Your fun-filled hot tub sessions need to be matched with occasional cleanings. This is to ensure the longevity of the hot tub along with the safe operation for its users.
Cleaning a hot tub is rather easy, but not everybody knows how to do it properly. Below, you will find a step-by-step guide on hot tub cleaning along with some tips on cleaning frequency.
Cleaning A Hot Tub Step-By-Step
1. Flush & drain your hot tub
First and foremost, you should drain your tub and flush the lines to clean them of mold and bacteria. Aside from that, flushing your lines will reduce strain on the pump and help your hot tub system run more efficiently.
Flushing is done with products called line flushes. You should be able to find them at a local pool supply store. Generally, to use a line flush, you need to mix a specified amount of line flush with the hot tub water and let it circulate for some time.
In accordance with the hot tub’s instructions, flush and drain the hot tub at the end.
- If you are flushing your hot tub rarely, then you will see a lot of gunk come out. Getting rid of it after a flush can also be time-consuming and annoying – to minimize the amount of work you need to do, flush your hot tub more often.
- If you’ve recently flushed your hot tub, then you may not need to do it again.
2. Cut off the power to your tub
Next, to keep yourself safe and avoid damage to the hot tub, be sure to turn off the tub’s power. To do this, unplug the unit or turn off its circuit breaker.
3. Apply a hot tub cleaner to your tub
For optimal results, you should get yourself a specially formulated hot tub cleaner. Dedicated cleaners will not only easily get rid of dirt but will also protect the surface of the hot tub. Specialized products also usually don’t have any abrasive particles in them that could damage the hot tub.
Spray the required amount of the cleaner onto the hot tub and then scrub it around with a sponge. After that, thoroughly rinse the shell and make sure that no cleaner remains on it.
For effective cleaning, here are a few additional tips to keep in mind:
- To deal with very tough messes, you could make a mixture of 1/4 teaspoon of dichlor with 5 gallons of water. This makes a 50 ppm dichlor/water solution.
- Hot tubs with acrylic shells are typically resistant to germ and dirt buildup. These hot tubs are easy to clean with a general-purpose bathroom cleaner.
4. Clean your filters
Check out your hot tub’s manual to find out how to access and remove the filters. If you have lost the manual, then you should take a picture of the filter assembly before taking it apart – this will immensely help you with reassembling it.
- Once the filters are out, spray them with water from a garden hose. This will remove lighter residue from the filter, making successive steps easier.
Be sure not to brush the filter surface – you may accidentally embed a lot of dirt into the filter.
- After you’ve rinsed the filter, give the filter cabinet a good scrub with a 50 ppm dichlor/water solution. This will eliminate bacteria, germs, and mold from the filter cabinet.
- Dunk your filter into an oil-cutting solution for an hour. Your hot tub’s manual may specify what kind of solution to use in this step – if not, you should pay a visit to a local pool store. There, you will be able to receive specific recommendations for your hot tub & filter type.
- Finally, place the filters in your 50 ppm chlorine solution for a bit.
Once you are done, reinstall your filter assembly into the hot tub.
5. Refill your hot tub
Next, you should refill your hot tub.
First of all, run the water through the tub’s filter first. Do this by placing a garden hose into the filter’s well housing. The water should be flowing through the filter and into the tub’s reservoir.
Then, power your hot tub back on. Allow the tub to run for a few minutes and listen for any unusual noises. If there are any, then you’ve probably assembled the filter incorrectly, or maybe something has been left loose.
6. Treat the water with chemicals
Check out your hot tub’s instructions to determine the recommended chemicals for the water. You will most likely need a shock agent, a pH balancer, and a sanitizer.
After adding the required amount of chemicals, cover your hot tub and keep it that way for the amount of time specified in the solution’s manual.
After the time has elapsed, test the pH and chlorine levels in the hot tub. Proper value ranges should be indicated in your tub’s manual. You shouldn’t add too much solution since this may harm the tub or your health, and you shouldn’t add too little since the chemicals won’t be able to do their job.
How Often Should You Clean Your Hot Tub?
At least once a month should be fine for most use cases. If you are heavily using your tub though, you may need to carry out more frequent cleanings.
The most vulnerable part of your hot tub is the filter. Designed to trap undesired particles, filters get dirty pretty quickly. A filter that hasn’t been clean for a while won’t be able to do its job. With that, a good indicator of a dirty filter is dirty water – but if you’ve reached this stage, you probably haven’t cleaned your tub for months.
As for the tub shell, you may wipe it down regularly and sanitize it with a chlorine or bromine tablet on a weekly basis. If you are making any mixtures, be sure not to mix incompatible treatments since that may end with a disaster.
Lastly, deep-clean the shell every three months or so as well.
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