May 16th, 2018 by Chris Chapman

How to Clean and Maintain Your Hot Tub

If you’ve got a hot tub, or you’re thinking of getting one, you’ll probably know all about their benefits. They’re a great luxury item that provides you with the perfect place for relaxing and entertaining. Even though you can find a cheap hot tub for under £500 online these days, they’re still a significant investment for most people. That means you’ll want to look after your hot tub to make sure it’s always providing you with the best value for money and that it’s always operating at peak performance! Hot tubs are meant for relaxing, so you shouldn’t be stressing about looking after one! Just read our simple guide to caring for hot tubs and spas and you’ll get a perfect, bubbly spa session every single time.

Take Cover

A hot tub cover is important in all weather, but especially in winter Always keep your hot tub covered up when it’s not in use, rain or shine. No matter where you are, dust, leaves, bugs, and all sorts of unwanted things will end up in your hot tub if you leave it uncovered. This can not only lead to a dirty tub but also blocked or damaged pipes! Some hot tubs come with covers included anyway, but a lot don’t. If you’re crafty, you can make your own cover out of some wood or even a good-quality tarpaulin. You can also find hot tub covers of all shapes and sizes – and even bespoke options – online. Investing in a good cover is a relatively small price to pay when you consider how much trouble it’ll save you down the line!

Hard Water or Soft Water?

 Getting the hardness of your water right will be good for your hot tub We know the last thing you want when you’re trying to relax is a chemistry lesson, but for hot tub owners this is very important – we promise we’ll try and make it easy to understand! How you treat your hot tub should vary depending on whether you live in a hard water area or a soft water area. If you’re not sure whether you live in a hard water area or not, you can check the inside of your kettle; if there’s a lot of limescale in there, you probably have hard water (you can also use this handy map to double check)! Hard water causes limescale in your hot tub, pipes, and filter, so you’ll need to clean out regularly. You can use Hot Tub and Spa Scale Stop to remove limescale from your hot tub, preventing unsightly build-up and reducing the risk of your pipes becoming blocked. You might think that this means soft water areas are much better for hot tubs, but this is a common misconception. Yes, soft water feels a little better, but it can actually cause a lot of problems for your hot tub. Soft water naturally likes to absorb minerals and chemicals. A common mineral that water likes to absorb is calcium, and unfortunately, calcium is a key ingredient in most parts of a hot tub! This means soft water will absorb calcium from anywhere it can in your hot tub. The result of this is that soft water will slowly strip away any grouting, sealant, and plasterwork and corrode metal parts of your hot tub - even railings, jets, and pipes - quite severely. This problem gets even worse if the pH of your water is out of balance (more on that later!). The solution to this (no pun intended) is to use a testing kit to check the hardness of your water and add some calcium chloride to harden up your water a little bit (you can find both of these things online easily). Ideally, your water should be between 150-400 ppm. This is the Goldilocks zone that will mean you don’t get too much limescale build-up, but you won’t suffer from the corrosive effects of soft water either.

Filter It Out

Cleaning your filter regularly ensures a clean, safe hot tub experience Your filter is arguably the most important part of your hot tub. It catches particles of dirt and grime as they flow through your pipes and makes sure your hot tub is constantly pumping out clean water. Naturally, this means your filter collects quite a lot of dirt itself! If your filter gets too clogged up with dirt, it won’t work properly, and you’ll end up with a dirty, cloudy spa session. Use some Hot Tub Filter Cartridge Cleaner to break down and remove the dirt that collects in your filter, ensuring your filter always does its job properly. Doing this regularly will massively prolong the life of your hot tub and it’ll mean you don’t have to change your filter anywhere near as regularly. However, even if you have a brand new spotless filter, there are still some tiny particles that can slip through. There’s no filter on Earth that’ll keep every single speck of dirt out of your hot tub as some particles are just too small to be caught by any filter. That’s why you need some Hot Tub and Spa Clarifier! This genius solution will cause tiny particles of dirt, grease, and skin, to bind together in larger clumps. Your filter can then pick up these larger particles, leaving you with crystal clear water.

Avoid Foam Parties

Some bubbles are natural in a hot tub, but too much foam is a bad sign So, you’ve got a clean filter, your water hardness is perfect, and you’re ready for a session in the hot tub. You hop in and find the surface of the water is soon covered in annoying, splashing foam. What’s going wrong? Well, in the modern age where everyone wears deodorant, fake tan, makeup, hair gel, or other products, these things can quickly wash off and cause hot tub water to foam up quite badly. You can make sure you’re clean before you jump in the tub, but even then, the soap residues that cling to your swimwear after a wash can react with the hot tub water, causing the tub to overflow with foam! Your filter can pick up some of these impurities, and some Clarifier will help you further, but if the particles from these products stick to the side of the hot tub itself, they might not be circulated through your filter properly to begin with. If your relaxing sessions are being spoiled by foam, you should invest in some Anti-Foam to prevent your hot tub from turning into an overflowing bubble bath. Anti-Foam does exactly what it says on the tin and disperses foam from the surface of your hot tub water, meaning you can sit back and relax without worrying about getting a face full of foam!

Keep Your pH Balanced

pH testing kits are cheap and easy ways to monitor your hot tub water Another important bit of chemistry to know is how pH affects your hot tub. pH is a measurement of acidity, so a low pH is very acidic, whereas a high pH is more alkaline. You can probably figure out that going too far either way isn’t good for your hot tub! Alkaline water encourages limescale to build up, whereas acidic water can corrode the parts of your hot tub. Your hot tub water should be between 7.2-7.6 pH, which sounds quite specific, but it’s not hard to achieve! A number of things can affect the pH of your hot tub water. Different parts of the country have differing levels of acidity, for one thing. The products that wash off our hair and skin will also affect it. This means the pH of your water won’t always stay at the same level! You can easily adjust the pH of your water with some hot tub chemicals called acidity regulators – if it’s too low, use some Soda Ash pH Increaser. If it’s too high, use some Sodium Bisulphate pH Reducer! They sound like fancy chemicals, but they’re really simple. Just add a small amount (around 10g for every 100l of water in the tub) to your hot tub while the circulation system is running and use a pH testing kit to measure the results.

Don’t Hate, Chlorinate

You should keep your hot tub water clean with some chlorine granules. Now, chlorine has a bit of an unfair reputation. We all know it as a chemical that’s used to clean swimming pools across the world, and people think it has an unpleasant smell and makes your eyes sting. However, you don’t need to worry about that in your hot tub, as it’s not actually the chlorine that makes this happen! When lots of people get into a pool, all their accumulated sweat and other bodily fluids (yes, it’s gross) react with the chlorine to make another chemical called chloramine. Chloramine is the thing that causes your bloodshot eyes as well as that distinct smell. If you keep your hot tub water clean and healthy, you’ll never have to worry about either of these things, and you won’t even notice the chlorine is in there at all!

Flush the Whole System

A system flush will clean out blockages and bacteria from your whirlpool system No matter how clean you keep the rest of your hot tub, eventually, you will need to thoroughly clean inside your whirlpool system pipes to make sure your hot tub is working as efficiently as possible. Bits of dirt, limescale, and tiny skin particles will inevitably end up clinging to the inside of your whirlpool system, where they can form blockages if they’re left too long. One of the major reasons this causes such a problem is that bacteria can cling to these tiny particles and create a slimy, sticky layer that clings to the inside of the pipes. Over time, more and more particles will cling to this layer eventually leading to a messy and disease-ridden blockage in your pipes. What this means for you is that you need something that will not only clear out blockages but which can kill off bacteria in just one treatment. That’s why System Flush is the ideal solution for cleaning out your hot tub pipes – not only does it power through blockages and break down dirt, but it’s anti-bacterial, meaning it’ll sterilise your pipes and make it harder for bacteria to spread again. You should use System Flush every 3 months to ensure your hot tub is always fresh and free from bacteria and blockages. For best results, you should really combine it with all the measures we’ve listed in this article to make sure every part of your hot tub stays sparkling clean.

Enjoy It!

There can be a lot to get your head around when caring for your hot tub, but there’s no need to stress. Our experts will give you all the advice you need, so kick back, relax and enjoy your hot tub! If you get stuck, you can always call us on 0800 091 3171 or use the live chat function on prokleen.co.uk for personal advice.