Unwinding in a hot tub after a long day has become a favorite for people across the country, and the last thing anyone wants is unexpectedly trying to defoam their hot tub!
Hot tubs have become a coveted way to provide natural support for your health and well-being. From deep tissue massages providing powerful pain relief to improved circulation from the warm water, they can be a high-value addition to your life.
Like anything else, hot tubs have to be well maintained to ensure they’re safe to use, and if you fail to take care of them, you could end up with cloudy or foamy water!
If your hot tub has developed foam on the water’s surface, your relaxation plans will be tossed aside for the night and replaced with trying to defoam your hot tub.
This certainly isn’t the ideal way to spend your evening!
The good thing is hot tub foam is easy to fix, and with just a few simple steps, you can help reduce the chances of foam showing up in the future!
If your water has become foamy, or you simply want to avoid it, this article will have everything you need!
We’ll cover exactly what a defoamer for hot tubs is and how you can fix foaming in your hot tub.
What Causes Hot Tub Foam?
If your hot tub has developed foam on its surface, there could be a few reasons why, and diagnosing the problem and fixing it can be a fairly easy task.
Unbalanced Water Chemistry
Hot tub foam can easily be caused by the chemicals in your spa becoming unbalanced. If this is the case, the culprit is likely your sanitizer or your pH level.
If you’ve over-sanitized your water, the excess chemicals can begin causing foam when you turn on your jets, and the water is aggravated.
Additionally, if your pH is too high, your water will become scale-building. This not only puts your hot tub at risk for damage but can also cause itchy skin, irritate your eyes, and create a foamy surface!
A Buildup Of Organic Matter
When you use your hot tub, the water will naturally pull any oils off your body, such as lotions, perfumes, hair products, cosmetics, and even deodorant.
These can easily build up in your water and create the perfect atmosphere for foam to start developing as soon as you turn your jets on.
To help diagnose this as the culprit, check your hot tub’s shell where the water rests. Often if you have excess oils in your water, you’ll be able to feel and, on occasion, see an oily ring around the edge of your hot tub.
Frequent Use
If you use your hot tub often or have recently thrown a hot tub party, this may be the cause of your foam-covered water.
While you may assume that thoroughly sanitizing your hot tub after a party will easily clean your water, that may not be accurate.
As people use your hot tub, they not only leave oils in the water, as mentioned above, but they also leave behind dead skin cells. Simply adding sanitizer may not be enough to break these up and could overload your water, resulting in foam.
Spilled Drinks
While enjoying a refreshing beverage in your hot tub may seem like the perfect way to relax, if you end up with any of that drink in your water, it could wreak havoc on your system!
Your hot tub water isn’t meant to have foreign, sugary liquids mixed with it and can quickly result in thick foam developing on its surface.
What Is Defoamer For Hot Tubs?
Defoamer is one of the most popular ways to quickly manage the build-up of foam in your hot tub.
This product is a favourite among many because it’s fast acting, easy to use, and lets you get to using your hot tub within minutes!
The problem is defoamer doesn’t work forever because it doesn’t address the actual cause of the foam.
It’s often just a quick fix that allows you to put off trying to properly manage and fix your foamy water until you have the time to diagnose and manage the root cause.
Essentially, a defoamer for hot tubs is great to have on hand when you need to manage foam fast. However, you’ll want to ensure you take the proper steps as soon as possible to get rid of your foamy water for good!
3 Best Ways To Get Rid Of Hot Tub Foam
If you’ve turned on your jets only to watch foam beginning to form on the surface of your water, you’ll want to diagnose and resolve the issue as soon as possible.
If you’re not in a rush to use your spa, you can skip the defoamer and focus on fixing it immediately.
1. Test And Treat Your Water
Your first step when discovering foamy water is to do a quick water test. This will help you determine if your foam is due to an imbalance.
If your levels are slightly off, simply bring them back into balance with the proper treatment products, and you should be good to go.
Pay close attention to your pH levels. They should be between 7.2 and 7.8. If they are out of range, use pH up or down to bring them back into balance.
If, however, this doesn’t solve the problem, you may be looking at a longer defoaming process and will likely need to do a water change.
However, there is one other thing you can try first.
2. Use An Oxidizer
Oxidizer treatments help combat oils and body products in the water and may help your sanitizer do its job more effectively.
Before treating your water with an oxidizer, you’ll want to verify that you do indeed have a buildup of organic matter in your spa.
As mentioned above, do a quick check around your water line.
If you discover an oily ring around the edge of your water, it’s likely overloaded with oily body products, which could be causing your foam.
If this is the case, simply treat your water according to your oxidizer’s directions and wait to see if it clears up the foam.
3. Drain And Clean Your Hot Tub
This is likely going to be the most common solution to this problem.
While treating your water has a chance to work, it won’t be able to fully remove the foam long-term and often will result in foam showing up again in the near future.
Doing a full drain, clean, and refill of your hot tub will be the only surefire way to manage this issue so you can get back to your regularly scheduled spa session!
After completely draining your hot tub, you’ll want to do a deep clean on your shell and flush your lines to get every part of your system fully rinsed out. This will help ensure you don’t re-contaminate your fresh water once you refill your hot tub.
During this process, you’ll also want to deep clean your filters. Simply remove them from your spa and give them a quick rinse before spraying them down with a filter cleaner. To be even more cautious, you can soak them in a diluted mixture of water and filter cleaner for an even deeper clean.
Once you’re confident you’ve cleaned your entire spa, you can refill it using your garden hose, test it, and rebalance it as needed. Best
4 Best Tips To Prevent Hot Tub Foam
Dealing with foam can be a lengthy process, and it can be a disappointing thing to discover when you’ve just settled in for a relaxing soak.
The good news is that you can take some easy steps to be proactive to keep your water clean and reduce the risk of foam forming in your hot tub!
1. Shower Before Use
Showering before you jump in your hot tub will help wash off any oils that may be on your body, like cosmetics and body lotions.
This will minimize the amount that ends up in your water and will greatly reduce the risk of organic matter building up and causing foamy water.
2. Keep Your Hair Out Of The Water
If you get your hair wet while in your hot tub, all the styling products you use, like mousse, hairspray, creams and gels, will dissolve into the water.
This can be easily avoided by wearing your hair up anytime you’re in your spa.
Pro tip: Keep hair ties and baseball caps beside your hot tub for guests to use anytime they use your hot tub.
3. Use Tennis Balls
Tennis balls are a great, inexpensive way to remove any oils that may be floating on the surface of your water after you’re finished relaxing.
Simply throw a couple of balls into the water after you’re done, and they’ll absorb anything on the surface as they float around!
4. Maintain a Regular Hot Tub Maintenance Routine
Taking good care of your spa is essential in maximizing its lifespan and keeping your maintenance routine short and easy.
Create a comprehensive hot tub maintenance routine and stick to it.
Hot Tubs And Spas For Sale In Edmonton
If you’ve been searching for your perfect hot tub, Sundance® Spas of Edmonton can help.
With various models from one of the leading brands, our showroom is stocked with various sizes and styles ranging from compact two-person models like the DoverTM, to the impressive KingstonTM that seats seven!
Find your dream hot tub today by visiting our showroom near the West Edmonton Mall, or get in touch with us to explore your options!
