Hot tub maintenance is not hard, and we can tell you with confidence that you can do most of it at home. Some dread the need to take care of their tub, but it shouldn’t be stressful. Simple maintenance skills plus a good schedule can help keep your tub in tiptop condition. By ensuring consistent maintenance of your hot tub, you save yourself thousands in hardware replacements in the long run and keep you enjoying your tub for years.
Remember the Three C’s of Tub Maintenance
As you enjoy swimming around in your hot tub spa, it would be nice to know the trio of essential hot tub care. The three Cs of tub maintenance are:
- Chemistry
- Cleaning
- Circulation
Hot Tub Chemistry
If you want a clean tub and spa, maintaining your tub will go a lot easier with water chemistry. Similar to maintaining a swimming pool, you will need to work on the same elements but in different volumes.
Hot tub chemistry refers to the tub’s pH, shock, and sanitizer levels. With pH, you would need to take care of alkalinity and pH levels, and these need to have the right balance to keep the water clean and clear.
Hot Tub Cleaning
Like anything in your house, consistent cleaning is crucial for your hot tub’s overall health. Effective hot tub maintenance includes removing scum, silt, mildew, sap stains, and calcium buildup. Both indoor and outdoor hot tubs are prone to many of these issues, so regular cleaning is vital.
It’s also critical to use the right cleaning products. You may go for commercial cleaners or pick some products straight from your kitchen, such as baking soda and vinegar. Then, use a soft cloth or rag and exert some elbow grease.
Hot Tub Circulation
When it comes to hot tubs, running water always means clean water. Circulating water allows it to stay fresh and free from contaminants.
While some hot tubs have circulation schedules, others don’t have it. Fortunately, there are ways to start moving water (using circulation pumps) and get your filters working.
Keep Your Pool’s pH and Alkalinity Balanced.
When it comes to the chemical maintenance of your hot tub, keep your pH and alkalinity balanced. pH should stay in the range of 7.4 – 7.6, which is as neutral as it can be. Alkalinity should remain at 80 to 120 parts per million (ppm).
Low pH can act as an irritant for your eyes and skin, while high pH will make your water too basic, resulting in cloudier water for the tub.
High levels of alkaline usually also cause the scaling of tubs. pH test strips or a pH meter will be a great tool to use during your hot tub maintenance.
Skim Leaves and Clean Scum as Often as You Can.
As mentioned, indoor and outdoor hot tubs are prone to scum, which you should clean regularly. Also, look out for physical debris from falling onto your outdoor spa. Dirt like leaves, trash, and even insects must be taken out as soon as possible.
At the very least, give your hot tub a skim every other day. Give it a nice, good scrub with your choice of cleaner or white vinegar once a week. Keep the jets and the shell tidy, and scrub the scum line with a bit of elbow grease.
Make sure to wipe the tub after you clean it. You can use a 10% bleach solution or some baking soda to keep the tub shiny and disinfected.
Prioritize Hot Tub Filter Maintenance.
Hot tub filters should be among your priorities when maintaining your hot tub. They run and clean all day, so your filters would need a good, regular clean to work. You can wash, soak, or give the filters a spray of filter cleaner.
Do this by washing the filters with nice, warm water. You can also use your garden hose to spray any dirt you can find.
Spray the filters once a week with a hot tub filter cleaning solution, and for a much deeper clean, use cleaning solutions.
Soak the hot tub filters in chemical cleaners when you drain and refill your tub. Give them a thorough rinse to remove the particulates.
Make a Maintenance Schedule.
It goes without saying that a hot tub maintenance schedule is necessary to ensure that you optimize your tub. Schedules are there to remind you of the action that you need to do and when to do it. By making sure each cleaning and disinfecting task is done on time, you get to keep your tub functional and safe for you and your family’s use.
So, how do you make DIY hot tub maintenance easy? The answer is to keep it simple and consistent.
Let Cherry Pool Services Provide Your Hot Tub Maintenance Needs.
Doing hot tub maintenance on your own should not be a pain. By sticking to the basics and being consistent with what you clean every session, you can cut potential expenses on future hot tub repairs.
For more complicated hot tub maintenance tasks, Cherry Pool Services can help. Our team of hot tub repair experts can do periodic cleaning and inspection of your tub so you can pre-empt tub issues that could end up more expensive than regular maintenance.
Contact our team today for more details.
