Now that summer and the warm weather are officially done for the year, it’s time to pack up the close the pool and pack up your floats. However, there are a few tips and tricks to do this properly - keep reading for our 5-step process for how to store pool floats for winter!

1. Clean Off Debris

The very first step to store pool floats for winter is cleaning them one last time. Dead bugs, grass clippings, and little gifts from our bird friends can all make their way onto floats that have been left by the pool, which is why cleaning is so important.

While the floats are still inflated, spray off any debris with a hose. If there’s something that is really caked on, you can use a bit of dish detergent and a sponge to scrub it off. Make sure you rinse any soap well - you don’t want it sitting on your pool floats all winter!

2. Dry Off Your Floats

The second step for how to store pool floats during winter is to make sure they’re bone-dry. Any moisture left on the floats could cause some nasty mold situations that you won’t want to deal with next spring.

 Go over each float well with a beach towel, then allow to air dry for up to a day to really make sure there’s no remaining water droplets. Mold is not your friend, and it’s not your float’s friend either.

3. Deflate Your Pool Floats Properly

For this next step, we’ve created a handy tutorial on YouTube. Skip to the 0:40 timestamp for tips on how to correctly deflate your pool floats.

To recap the video: the method of deflating depends on which type of valve your float has. If it’s a single valve, simply unplug and let the air flow out. If it’s a leak-proof valve, you’ll need to hold and squeeze the valve to release the air. If you have a LOTELI float, we use a Double Boston Valve, which combines the two type. For a Double Boston Valve, you can simply unplug the single valve for easy deflating before you store your pool floats for winter.

4. Carefully Fold Them.

When figuring out how to store pool floats for winter, folding is an important step. You want to fold your floats as flat as possible - both for easy storage, and to make sure no moisture or winter critters make their home in there.

The size and shape of your float will determine how to fold them, but generally, think of them like folding a set of sheets. Fold end to end, smoothing out wrinkles as much as you can, until the float is a manageable size.

5. Store Your Floats.

The very last step for how to store pool floats for winer - storage! There are a variety of options for this. You could purchase a storage bin (flat underbed storage works well), or simply stack your floats somewhere where they won’t be in direct light and are sheltered from moisture. We like netted bags like this one - they allow air to pass through which keeps mold from growing, and you can use them again in the spring to store your inflated floats!