How to clean a pool screen enclosure

Soft wash it: a cleaning solution applied at low pressure, a few minutes of dwell time, then a gentle rinse from the top down. The chemistry does the work that pressure would otherwise do to your panels.

Start with the aluminum framing, because that is where most of the dirt you can see actually is, then rinse the mesh. The step by step is below.

Not with high pressure. Screen mesh is held in a channel by a rubber spline, and high pressure does two things, both bad. It stretches or tears the mesh itself, and it pushes the spline out of the channel so the panel goes slack and eventually falls out.

A torn panel costs more to fix than the wash was ever going to cost you. Keep it under about 500 psi, or skip the pressure washer for the mesh entirely and use a pump sprayer and a soft brush.

A soft wash detergent or a diluted bleach based cleaner, applied with a pump sprayer or a low pressure washer. Read the label and mix it the way it says, not stronger.

Two cautions. Soak the plants around the base before and after, because wet foliage does not absorb the runoff. And handle the chemicals properly: store them cool and dry and never mix products, which is the same advice the CDC gives for pool chemicals.

The frame. The green and black streaking people notice is mostly on the aluminum framing, not the screen. Wash the frame top down and most of the visual problem is gone before you have touched a panel. The mesh itself usually just needs rinsing once the runoff from the frame has stopped dirtying it.

Once a year for most cages here. Shaded yards and anything under heavy tree cover go faster and can want it every eight months or so. If the frame has gone properly black rather than streaked, it has been longer than a year.

Many people do the cage on the same day as the pool deck and driveway, since the setup is already there. See pressure cleaning and how often to pressure wash driveways.

Not if you plan for it. Some cleaner will get into the water. It is not a disaster, but test and rebalance afterward, and shock if you used a bleach based mix. If you can, wash the cage the day before the pool is serviced.

When panels are torn, slack, or the spline is creeping out of the channel. Cleaning will not fix any of that, and washing a loose panel can finish it off.

While you are washing, look along the channels. A panel that has just started to pull loose is a quick fix now and a full panel later. That is screen repair.