Preparing for the off-season as a pool owner can be an extensive process. But while the majority of your focus is on the pool itself, you want to make sure you’re not forgetting about any pool toys or floats that you own. These products need to be stored as well if you’re looking to enjoy them for years to come. To make sure you’re ready to handle all elements of preparing for the colder months, let’s take a look at four tips for storing pool toys and floats during the off-season.
1. Properly Dry and Drain All of the Toys
While you’re taking care of your pool maintenance tasks, it’s important to take out all of the items in your pool and give them time to drain and dry. Storing these products away while they’re wet can result in mold growth or material degradation that will make them unusable when the off-season comes to an end.
2. Deflate Pool Toys to Save Room
Do you have a lot of floats and other inflatable pool toys? If so, you might feel as though storage can get a bit challenging given the amount of space they take up. Once these products have been thoroughly dried, squeeze any air out of them to shrink them down and make them foldable. Then, find the perfect bin to place them in so that they’re ready to be taken out and inflated again once it’s time to jump back into the pool.
3. Keep Them Out of Direct Sunlight
You might see some pool toy and float storage ideas that have all of your favorite pool items outside so that they’re easily accessible. But while this can seem like a great idea, it may lead to you having to purchase more toys even sooner. At best, the sun will only make the colors in your favorite pool products fade. At worst, the heat and sunlight will cause floats to expand and burst and plastic pool toys to crack. If you’re trying to keep them safe and usable, always store your pool toys in places like the garage where they’re out of reach of the sun.
4. Consider Building a Rack for Bigger Items
Products like pool floats are easily able to be stored in bins. The same goes for smaller items like squirt guns or small sports products. But things like pool noodles and much larger pool toys might not be able to be stored in the same way as your other pool products. The solution? Consider building a rack or another kind of dedicated storage space in your garage where you can hang bigger items. This keeps them safe and ensures that they’re taking up too much space or getting broken inside bins.
All pool enthusiasts want to make sure that their favorite pool toys and pool products are safe when the pool is not in use. Use the four tips above to store each of these items properly once fall and winter roll around!
