4 Ways to Thaw out Your Spa
4 Ways to Thaw out Your Spa
By all appearances it seems that spring is upon us. The temperatures seem to be coming up and with this winter being exceptionally cruel for those in colder climates, spring will most certainly be the most highly anticipated event of the year.
Officially, spring starts March 20th. This means more attention will be given to preparing for our annual migration into the back yard. Clearing off decks, cleaning patio furniture, some yard work and let’s not forget buying gas for the Barbeque. Visions of pool parties, cookouts and maybe even some late night entertaining come to mind.
Four spa maintenance tips to freshen up your back yard Spa
1. Drain the spa– If your water has not been changed in some time, a quick drain and fill will remove the “heavy” water and replace it with fresh water that will be easier to manage. No one wants to sit in a pool of chemicals and there is nothing more inviting than a soak in a hot tub with crystal clear water.
2. Replace the filters– Most homeowners ignore this crucial step in proper hot tub maintenance. Just because it looks clean, doesn’t always mean that it is. Often the residue of sweat, dead skin and body oils are still in the paper element of the filter, but they can’t be seen because they have been bleached out. Regularly changing the hot tub filters will keep your spa running more efficiently and prolong the life of your spa.
3. Clean the plumbing– Use a plumbing cleanser and conditioner. This will keep any ickies from building up in your plumbing lines while conditioning your equipment like pump seals and gaskets.
4. Inspect and clean your cover– The cover has been exposed to the elements all winter. It is due for a complete inspection for damaged foam or tears in the vinyl. 90% of all heat loss occurs at the water’s surface. Don’t ignore this first line of defense against inefficient heat loss. It is bound to have a coat of dust and dirt on it. Use a good cover cleaner that will condition both the vinyl and the stitching.
They say that you get what you plan for. Take some time out be good to yourself and plan for a great backyard retreat. I guarantee you’ll be glad you did!
The Number One Reason Why I Hate My Hot Tub
Recently a group of hot tub owners were asked what bothered them the most about their spa. They were asked about ease of use, maintenance and other factors pertaining to service.
Consistently, the number one complaint was the difficulty of maintaining their spa. Water chemistry takes up precious time and energy.
Love them or hate them, spas need regular maintenance
This typically means checking PH levels, controlling the sanitizer levels, cleaning the filters, shocking and regularly draining and refilling.
Most people don’t want to talk about all that really goes into the water when we bathe, but every time we decide to take a soak, we leave behind more than you know. No matter how clean a person may be, sweat, dead skin and body oils wind up in the hot tub. Even if part of your hot tub regiment is to shower prior to entering, there is no escaping the “additives”. It’s simply unavoidable.
There is a simpler way. The “green” way just happens to be the simplest and easiest way to treat your water. There are many enzyme based water management systems on the market.
Enzymes to the Rescue
These easy to use systems utilize enzyme technology to eliminate bacteria, body oils and sweat left in the water. The enzymes eat the contaminants and literally remove them all together. In the end, this translates to less time maintaining your spa.
These systems automatically control the PH, they will not scale and are very gentle on hot tub equipment. Some systems simply call for a bottle of enzyme sustain to be added every two months and most people report only changing the water once a year instead of once every 3 months. Even draining the spa is eco friendly. The water can go straight into the grass without damaging the lawn.
Our common goal is to spend less time working on our hot tub and more time relaxing in it. If you are not already using a chem free or all natural solution, try switching to a system that makes life easier.
You’ll be glad you did!
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Your Hot Tub Smells Funny
It’s pretty straight forward. Sitting in a hot tub will relax and loosen sore muscles, relieve symptoms of arthritis and bursitis and promote healing by increasing blood flow. But, did you know that it also enhances your overall well being?
It has been proven that those who regularly use a hot tub sleep better, have lower stress levels and lower blood pressure. Over 50 percent of Americans suffer from some form of stress related illness like stress headaches and neck and shoulder muscle tension. A soak in the hot tub can significantly reduce or eliminate stress induced tension.
If stress reduction is a priority, try aromatherapy. Remember the smell of freshly baked bread? Or how about fresh slices of oranges? I remember every summer the yard being filled with honeysuckle. The smell alone invokes warm memories of childhood summers.
Odors can and do have an effect on our mood. Just take a moment to think about the smell of low tide at the pier or Uncle Chucks’ sweaty feet. If you are not adding a favorite aroma to your stress reduction regiment, you should. 
Today, manufacturers are adding vibrating jets, surround sound stereos, discoesque lighting packages and pop up flat screen TV’s. These seem to be in conflict with a nice, quiet soak.
Take some time to today to be good to yourself, add a little hint of your favorite aroma conveniently located here at SpaShopper.com.
You’ll be glad you did!
Odors can and do have an effect on our mood. Just take a moment to think about the smell of low tide at the pier or Uncle Chucks’ sweaty feet. If you are not adding a favorite aroma to your stress reduction regiment, you should.
Today, manufacturers are adding vibrating jets, surround sound stereos, discoesque lighting packages and pop up flat screen TV’s. These seem to be in conflict with a nice, quiet soak.
Should I Go Au Natural In My Spa
Did you know that your swimsuit can potentially be the number one cause of corrosion to your spa equipment?
Sitting in a spa, donning a freshly laundered swimsuit might seem like the modest way to go, especially if the neighbors have a heightened interest in everything that goes on in your backyard. A swimsuit fresh out of the dryer
has a significant amount of soap residue left in it from the washing process. The detergent is especially concentrated if hard water is used. Hard water will not allow the detergent to completely break down.
Hot tub equipment has come a long way over the last ten years. The technology has gotten more efficient and wholly more reliable. Today, the number one cause of spa equipment failure is corrosion. The water in your spa flows through the pump seals, the heater and heater element and as the water evaporates, the topside, control board and cover are affected.
Save the Bubbles for Your Bath Tub
The soap from your swimsuit can cause a tremendous amount of bubbles in your hot tub. Although for some it may seem appealing to have the world’s largest bubble bath in the backyard, there is a price to pay for all the fun.
The detergent will immediately change the PH of the water and leave a hard scale on pretty much everything including your costly spa equipment. Over time the calcified scale will corrode pump seals, cover stitching, heating elements…you get the picture.
If foaming bubbles is an issue, there are de-foaming solutions that can eliminate the bubbles and restore the PH. Any scaling should be dealt with immediately, even if it means draining the hot tub and cleaning it thoroughly. Use a pre-filter for refilling the spa to soften the water and remove the metal contaminates.
Going “au natural” might avoid the issue entirely, but it will certainly give the neighbors something to talk about. To maintain your modesty, try to thoroughly rinse out the swim suits prior to use.
In the long run, you’ll be glad you did!
Should I be concerned about the sebum in my spa?
Ever wonder why your fingers and toes get all wrinkly after a good soak in the hot tub?
We didn’t know the answer, so we decided to conduct an experiment ourselves. We started with all types of people; older people, younger people, big people and little people. We changed the spa temperature, using cooler water and working our way up to the max at 104 degrees. Note: This is a very scientific hot tub experiment.
Our conclusions didn’t take us very far. We now know (and knew all along) that sitting in a hot tub produces wrinkles in the finger tips and the toes. Everyone who soaked in the spa wound up with pruned digits. Everyone except our neighbor’s nine year old boy named Ralph who only got wrinkles on three of his fingers, but that could be from any number of other anomalies.
We got nowhere with our experiment so we did a little more scientific hot tub research. We found out that the human body produces a very specialized oil called sebum (pronounced: see-bum). This oil lubricates, moistens and protects your skin. And it also happens to provide your skin with super waterproofing ability. Without it, your body would just soak up water like a sponge.
Sitting in your Gulf Coast Spa or hot tub simply washes the sebum off of the outer layer of skin. This allows the fingers and toes to absorb the water and thus causes our skin to plump up and look funny. The condition is only temporary and soon goes away. Your body will just make more sebum.
In conclusion, sitting in a hot tub can change the way your body looks and feels in more ways than one! Just for fun, get some friends or family together to see how long it takes you to wrinkle up. You will be glad you did!
Spa Filter Basics
Funny thing about hot tubs, we love to soak in them and play in them, but I don’t recall anyone ever saying how they just can’t wait to get home to clean it.
A spa filter is designed to collect all the unwanted hair, dead skin, body oils and anything else that might be floating around the water’s surface. By design it helps to keep the water clean and safe for your enjoyment.
Most manufacturers have taken the time to properly engineer the weir skimmer, pump size and plumbing to allow proper surface skimming and removal of all that yucky stuff from the water. It is equally important to be sure that the hot tub filter is the proper type.
There are many types of spa filters and often there are multiple manufacturers for your filter, but it is very important to utilize the filter specifically designed for your water flow. The paper in a spa filter is crucial for the proper removal of those ickies. Too much porosity and many of these contaminates will stay in the water for your soaking pleasure. Too little and the water can be restricted so much that consistent heating and jet pressure becomes problematic.
When cleaning your filter start off by using the high pressure of a hose nozzle to clean out the heavy debris from between the pleats in the paper element. Many companies sell a concentrated solution to break down the oils and loosen the debris that you can let the filter soak in. You will want to have a backup hot tub filter to place in the spa so that your tub does not operate without any type of filtering protection.
To increase the life of your filter, try placing it in your dishwasher for a cycle.
The hot water will do a great job breaking down the oils and opening the clogged pores of your spa filter. Incidentally it will also do a great job taking the filter from dingy grey to white. You will want to make sure to cancel the drying cycle so as to not damage the filter. Just don’t do this with Grandma’s china or anything else you might be thinking about eating or drinking from!
Order your spa filters today from SpaShopper.com and utilize our Free spa expert technical help line for any questions you may have in replacing your new spa filter.
Hot Tub Folliculitis
Recently we have been hearing a lot of questions about hot tub folliculitis. The not-so-rare break out of what is sometimes called “hot tub rash”. If you haven’t heard of it, it is typically a breakout of 10-100 small red bumps that are caused by poor water chemistry. Low PH levels or the lack of sanitizer is usually to blame. Many times the break out is found on the skin beneath a swimsuit. It starts with itchy dry skin and eventually progresses into a number of small tender boils on the skin (if you live in the south, it’s a lot like a fire ant bite, except 50 times worse!).
Symptoms will often go away within a few days on their own, but sometimes a good antibiotic is needed to eliminate the infection. If you find that the rash is spreading or not going away, seek medical care.
There are several steps to take if you want to avoid this embarrassing little rash.
First and foremost, keep your spa’s PH levels between 7.2 and 7.8. Not only will this keep your spa water properly balanced, but it will help your spa equipment to live a long and prosperous life.
Secondly, maintain proper sanitizer levels in your spa. Low bromine levels and hot water become a fabulous breeding ground for bacterium.
Thirdly, be sure to keep your spa filters clean and change your spa water regularly. Your spa skimmer and filter are made to absorb your sweat, body oils and pretty much anything else left behind during a good soak. Water should be changed every 3 months or so. There is only so much mixing and balancing of your water chemistry that your spa of 300-500 gallons can take. Eventually, the water becomes unmanageable; unable to breakdown any more chemicals.
Pretty simple, keep your water balanced and change it regularly. You’ll be glad you did!
Black Friday… Brown Monday
Now that Black Friday has come and gone and the relatives are gone, it is time to get things back in order before the next big holiday.
After a big holiday, most hot tubs look like who did it and ran. Your hot tub is now a shameful pool of water that may represent the color of a green swamp or a muddy drainage yard. In any case, the spa is not in any condition to be used as an oasis of relaxation.
Sometimes it is just best to drain the spa and start over. If you can stand the weather conditions, follow these draining instructions.
- Get a garden hose
- Turn pump on high speed
- Use the force of the water to “prime” the garden hose so that the water runs into the yard
- Once the water is flowing freely, turn the pump off and drop the hose into the bottom of the spa
- Turn off the power to the hot tub! Don’t leave your spa running without water!
That’s it! The water will automatically siphon from the spa and into the yard. Be sure the hose stays in the lowest point of the hot tub. Looping the hose through the handrail or filter box will keep it from flailing about.
If the holidays just have you pooped or it’s just too cold to be outside messing around with a hot tub:
- Shock the water with a strong non-chlorine shock like Potassium Monopersulfate (all natural) or a quality Bromine shock. Don’t use bleach to sanitize the water!
- Or, If you are using an Enzyme based balancing system, add a bottle of Sustain.
- Increase your filtration cycle times.
- Rinse and keep your filter clean.
Heavy bather load will definitely put a strain on the water balance, but thank goodness the clean up doesn’t have to be stressful. With a little common sense and very little effort your hot tub can be restored to a pristine body of water for your hydrotherapeutic enjoyment. Right before the next holiday, be sure to slightly “overdose” your hot tub in anticipation of heavy bather load and say goodbye Brown Mondays.
You’ll be glad you did!
