Easily Remove Debris From Your Backyard Pool With This Clever Pool Noodle Hack

Having a pool in your backyard instantly transforms it into the perfect place to enjoy a bit of summer fun, but keeping it clean and free of debris requires quite a bit of maintenance, even during the off season. One of the most annoying parts of this process is having to skim any fallen leaves, bugs, and sticks off of the top of the water, but one clever TikToker developed an idea that allows you to cut back on your required leg work with just a simple pool noodle.

Instead of having to repeatedly walk around your pool with a net to individually scoop out leaves, TikToker @jamiesjourneyjamiebloem proposed the idea of creating your own trap to catch debris that would otherwise continue to float around on the surface of the water. To do this, you need something long and buoyant to place near the mouth of the filter, and there's no better choice than those pool noodles you likely already have stored away with the rest of your pool toys.

In her video, @jamiesjourneyjamiebloem begins by grabbing a pool noodle. This doesn't need to be a certain size or in the best shape, so you could easily repurpose a years-old pool noodle that you were planning to toss anyway. From here, she finds the intake of the filter to her pool and sticks in the end of the pool noodle so it's jutting out towards the rest of the water. If you plan to use this hack, make sure you still allow some space for the water to flow through the filter — you don't want to completely block it off so the water will still flow.

Once the pool noodle is in its place, your work is pretty much done. After the water circulates for a while, you should notice that any debris on the surface gets caught as it flows by the pool noodle, leaving you with a pile that you can easily scoop up rather than having to chase down each individual stick or leaf.

When it comes to this hack, there's not much risk of error or damage, though it is important to consider if it will work with your existing filtration system. In her video, the creator has an above-ground pool with a fairly large, rectangular filter that sits close to the surface of the water. Some pools might have filters that are smaller or lower, so you could run into some issues positioning your pool noodle so that it skims the surface without completely blocking the flow.

If this is the situation you're in, you could still use this hack to your advantage, though it's likely you'll have to make some tweaks. For a similar result, try floating the pool noodle near the filter, then securing it to the side of your pool across the top to keep everything in place. It's not quite as convenient, but it can still help to create a place for debris to collect so you don't have to skim the entire surface of the pool.