How To Properly Clean a Hot Tub | Complete Guide

7 MIN READ

The process of owning a hot tub isn’t completely straightforward. At this point in time, you’ve either invested in yourself and purchased a Jacuzzi® Hot Tub or you are busy doing your due diligence prior to making an incredible commitment to your self-care. 

Either way, we are here to help you get an idea of your hot tub maintenance and help break down the proper way to clean a hot tub!

Cleaning your hot tub is essential for these main reasons:

Proper cleaning and maintenance helps maintain your water quality. This ensures it remains clean, clear and safe for you to use! Regular cleaning prevents the growth of harmful bacteria, algae, and other microorganisms in water. Bathing in water that is full of harmful bacteria could cause damage to your health, causing skin conditions and other health conditions. 

As briefly mentioned previously, clean water helps to reduce the risk of skin irritations, eye discomfort, and respiratory issues that can all come from poor water quality. Maintaining a well-sanitised hot tub is crucial for the health and safety of the people using the spa. Bacteria can start to grow when the temperature of your hot tub drops below 34C. Maintaining water at the recommended temperature (between 35C to 40C) helps to reduce the likelihood of bacteria growing. 

Investing in a hot tub is not cheap! You would think making such an investment meant that people would be more likely to spend extra time looking after their spa and making sure it lives as long as it possibly can, this however isn’t always the case! A well maintained hot tub will have a longer lifespan. Regular cleaning helps prevent scale buildup, corrosion and damage to any of the hot tub components, e.g. heaters, jets etc.

A clean hot tub operates more efficiently. When the water is clear, clean and the equipment is in good condition, the hot tub doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the spa up and running! It doesn’t work as hard to keep the temperature where you want it to be, it’s better at saving energy and can overall reduce your operating costs. Sounds like an easy win, right!

A clean hot tub provides a more pleasant and enjoyable experience for users. Cloudy or dirty water can be uninviting to anyone, while clean water creates a more relaxing atmosphere for the user. Regular cleaning also helps to prevent scale and stains, these can build up over time if the hot tub is not properly looked after. This can affect the appeal of using the hot tub, making it a less enjoyable environment to use. 

Clean filters and plumbing prevent clogs and blockages, which can impede water circulation and damage the pump or other components of the hot tub. This will save time and money not having to fix any issues caused by these clogs, all that is necessary is consistent cleaning. 

To enjoy your hot tubs to the best of your abilities, it is essential to establish a regular cleaning and maintenance routine of your tub. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines on how to maintain a good water chemistry for your specific hot tub. This includes water testing chemical treatments, filter maintenance and cleaning of the hot tub surface, don’t worry we will go through this in more depth!

Let us delve into what equipment you might need to clean a hot tub. 

We recommend the following equipment to effectively clean a hot tub:

1. Soft brush or sponge - This will help to clean the interior surface of your hot tub. It is important you use a soft brush or a brush recommended to you by your hot tub retailer. This will ensure that you don’t damage your hot tub in the process, you don’t want to leave scuff marks behind!
2. Pool skimmer or fine mesh net - You can use this to remove any debris from the surface of your water. Removing debris will keep any unwanted bacteria from staying in your tub.
3. pH test strips or SmartPod - It is important to keep up to date with your water’s pH and chemical balance. SmartPod is new to the market, it is a digital alternative to a chemical test trip. For more information on the SmartPod click here. 
4. Hot tub filter cleaner - To clean and maintain the hot tub’s filters.
5. Garden hose - For filling and draining the hot tub and cleaning your filters.
6. Submersible pump (optional) - To assist in draining the hot tub but this is not a necessary expense. 
7. Hot tub vacuum (optional) - For removing debris from the bottom of the tub. This again is not a necessary expense, it just might speed up the cleaning process. 
8. Chlorine or bromine sanitiser (if used) - For maintaining your water sanitation. 

These tools will help you in maintaining your hot tub effectively. Please ensure you follow your manufacturer’s guidelines and recommendations for your specific hot tub model, as it might be slightly different depending on the hot tub you own!

Let us delve into what equipment you might need to clean a hot tub. 

Cleaning your hot tub can be split into two main categories if you ask us...the first focuses on keeping your water sanitised and clean and the second focuses on how to clean the hot tub itself. Both are of equal importance and both are really easy to manage alongside our already busy lives. Little myth-buster here for you...it does NOT take a village to keep a hot tub clean and running smoothly (as long as you have had proper training and support from your Jacuzzi® Hot Tub dealer). This is why we always recommend buying from somewhere local and from a reputable dealer that will be there to provide ongoing aftercare for you.  

Let’s dissect things a little further now. To keep your hot tub water clean you will need the aid of Hot Tub Chemicals and filters amongst other things*. We at Hydrolife, as Jacuzzi’s® top retailer believe Bromine to be the best choice of water sanitiser for a few reasons.: 

• It performs incredibly well at high temperatures which is important when you are running water at 35-40c 
• It does exactly the same job as Chlorine but is gentler on skin 
• Only hot tubs manufactured from a certain quality of materials can use Bromine. For as much as it is gentler on skin it is actually harsher on your hot tub. So you know you have bought a quality product if Bromine is the recommended product to use! 

*You will also use either pH+ or pH- to help balance the pH of your Jacuzzi® Hot Tub water. 

Using Bromine to clean your hot tub water can be done in two ways. You will use Bromine granules first and foremost. These are added straight to the water and provide a fast-acting boost to help keep the water sanitised**. You can also look to use Bromine Tablets in conjunction with the Bromine granules. Bromine tablets provide a constant, slow-release dose into your spa water and act as a great buffer to prevent your chemical levels dropping to zero between testing. Bromine tablets are added on a weekly basis, into a floating dispenser that bobs around in your water all the time – easy as that! We recommend that all of our customers use this dual method to help clean their Hot Tub as it really does make life much simpler! 

**We always recommend pre-dissolving your chemicals in a jug of spa water prior to dosing them.  

Secondary to your water sanitiser of choice, you will use filters to help clean your hot tub. Filters come in all different shapes and sizes and good filtration really is the key to a clean hot tub! Jacuzzi® Hot Tubs all come with at least 3 stages of filtration included...increasing to 5 stages as you go up through the range! We would always recommend going for a model with the greatest number of stages that your budget will allow for, because more stages = clean, clearer water for longer!

Now let’s look at how to clean your hot tub itself. This bit, dare we say, is almost just common sense. Aided by a selection of products specially formulated to be used in/on hot tubs. 

First and foremost in this category is keeping your hot tub shell surface clean and sparkling! This can be done with a small amount of Surface Cleaner and a microfibre cloth or scum sponge! Either a daily – or a weekly polish over the surface of your shell will keep it clean and shiny! Simple! 

If you live in an area with hard water then you will also need to invest in some Anti-Scale to help keep your pipes clean and clear. This is added as a weekly treatment and your local dealer can advise you on the quantity of this that you will need to clean your hot tub. 

Quick fact; if you group all of the above testing, dosing and cleaning together...you’d only be looking at approximately 15 minutes per week to clean your Jacuzzi® Hot Tub. Pretty good going wouldn’t you say! 

On a longer-term basis, including your quarterly water changes...there is one more product that you will use to clean your hot tub. This is a Hot Tub Pipe Cleaner and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Again, your local dealer can advise how best to use this when you are ready to perform a water change. During a water change you also have the opportunity to get in and give all of your hot tub seats and jets a thorough clean with Surface Cleaner – something your future self will thank you for! We do offer annual services, if this is something you might be interested in go to our website to learn more. To purchase any of the products mentioned in this article please visit our shop or contact us on 01276 477461!