How to Inflate a Swimming Pool with a Hair Dryer

Did you know that you can easily inflate a swimming pool with a hair dryer?

The Search for the Pool

All summer, I’ve been on the search for this type of pool.

Several people had recommended this three-ring, inflatable pool as a great buy. It was 10’x7’x2′, and I felt like it would be the perfect size for my two little ones. Big enough that they could both have plenty of room to play, tall enough that the baby wouldn’t be constantly escaping into the yard, but not too big for two little ones that can’t swim yet.

The tiny little baby pool I’d gotten for a buck at a garage sale last summer, just wasn’t cutting it with my two rambunctious babies. I dreamed of getting a bigger pool for the backyard. Big enough that both my toddler and my baby could splash around without falling all over each other. Big enough that I could play in the pool with them. Big enough that they would stay entertained for half an hour or more.

The problem? Every other mom in America was ALSO dreaming of getting a larger pool for her kids. All yard toys, this summer, have been hard to come by. From trampolines to pools to water tables–it seems that everyone is trying to secure some fun, new attractions for their backyards. I searched on Facebook Marketplace, and I was met with dozens of people looking for anything to jazz up their backyards. Because pools have been in such high demand, this pool that is normally $40-50 on Amazon has been $130+ all summer. As much as I wanted this pool, I did not want to spend that much on something that was bound to spring a leak before the summer was over, and I didn’t want to give in to the price gouging that was happening. No sir.

Luckily for me, my sweet sis-in-law found one at Aldi for only $22, and snatched it up for me!

Now, How Do I Inflate It?

So we got it home, pulled it out of the box, and were faced with a new dilemma: how to inflate it?

I had a sinking feeling that there was probably something you were supposed to buy to inflate such an albatross of a pool (I was right, there are electric air pumps on Amazon for $20-30).

But I didn’t want to spend more money on the pool, and I sure didn’t want to wait for a pump to be delivered to our doorstep before we had pool fun!

First, my hubby and I tried to just blow it up on our own. Ten minutes later, red faced and out of breath we decided that was not going to happen. It would take us about a million years to do so.

Next, I ran to the garage, and grabbed the bicycle pump. I optimistically inserted it into the pool air valve, and happily pumped away. Five minutes later, I had to admit that while it was a slightly better option than blowing up the pool on my own, it also would take about a million years.

Out of options, and lacking in ideas, I turned to the internet.

A quick internet search gave me the answer: you can inflate a pool with the aid of a hair dryer, and a plastic water bottle.

Why did I not know about this? Why did all of America not know about this? This is brilliant!

So I determined to share it with all of you.

Here’s How It’s Done

Find your hair dryer. If you are like me, it is buried in a closet somewhere, because you never use it. Never, that is, until today! The thing is lucky it hasn’t been sold on Facebook Marketplace yet. Close call, hair dryer, close call.

Locate an empty plastic water bottle. Dig a plastic water bottle out of the trash. Or, you know, find a new one, drink the water out of the water bottle, and use that. The second option is far more sanitary, and you’ll be hydrated. Win-win!

Cut off the bottom half of the water bottle. The water bottle I located was a little narrow, and I found cutting it near the top made it fit better on my brand of hair dryer. You’ll have to adjust, depending on what type of hair dryer and water bottle you own.

Place the top half of the water bottle on the hair dryer.

Put the nozzle of the water bottle on the air valve to the pool. It may not fit inside, or over, that is okay. Just press it up against it as tightly as you can.

Turn your hair dryer on high, preferably on cool. 

Watch, amazed, as your pool inflates at lightening speed (it took all of 3-4 minutes for our pool, astounding!)

You Did It!

You did it! Yay!! And you didn’t have to buy a little machine that will sit in your garage eleven months out of the year to do so. Double yay! You have a new use for your dusty hairdryer, you upcycled a plastic water bottle, you have a pool that is ready to be filled, and you drank a bottle of water in the process. You are winning at life!

Now go put on a swimsuit, and enjoy the pool. You deserve it.

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