Best Pool Salt
The best pool salt for most pools is a high-purity, additive-free sodium chloride like Morton Pool Salt or Clorox Pool&Spa Pool Salt, sold in 40 pound bags at about 99.8 percent purity. Here is the part the marketing skips: pool salt is just salt. Every bag on the shelf is sodium chloride, the same NaCl as table salt, so brand matters far less than two things: purity, which you want at 99 percent or higher, and no additives (no iodine, no anti-caking agents, no rust removers). Get those right and any of the picks below will work. The only real choice left is the grade, which controls how fast and how cleanly the salt dissolves. And you only need salt at all if you run a salt chlorine generator; a standard chlorine pool has no use for it. Here are the picks, and what actually matters when you buy.
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Morton Pool Salt
Who it is for: Most salt-pool owners who want a proven, high-purity salt they can buy almost anywhere.
- +Mechanically evaporated salt at about 99.8 percent pure sodium chloride, with no additives to cloud or stain the water.
- +Sold as a dedicated 40 pound pool-salt bag at big-box and pool stores, so it is easy to buy in the quantity a pool needs.
- +Fine, uniform crystals dissolve quickly when you broadcast them across the deep end with the pump running.
Watch out: It is salt, so the bag will not tell you how much to add. Read your salt cell's target (usually printed right on the unit), then work out the number of bags from your real water volume with the pool salt calculator.
AquaSalt
Who it is for: Owners who want the purest salt and the least residue, especially on light plaster or a new pool.
- +Food-quality, mechanically evaporated salt made specifically for chlorine generators, among the highest purity you can buy.
- +Very low insolubles, which means little to no residue settling on the pool floor after you add it.
- +Clean, consistent crystal size dissolves fast, so you spend less time brushing it in.
Watch out: It usually costs a little more per bag than big-box salt. You are paying for purity and low residue, which matters most on a new or light-colored surface and matters less on a darker, well-circulated pool.
Diamond Crystal Solar Naturals
Who it is for: Budget-minded owners filling a large pool who do not mind larger crystals that take longer to dissolve.
- +Solar salt crystals, sun-evaporated to roughly 99.6 percent pure, usually the cheapest per pound way to salt a pool.
- +Plain, additive-free sodium chloride crystals, so it is safe for a pool as long as the bag lists no rust removers or iron-control additives.
- +A strong pick when you need many bags at once, such as the first fill of a big pool.
Watch out: Solar crystals are larger and slightly less pure than evaporated salt, so they dissolve slower and can leave a little residue that you brush and let settle. Diamond Crystal also sells a dedicated Pool Salt if you want a finer grade from the same brand.
Clorox Pool&Spa Pool Salt
Who it is for: Owners who want a high-purity salt they can grab the same day at Walmart, Lowe's, or Home Depot.
- +High-purity 40 pound pool salt, commonly around 99.8 percent NaCl, from a brand stocked at nearly every big-box store.
- +Priced to compete with the other national pool salts, so it is often the cheapest additive-free bag on the shelf that day.
- +No shipping wait, which is useful when your salt reading is low and you want to top up now.
Watch out: It is chemically the same as the other high-purity picks, so buy on price and availability. Do not confuse it with Clorox's chlorine or shock products; you want the bag that just says Pool Salt.
What actually matters when buying
What actually makes a good pool salt?. Purity and the absence of additives, full stop. Pool salt is sodium chloride, and you want it at 99 percent or higher with nothing else added. Skip anything with iodine (it can tint the water), anti-caking agents like yellow prussiate of soda, or the rust-remover and iron-control additives found in some softener products, because those can stain surfaces or cloud the water. Brand is almost irrelevant once purity is high and the bag is additive-free. If two bags both read 99.8 percent pure salt with no additives, the cheaper one is the better buy.
Are there different grades of pool salt?. Yes, and grade matters more than brand. Mechanically evaporated salt is the finest and purest, about 99.8 percent, so it dissolves fastest and leaves the least residue; Morton, AquaSalt, and Clorox pool salt are all this type. Solar salt is sun-evaporated crystals, around 99.6 percent, cheaper per pound but larger and slower to dissolve. Rock or mined salt is the cheapest and dirtiest, carrying enough impurities to settle out and even stain, so leave it for the driveway. For fast, clean dissolving pick evaporated; for the lowest bulk price pick clean solar crystals and plan to brush and wait.
Can you use water-softener salt in a pool?. Sometimes, and it can save real money. Pure solar or evaporated water-softener salt that is nothing but sodium chloride is chemically the same as pool salt and often cheaper by the bag. The catch is additives: many softener pellets include rust removers or iron-control agents, and those do not belong in a pool. Read the label and use it only if it lists 99 percent or higher NaCl with no additives, and prefer crystals over pellets. When in doubt, a dedicated pool salt removes the guesswork. Table salt is a hard no, since it is iodized and carries anti-caking agents.
How much salt do I need, and how do I add it?. The target is set by your salt cell, not by a universal number, and it is usually around 2,700 to 3,400 ppm depending on the generator (check the manual). Do not guess the amount: put your tested salt level and your real water volume into the pool salt calculator to get the number of 40 pound bags, and confirm your gallons with the pool volume calculator. Add salt with the pump running, broadcast it across the deep end, and brush it around to dissolve. Wait about 24 hours and a full turnover before you trust the cell's reading or add more. Never pour salt into the skimmer, where a slug of concentrated brine can reach the cell and heater.
You only need salt if you run a salt chlorine generator. Salt does not sanitize a pool on its own. A salt chlorine generator turns the dissolved salt into chlorine, then that chlorine reverts to salt, so you only top up for what you lose to splash-out, backwashing, and rain. If you do not have a generator, adding salt accomplishes nothing useful. And a salt pool is not the ocean: at about 3,000 ppm it is roughly one tenth the salinity of seawater, barely enough to taste. If you are weighing the switch, start with saltwater vs chlorine and how to convert a pool to saltwater; once you are running one, follow saltwater pool maintenance.
How we picked
This is a research-based guide. We compared pool salts on purity (percent sodium chloride), additive content, grade (mechanically evaporated versus solar versus rock), crystal size and dissolving speed, residue, price per pound, and availability, across the national brands and a broad set of owner reviews. We do not bench-test products, and we take no payment for placement. The core claim, that high-purity additive-free salt is what matters and brand is secondary, reflects well-documented differences between salt grades. Always salt to your cell's target and your tested water, and add in stages with the pump running.
Keep your water right, too
Gear handles the cleaning; chemistry is the other half. Useful next: pool salt calculator, best salt chlorine generators, saltwater pool maintenance, how to convert a pool to saltwater, all calculators.
Frequently asked questions
Does the brand of pool salt matter?
Not much. Pool salt is sodium chloride, so as long as the bag is high purity (99 percent or higher) and free of additives like iodine, anti-caking agents, and rust removers, one brand works as well as another. Morton, Clorox Pool&Spa, AquaSalt, and Diamond Crystal all clear that bar. What matters more than the logo is the grade, because evaporated salt dissolves faster and cleaner than solar crystals. Buy the cheapest high-purity, additive-free bag you can find.
Are there different grades of pool salt?
Yes. Mechanically evaporated salt is the finest and purest at about 99.8 percent, dissolves fastest, and leaves the least residue. Solar salt is sun-evaporated crystals at around 99.6 percent, cheaper per pound but larger and slower to dissolve. Rock or mined salt is the cheapest but carries impurities that settle out and can stain, so it is not worth using in a pool. For most owners, evaporated salt is the easiest to work with; solar salt is the budget bulk option if you are willing to brush and wait.
What is the best pool salt brand to use?
For most pools, Morton Pool Salt is the balanced pick: high-purity evaporated salt that is easy to find. For the purest salt with the least residue, AquaSalt is the upgrade, which helps on a new or light-colored surface. For the lowest price per pound on a big fill, pure solar crystals like Diamond Crystal Solar Naturals win. Clorox Pool&Spa is the grab-anywhere budget choice at big-box stores. All of them are fine as long as they are additive-free.
Which brand of pool salt is better, Clorox or Morton?
They are effectively the same product. Both are high-purity, roughly 99.8 percent evaporated pool salt in 40 pound bags, and both dissolve and perform the same in a salt pool. The only real differences are price and what is on the shelf near you. Morton carries the more familiar pool-salt label, while Clorox Pool&Spa is often a dollar or two cheaper at big-box stores. Buy whichever is cheaper on the day, as long as it says pool salt with no additives.
Can I use regular table salt or water-softener salt in my pool?
Never table salt; it is iodized and contains anti-caking agents that can color and cloud the water. Water-softener salt can work, but only if it is pure solar or evaporated sodium chloride at 99 percent or higher with no additives, in which case it is chemically the same as pool salt and cheaper. Avoid any softener product with rust removers or iron-control additives, and prefer crystals over pellets. If you are unsure what is in the bag, spend a little more on a dedicated pool salt.