Tanning Lotions and Pool Surface

[Casey]

Hey guys! Hope you're all having a great day! It's gorgeous here in SWPA!!!

My question is:

My husband and our future DIL are wanting to use tanning lotions in our pool, lay out on rafts and tan. I've never used them in the pool and I'd prefer not to but I'd like to accommodate them if it's not going to wreck my liner with a goopy ring around the water line. So I have to ask... for those who have and do use tanning oils and lotions, how does it affect your water? Do you get a lot of build up in your skimmer box? We have a vinyl liner and my concern is getting a ring around the pool and or gunky build up in the skimmer and filter (DE). Should I allow them or not? Once I do say it's ok, they'll want to keep doing it. I have already told Hubby no but haven't told our future DIL yet... If it doesn't cause too much of an issue, I may just let hubby have his tanning lotion. (I should have been a red head! I burn, peel and burn again! )


Any thoughts on this is appreciated!

 

[AprilNC]

Are you talking suncreens or just tanning lotions? Cause it is a must that my kiddos put on sunscreen before getting in the pool ... I don't want a pool full of lobsters! But, we just use the cream types, not the spray on kind and I haven't bought tanning oil since about 1987 LOL!

 

[chem geek]

My wife uses suntan lotion when she swims nearly every day so there's a lot of lotion that gets into our pool. It mostly leaves a thin film you can see when she's in the water, but it is mostly gone sometime before the pool is used again the next day. I don't notice it forming slime along the tile, but suppose it could. It mostly gets oxidized by chlorine enough to partially dissolve and then circulate to the cartridge filter where it gets caught. The vast majority of gunk in the cartridge filter appears to be suntan lotion.

 

[Casey]

I'm talking oils to tan and not sunscreen April. They are always in a contest to see who gets the darkest. He wanted to try a lotion and I told him I didn't want it in the pool and her pool failed this year (20 years old) and she wants to use ours and I know she uses lotions... I just don't want it to slime my liner up. :lol: Sunscreens get a pass because they do protect, unlike the oils and lotions to get dark. I'll be having my granddaughter over and she'll be using SPF 50 on her very delicate skin.

 

[JasonLion]

For both suntan lotion and tanning oil a good thing to get is a special foam thing that floats in the skimmer and soaks up the oils, one popular brand is Scumbug and there are a couple of others that do the same thing.

If you have really a lot of oil on the surface you can use an enzyme treatment, for example Pool Perfect, which helps break down oils more quickly than chlorine alone will.

 

[Smykowski]

Does the "wait 20 min after applying tanning oils before getting in the pool" work? I know that's what I tell people who are using regular sunscreen.

 

[woodyp]

I use one of those natural enzymes liquid products after a pool party.

 

[JasonLion]

Does the "wait 20 min after applying tanning oils before getting in the pool" work?

It certainly helps. The oils largely get absorbed into the skin, so much less of them are going to get into the water.