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Hot tub foam is definitely not the kind of bubbles we are looking for in our tub. Hydro-jets and bubble jets are what we signed up for and of course a brilliant relaxing wellness session.
When hot tub water goes rogue our blissful hot tub routine screeches to a halt and we need to fix it fast.
Some hot tub water problems can be an easy fix. A minor surface foam problems can often be removed by testing and adjusting chemical balance or adding special products to tackle the problem.
Generally speaking though adding an anti foam product is at best going to give you a few weeks of foam free hot tubbing before the pesky foam starts to reappear.
These anti foam products are fine, brilliant in fact if you own an inflatable hot tub and you’re getting towards the end of your hot tubbing season. Or perhaps you’re just a few weeks off a scheduled hot tub water change. They’re pretty much a temporary solution though.
Unfortunately the only real solution to a hot tub foam problem is to drain the hot tub, carefully clean it, refill it, reheat it and rebuild the chemical balance. Read our full guide to chemical treatment >>
Yikes! What a hassle!! Yup, so let’s find out what we can do to stop the problem reoccurring. Let’s check out the probable causes and what to do about stopping them.
Foaming Hot Tub Check List
1 Cheap Chemicals: Did you change your chemical brand? Saving a few bucks on hot tub chemicals seems like a sound enough idea until it comes back to bite you when your hot tub morphs into a “foam party”. Always go for well known brands, and if the brand range is broad enough use all your required chemicals from a single brand source. Hyperlink to chemical guide.
2. You: No need to feel guilty but you’re a large part of the problem and an easy part of the solution. When divide the volume of hot tub water by the amount of users enjoying the hot tub at one time you’ll find the gallons per user surprisingly low.
Natural body oils, body lotions, creams and dead skin can all be flushed away into the hot tub water and over burden and overwhelm the sanitising chemicals quite rapidly and cause hot tub foaming surprisingly quickly.
Of course this is all pretty much preventable by showering before using the hot tub and taking care to throughly rinse away any soap or shampoos that you use. A no brainer really.
3 You again!! If you are wearing a recently washed swim suit in your hot tub it could hold some residual soap that wasn’t fully rinsed away by your your wish machine. Just do a good warm water hand rinse of your swim suit to be double sure it’s soap free. This may seem a minor thing but it isn’t! If a family of four is using the hot tub with poorly rinsed swim suits then expect problems fast.
4 Soft water: If you live in a soft water area you are likely to be much more susceptible to hot tub foaming. The reduced surface tension of soft water allows any surfactants present to turn your hot tub into a foaming children’s fun pool fast, probably not what you’re looking for!! Soft water area owners need to keep a close eye on calcium levels ( indication of water hardness ) during their regular hot tub chemical maintenance schedule and adjust as necessary.
- BENEFITS: Raises water hardness to maintain a level of hardness between 150-400 ppm
- USE: One ounce increases hardness 7 ppm in 500 gallons of water
- COMPATIBILITY: Compatible with chlorine, bromine, ozone, and biguanide sanitizers
- FEATURES: Prevents corrosion and foam; Part of Leisure Time's Simple Spa Care program
- INCLUDES: One 32-oz bottle of Leisure Time Calcium Booster
Recommended Reading
Main Picture Credit:Water photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com
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