Hot Tub Care 101: How to Take Care of Your Hot Tub

More people than ever spend money on luxurious additions for their homes, and you may be considering a hot tub yourself. But do you know how to maintain one?

Surprisingly, it is not just a case of adding chemicals once in a while. Read on as we discuss the essentials of hot tub care.

Know Your Chemicals

Hot tub water care starts with a daily test of your water. This will allow you to get the right levels of chemicals. By doing this, it will stay clean, hygienic and provide you with crystal clear water. 

When it comes to adding hot tub chemicals to your water, you have two main choices. This is chlorine or bromine.  

Chlorine

Chlorine is familiar to many people, as it is the cleaner used in most pools. It is fast-acting and cost-effective, making it one of the best hot tub chemicals. You can find it in granules or tablets. 

Granules can be sprinkled over the surface or added to warm water and introduced to the hot tub. They are advantageous as they allow you better control over how much chlorine is going into the water. Start with a small amount, leave to settle, retest after two hours, and add more if needed. 

Tablets are usually placed in a chlorine dispenser. This allows the chemical to be released over a long period of time. The only problem with this is that although you have less maintenance, you also have less control over the chlorine levels getting released into the pool. 

Bromine

Bromine is another of the best hot tub chemicals. The benefits are that it has a lesser odour than you may find with chlorine. Unlike chlorine, it can regenerate using a shock, meaning you can keep reactivating bromine salts.

The downsides are it will make your water look a little cloudy. It also acts much slower, meaning your maintenance process could be longer. You can get a hot tub chemical kit that will contain a bromine or chlorine base. 

Get the Right PH

If you get the levels wrong and disrupt the PH, you may have problems with skin irritation when you use the hot tub. Therefore, it is imperative to get it right. 

You can do this every day, but it should definitely be done before you use the tub. Use a standard PH testing strip, and look for a level between 7.0 to 7.6. If you need to add more chemicals, wait until around 20 minutes after the tub has been used to ensure all bubbles are gone. 

Add Monthly Treatments

In addition to your daily testing, you will need to do some monthly maintenance. This may increase if your tub is in regular use. 

A scale and stain inhibiting agent is one addition to the water. It stops the build-up of scale on the tub and helps clarify the water. You should also add a clarifying agent, though these tasks should never be done on the same day. 

Keep It Circulating

If the hot tub does not circulate regularly, then contaminants can build up in the cartridge filters. Many hot tubs will have an automatic circulation program in them already that will keep them bubbling for around 20 minutes once or twice a day. If not, then you will need to do this manually for the same amount of time. 

Drain and Clean

Once a month, it also helps to drain the pool and give the body a strong clean. You should avoid using household cleaners, as they can damage the surface of your tub. Instead, use designated hot tub surface cleaners to ensure the chemicals are not too abrasive. 

Clean the Filters

Filters are essential when keeping your water clean. They take out any pollutants, dirt, and debris. This means that you can bathe in clear, clean water. 

In doing this, they also trap a lot of this dirt. If left to build up, the filtration process is compromised. What does make it through will often carry this dirt with it, so it is important to clean them. 

Spray the filters every week with a cleaner, ideally before rinsing. Then rinse them off with a garden hose. A strong stream of warm water will also be effective and can remove harder pieces of stuck-on dirt. 

Finally, whenever the hot tub is drained and refilled, take out the filters. Place them in a chemical cleaner to soak. This will extend their life and give them a deep wash to remove stubborn stains. 

Don't Forget the Cover

The cover is often the least looked after part of the hot tub. Despite simply being aesthetic, a dirty hot tub cover can really impact the look of your space. Thus, it is important to give it a weekly clean and wipe down. 

Give it a hose both inside and out. Make sure you check for any damage that could have happened. Don't forget to replace it to keep the tub free from leaves and dirt and safety reasons. 

Yearly Maintenance

Several larger jobs will need doing at least once a year. They can include flushing the lines, checking the wiring, hardware, and performing a general tune-up of the system and its processes. This does require a degree of expertise, and you may be better calling in assistance from a professional for this. 

Hot Tub Care

Now you know the essentials of hot tub care, order your hot tub chemicals from Deep End. This will ensure you have healthy, crystal clear hot tub water when you need it.