From http://www.swimmingpoolsteve.com/pages/new-pool-owners.html - Pool owners will often forget or neglect to brush down the walls and floor of the pool regularly. Brushing the walls and floor is a fairly low reward task considering how much effort it takes and how little difference it appears to do. Rest assured that regular brushing of your pool is something that you should definitely do, and there is a cumulative effect that will reduce the difficulty you have with maintaining clear and safe pool water. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeyBd5uiYrc

You might be surprised to learn that technically you should not need antifreeze in order to protect a swimming pool from damage over a freezing winter season. For the most part this is because you are going to remove any water from the plumbing lines and if there is no water in the pipes then there is no way for freezing to break those pipes. Mostly antifreeze is antifreeze is a low cost backup backup to help you protect your pipes.  If you could make the argument that there is any place that needs antifreeze you could argue that skimmers require this period at least to say it is such a good idea that you should absolutely spend the extra dollars to get some pool antifreeze and put some in the skimmer pipes as well as the skimmer body itself. All of these extra layers of protection add up to a greater chance of surviving a cold and freezing winter season without damage to your pool skimmer. Don't forget to use foam rope, or backer rod as another layer of protection. Inserting about one foot of foam rope down into the skimmer pipes will add another layer of protection against freeze damage. This closed cell foam product will not absorb water and will allow something to crush should ice form instead of pushing outwards on the walls of the pipe.  For more info check out this video about winterizing pool skimmers:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLtGssc-MrN3L7dttVsb7iN_EJ48r5t-qE&v=QBVEFH6Vy48&feature=youtu.be #SwimmingPoolSteve #winterize #poolmaintenance ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb0fCDdjYNw