, and theres lots of yellow pollen around the tiles. So I put a sock in the skimmer filter (30 pack for $12.75 from amazon), dropped my Echo toy in to do its thing, brushed down the sides, and away we go.

 

[borjis]

I get a lot of pollen as well, if you use the finer sock especially, make sure you check and clean it daily,
to ensure good flow.

 

[carnivalday]

Whoa, I had to change it out after 2 hours! Had no idea so much stuff was being sucked into the filter.

 

[DanF]

It may tend to float up. Some folks place a small rock or weight of some kind in there to keep it in the bottom.

Yep. That's what I had to do.

Yes, you will be surprised how much stuff those things catch you never knew were going straight to the main filter. For me it's all about the small bugs. Very nice and convenient. I can't imagine never using one.

Same here. I discovered hairnets and robotic cleaners this year, and since I've been using both, my DE filter pressure hasn't moved. Normally I would have backwashed about 3x by now.
One unintended consequence of hairnets: I was losing DE out of my filter recently and I'm assuming it's a torn grid so I have a set on order - it's time to replace them anyway. To replace the lost DE, I put a pound in the skimmer containing the hairnet. Because of the hairnet's great filtering ability, the DE just stayed inside the skimmer and I had to discard the hairnet. It was caked with DE. Wished I had taken a picture.