Spa Maintenance: Do these four things to keep your hot tub in good working order

Stressing about spa and hot tub care? Oh, the irony! Your spa is supposed to be relaxing – its care and maintenance shouldn’t stress you out. Here are some tips to help you manage. These are helpful whether you’re a new spa owner, or a long-time owner who just needs confirmation that you’re keeping your hot tub clean and sanitary, and prolonging the life of your spa’s equipment.

For the new spa owner, or for someone who is new to spa maintenance, we have a few easy tips to help you care for your spa. These simple hot tub maintenance and cleaning tasks will keep your water crystal clear, sanitary and ready to use. Keep reading to learn how to maintain proper water chemistry and keep your spa equipment in top shape.

#1 – Know your chemistry – and keep your water balanced.

The quality of the water in your spa is critical to your health, and also to the life of your spa equipment. When the water chemistry is off, it can cause rashes or respiratory illnesses for humans, and corrosion or scale to your hot tub.

It may seem overwhelming, but it’s really not that hard! The key is to test your water a few times a week. Just buy some test strips, then use the guidelines below to gauge your levels and ensure you’re within the ranges below:

If anything is outside of the recommended levels, take appropriate action. Keep a log of your measurements to make sure you’re staying on top of everything. And of course, keep your chemicals locked up and out of children’s reach.

When you fill your spa, tap water is usually fine, but if you’re using well water or poor quality source water, use of a pre filter such as the X10 Water Filter is strongly recommended.

#2 – Clean your filter every month!

Check the documents that came with your spa and find out where the filter is located on your model. You need to know where it is before you can clean and replace it! We recommend that you clean your filters using Spa Marvel Filter Cleaner. It is a powerful cleaner that doesn’t utilize harsh acids or bleach, and removes and loosens oil, hair, dirt and grime that becomes lodged in the fabric of cartridge filters.

Properly cleaned filters are vital to the success of maintaining your spa water. After soaking the filters in the Filter Cleaner solution, thoroughly remove debris from the pleats of the filter by using a strong stream of fresh water. The solution will have loosened all that gunk up so it’s easier to wash off!

Reinstall the clean filter as per your professional spa retailer’s instructions. And remember to replace the filter every year, depending how frequently you use your spa. Unfortunately, cleaning the spa is what really wears it down the most, so if you’re not keeping track on the calendar, remember to change it every 10-15 cleanings.

Note that in addition to using filter cleaner once a month, we recommend rinsing your filter weekly with fresh water to remove heavy debris.

#3 – Scrub the Spa

Depending upon how often you use it, you should drain and clean the plumbing of your hot tub every three months. We do not recommend using household cleaners to do this! Spa Marvel Cleanser is safer and more effective.

Spa Marvel Cleanser offers a fast-acting proprietary spa plumbing formula. It gets deep inside of your spa’s plumbing and equipment, and it clears out all kinds of biofilm, organic, mineral and chemical contaminants. This helps extend the life of your spa and hot tub equipment. We recommend using the cleanser on brand new spas too, as it removes residues left over from the manufacturing process including wax, lubricants, and even sawdust, making the spa cleaner than ever for its first use.

Instructions for use of our cleanser are found on the Spa Marvel website.

#4 – The Cover Needs Cleaning, too.

Spa covers need some love. Taking it off a few times a week and letting it air out is a smart way to reduce the risk of mildew and mold, but you should also give it a good cleaning every month or so.

For vinyl spa covers, remove the cover and spray with a hose to loosen any debris. Use a vinyl-safe cleaning solution and gently clean the entire cover. We recommend one that’s free of alcohol and bleach, which can dry out the material and reduce its longevity. After cleaning the cover, apply a protectant with a lint-free cloth to keep your cover hydrated and safe from sun damage. Protectant will also help keep the cover clean longer. The best products will be oil-free and offer UV protection to keep your cover from fading and drying out. Visit your local spa and hot tub retailer to find the products that are most appropriate for your cover.

For acrylic spa covers, hose down regularly, and use a vinegar and water solution to clean any spots or bird droppings.

While it’s imperative that you take care of your spa – for your health and the longevity of the hot tub itself – it needn’t be a huge hassle. Maintaining your backyard oasis requires a little bit of a time investment, but the effort is far outweighed by the benefit of having a relaxing, soothing spa that you and your family can enjoy for years to come.