The design of your pool plays a vital role in the character of your backyard paradise. Whether you are trying to simulate the silky smooth seas of the Caribbean, or are looking for a crisp and sharp modern look selecting the right design for your pool liner will be key! Our backyard is our escape; it is the fundamental soul of our home, it’s where we go to think to unwind, to relax!
We advise you take the time and learn how to select the ideal liner for your pool as a pool liner will set the tone for your backyard for at least the next 10 years. In addition to design, keeping quality in mind when selecting you liner will prove beneficial if your liner is to last its tend.
Besides the visual, there are four factors to consider: Gauge, Style, Seam and base color of the material. The gauge of the liner will determine the thickness of the fabric. When referring to color, we are regarding to the base color of the vinyl fabric onto which the pattern is printed onto. Style refers to whether your liner is full print vs. print with border. Finally and probably most importantly the seam – this is how the liner is bonded together. Paying close attention to each factor will help you determine and select the ideal liner to suit your backyard paradise.
Gauge
Rule of thumb, the thicker the gauge the more durable the liner is. Typically pool liner is manufactured in 3 main gauges; 20Mil (Typically used for Above Ground Pools), 28 Mil & 30 Mil. We recommend using 20 Mil as a benchmark for selecting your aboveground pool liner and a 30Mil for you’re in ground pool liner.
Stock Color
The stock that a liner is printed on is also very important. Bleaching is one of the few factors that are not covered by a liner’s warranty, so if you choose a dark pattern, make sure it is printed on dark stock and light patterns are printed on white. This way if the pattern fades out or partially disappears from some areas, it wouldn’t clash with the rest of the liner Keep in mind depending on the way that that the liner is “stitched” the seam may be more visible with a lighter stock.
Style
There are two main types of pool liner patterns: patterns with borders and full print Vinyl Pool Liners (can also be solid patterns). When selecting a Liner with borders, make sure you pick a model with natural colors. Be careful if you’re picking one of the more exotic colors available, such as deep beige, gray, red, white or terracotta hues because they can look entirely different in a pool filled with water. We are used to seeing water as a shade of blue, so a radically different color can seem out of place. A bright rim can also draw unwanted attention. Since the rim of a liner is designed to mimic tiles, the brighter it is, the more fake it can look.
Another option is to skip the simulated tile altogether and choose a template with a uniform color or a continuous pattern around the liner. A liner like this will give your pool a simple and natural look
The liner template will ultimately be responsible for how the water in your pool looks and the perceived color of the water. Deep colors resembling a lagoon are the best option. They give water a blue-green tint and create a beautiful contrast between the pool water and the deck.
Another overlooked fact is that darkly-colored liners can increase the water temperature by about 7 degrees F under strong direct sunlight in comparison with lighter colored patterns. So by picking a dark liner, you will get to save on heating the water in the pool. Conversely, in very hot areas the pool water might become too hot because of a dark liner, in which case light-colored liners would be preferable.
Seam
Pool liners are manufactured from numerous sections of rolled stock material. Connecting said sections is done either via Invisible seam melt method or Ultrasound Molecular Welding. Invisible seam technology overlaps one section on top of the other and secures it into place via heat. The ultrasound method sets two seems side by side and uses Ultrasound to bond two sections together. We have found that seams on liners using Ultrasound welding technology yield better and less apparent seams in the bonded sections of a liner.