Tile Cleaning & Acid Wash

What Is Tile Cleaning & Acid Washing?

Tile cleaning and acid washing are surface-restoration services that remove the buildup and staining routine cleaning cannot. They address the look and condition of the pool's hard surfaces — the waterline tile and the plaster shell — rather than the water itself. They are two related but distinct services, and which one you need depends on what has built up and where.

Calcium & Scale: Why Tile Needs Cleaning

Over time, minerals in pool water deposit along the waterline as a hard, chalky-to-glassy crust called calcium scale. It dulls and eventually obscures tile, and ordinary brushing will not remove it. Professional tile cleaning strips that buildup without damaging the tile underneath.

Tile Cleaning Methods

• Bead blasting — a fine media (often glass beads) is blasted at the tile to break scale off cleanly; the preferred method for moderate-to-heavy calcium
• Pumice and hand work — for lighter buildup or delicate tile
• Specialty chemical treatment — used selectively where appropriate for the tile type

What an Acid Wash Does

An acid wash is a deeper restoration of the plaster surface itself. The pool is drained, and a controlled acid solution is applied to strip away a microscopically thin layer of stained, algae-marked, or discolored plaster, revealing fresh surface beneath. It can dramatically refresh a dull or stained pool.

Because an acid wash removes a thin layer of plaster, it is not something to do often — it is a periodic restoration, not routine maintenance. A pool surface can only take so many acid washes over its lifetime before resurfacing is the better option.

What to Expect

Tile cleaning is typically done with the pool full or only slightly lowered and can often be completed in a single visit. An acid wash requires draining, the wash itself, and a refill, so it takes longer and is planned around weather and water needs. We will recommend the right approach after seeing the surface.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between this and green-to-clean? Green-to-clean restores the water; tile cleaning and acid washing restore the hard surfaces. They solve different problems.

How often should tile be cleaned? As needed when scale becomes visible — frequency depends on water chemistry and how the pool is maintained.

Will an acid wash hurt my pool? Done correctly and only when warranted, no. Done too frequently, it shortens the life of the plaster, which is why it is a periodic service, not a regular one.