Today we’re going to show you how and why you would use skimmer socks. Yesterday my wife decided to brush our chocolate lab on the pool deck. Currently, there’s a medium-sized dog worth of loose fur floating on the surface of the pool. I don’t want all this waterlogged fur running through my system and possibly clogging up my impeller and filter. Dog fur is fine enough to be able to bypass your skimmer and pump baskets, so we need to use a finer screen to catch the furry follicles.
The best thing for collecting fine debris like pet fur, grass clippings, bugs or pollen is Skimmer Socks. The socks, made of a material similar to nylon stockings, are a great intermediary sifter to prevent small debris from becoming big problems for your main filter. It takes just a minute or two to slip them over your skimmer basket.
How to install a Skimmer Sock
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Turn off your pump, and remove the basket from the skimmer
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Remove your skimmer baskets loop handle or anything that may prevent the sock from sitting snugly in place.
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Replace your basket into the skimmer, and turn on your pump
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Turn on your pump, let it run for a few hours
After I let the pump run for a few hours, there is not fur on the in the water’s surface. The fun part now is going to check the to see al of what the skimmer sock caught. With one flip of the lid, we can see the sock is chock full with fur and any other particulates that were unlucky enough to be floating around (grass clippings and bugs.)
The bottom line, if you are dealing with fur, grass clippings, water bugs, or anything too small for your baskets to handle, the Skimmer Sock is the best choice for you.
