Swimmers bring lotions, sunscreens, hair products, and natural skin oils into the water. Those oils don’t just cloud things up, they can leave a shiny film on the surface, make water feel “slick,” and foul filters faster. Clearicel is uniquely good at grabbing those oily contaminants while still polishing the water to a crisp sparkle.

 

How It Works (In Plain English)

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When you charge a DE-style filter with cellulose, the fibers knit together and form a porous, fibrous cake on the grids. That cake acts like a microscopic net: it traps fine debris and adsorbs oily droplets that often slide past sand and traditional DE. The result is noticeably clearer water without the surface sheen you may have seen with other media.

 

Why It Beats DE and Sand for Oils

 

Better oil capture: Cellulose’s interlocking fibers create more “contact points” for oils to stick to, so residues from sunscreen and hairspray get held in the cake—not in your pool.

 

Cleaner feel & look: Less surface film, brighter water, and reduced “scum line” at the tile.

 

Gentler on equipment: Because oils are trapped in the cake, backwashing removes them before they migrate deeper into plumbing or gum up cartridges.

 

Dosing Made Easy

 

DE-style filters: Add 1 cup of cellulose per 6 sq ft of filter area through the skimmer with the pump running.

Example: 60 sq ft filter → 10 cups per full recharge.

Fine-tune ±10% based on bather load and clarity goals.

 

Operating Tips for Best Oil Control:

Watch pressure: Backwash or clean when filter pressure rises +10 psi—the cake is doing its job and holding the oils.

 

Skip clarifiers/polymers with cellulose: They can gum up the cake. If heavy oils are common (spray tans, sunscreen parties), use enzyme products or a skimmer sock to assist between recharges.

 

Recharge after each cleaning just as you would with DE.

 

What You’ll Notice:

No rainbow sheen or greasy feel on the surface.

Sharper water clarity—“photo-glass” look in daylight.

Easier cleanup at backwash; oils leave with the cake instead of re-circulating.