A little while ago, Lisa Pack stumbled upon a simple hack that completely impressed the internet with its effectiveness... and its unintended side effects.
Dropping a Mr. Clean magic eraser into her pool, Pack came back the next day to find that the cloudiness had been completely erased from the water. Posting about the hack on Facebook, the story immediately went viral.
Warning: Please read all pool care instructions carefully before attempting this at home.
Grandma to a handful of delightfully rambunctious kids, Lisa Pack's pool gets a lot of use in the summer months. Often struggling to keep the water crystal clear and inviting, Pack wrote on Facebook that "Everyone knows my pool is green by this time of year".
Rooting through her drawers, Pack came across a Mr. Clean magic eraser and decided to throw it into her pool skimmer.
Leaving the magic eraser in the skimmer for 24 hours, Pack came back to the pool the next day to see that the previously cloudy water was now clear. Opening the pool skimmer, what used to be a white magic eraser was now completely green and filled with algae.
Impressed by the effectiveness, Pack's viral post caused many others to test out the surprising hack. Trying it in her above-ground pool, Perkyz Family Adventures put two magic erasers into her external filter. Lo' and behold, her pool also became clear as the erasers soaked up algae in the water.
Skeptical of Pack's magic eraser hack, pool service technician Andrea Nannini decided to do her own research. Doing a series of tests, Nannini concluded that the magic eraser "works to an extent, but is not a cure-all".
Beyond that, Nannini also has certain health concerns. If the water in your pool contains traces of the chemical CYA , introducing melamine (a chemical present in magic erasers) "would create a toxic byproduct called melamine cyanurate".
If, on the other hand, your pool does not contain the chemical CYA, you may be in the clear... literally! Putting a magic eraser in your skimmer may indeed help keep your water looking clear.
As a final note, Nannini still urges pool owners to continue with their usual pool care routine. Stating that even if the magic eraser is "collecting the algae... it’s definitely not correcting any water balance.”
What do you think of the cost-saving pool hack? Even if you do need to continue using chemicals to keep your pool's PH balanced, a magic eraser could potentially replace a few of the algae-repelling steps. But as Nannini warns, please do first make sure CYA isn't present in your pool.
If you have your own magic eraser-related thoughts, let us know in the comments below!
