Does the Magic Eraser Sponge Pool ‘Hack’ for Algae Really Work?

You've probably seen the viral post, but does it really work?

We've had a lot of people asking us about our pool this year - with COVID-19, more people are purchasing their own instead of relying on public pools for summer entertainment.

The short answer? Yes, it's a ton of work, and it's totally worth it for the few months that you get to use it. But, buyer beware, a pool can become a money pit for many reasons - liners, filters, skimmers, and...water quality.

A couple of years ago, we had rain for an entire week in August and our water turned green. We tried EVERYTHING to fix it for a Labor Day party, with no success. Once the water goes bad, it can be hard to get it back up to snuff.

We saw this hack on social media, which went viral a couple of years ago...

...but does it really work?

Hey everyone, I had to post this. Everyone knows my pool is green by this time of the year. However, Whitney spotted this idea on Facebook and I figured why not try it, I had a box of Mr Clean magic erasers laying around. Now mind you, my pool wasn’t green but it looked like it was getting cloudy. I throw one of these in the skimmer basket and holla bing holla boom the cloudiness left and my sponge looks like this. I’m pretty excited to think something so cheap could help so much.

According to pool experts, the hack can work...sort of. The sponge will absorb the algae in your water, but it won't correct your water problem. You have to balance out the chemicals to prevent the algae from coming back.

Said pool experts even went so far as to contact Mr. Clean himself...

via GIPHY

...and he said (not really, it was the company) that the product has NOT been tested in pools, and that the chemicals may react with the chemicals in your pool water.

The short and skinny of it is, yes - it might work. It also might not.