Will Vodka Clean A Swimming Pool? 5 Alternatives

gray vodka bottle on the side of a blue inground pool

Pool maintenance can be a daunting task. What do you do when you run out of chlorine and your pool is starting to turn green?  You may look around the house for some Clorox. Perhaps you check the garage for anything that resembles pool cleaner.  Basically, you are desperate to do anything but go back to the store and buy pool chemicals.  You may look over to your bar and see that handle of cheap vodka and think to yourself will vodka clean a swimming pool?

Will Vodka Clean A Swimming Pool Surface?

First and foremost, let’s begin by discussing why you might want to use vodka to clean your swimming pool.  If your above ground pool is empty and there’s some discoloration on the liner, you could use vodka and a sponge to clean the liner.  Alcohol can be a great solvent for some kinds of crud. In this respect, vodka can be a great substitution for rubbing alcohol.  

Will Vodka Clean A Swimming Pool Water Chemistry?

When considering swimming pool water chemistry, will vodka clean a swimming pool? Adding vodka to the pool as a substitute for chlorine or bromine will not work.  Unless you replace a significant percentage of the pool water with vodka, you will not see much of an impact on the water chemistry by adding vodka to the water.  

Chemistry Behind Vodka And Swimming Pool PH

Many people are curious about using vodka when their pool has a high PH. It’s well known that vodka has a PH of 4. Therefore, it is true that vodka may help lower the PH if it’s above 4.  However, when you compare its usefulness to the PH of 1 that Muriatic Acid has, you realize vodka is not an effective PH reducer.  Here are 5 PH reducers that are safer and better than using vodka.

Will Vodka Clean A Swimming Pool Answered In Backyard With Clean Blue Swimming Pool and Floats In Background Of A Vodka Bottle And Table

Vodka In A Swimming Pool Summary

Ultimately, Vodka should be kept in the bar, and not used in a swimming pool.  It has no place in pool water chemistry management. Additionally, it does not replace any product you need to use. The only time you maybe would want to use vodka in the pool is for surface cleaning of an empty pool.