Being a new hot tub owner can be both exciting and a little overwhelming at first. That’s why we’ve come up with this list of quick tips to help you get the most out of your new hot tub!

SHOWER BEFORE USING THE HOT TUB

One thing that many new hot tub owners don’t consider is how they affect the balance and quality of their hot tub water. Your skin has quite a lot of extra particles sitting on it at any given time. Dead skin cells, lotions, deodorant, makeup and bacteria are all commonly found on the average person’s skin. Showering before getting into your hot tub helps to remove the majority of these extra particles so that they’re not added into your hot tub water.

Keeping these particles out of your hot tub water will help to keep your water balanced and reduce the amount of sanitizing chemicals that you need to add to the water; lowering the time and expense required to maintain your hot tub.

WASH YOUR SWIM SUITS PROPERLY

Another less obvious thing that can affect your water quality is your bathing suit. Bathing suits actually hold onto some of the detergents used when they’re washed. When put into your hot tub, these detergents will escape into the water; negatively affecting your water balance and causing foam to build up over time.

To get as many of those detergents out of your bathing suits as possible we recommend doing an extra rinse cycle if you’re machine washing them. If you also machine dry your bathing suits, you should also avoid dryer sheets as these will introduce other impurities to the bathing suits that will affect the quality of your hot tub water.

WEAR A TOQUE IN THE WINTER

It goes without saying that Canadian winters can be very cold. Wearing a toque helps your body regulate its temperature better while using a hot tub in below freezing temperatures; leaving you comfortably warm while you enjoy all the benefits of your hot tub!

GET SOME HOT TUB SANDALS

We recommend keeping a pair of sandals handy for going to and from your hot tub. Wearing sandals will stop you from tracking dirt and debris into the water while also keeping your feet off of the cold ground in the winter! You can also put your sandals on in the hot tub so you spend less time in the cold when you’re ready to go inside!

REGULARLY TEST & MAINTAIN YOUR WATER

Unbalanced hot tub water can cause a host of issues over the long term. To ensure that your hot tub water stays clear and comfortable to use, we recommend testing it every 2-3 days using a home test kit.

Based on the results of those tests, you may need to add in some small amounts of balancing or sanitizing chemicals. If you’re unsure about what to add, or how much of it to add, consult your local hot tub retailer for more info.

Along with these regular home tests, we also recommend bringing your water into your local hot tub retailer around once per month for a professional test. Professional tests are more accurate and test for more things than home test kits; giving you a more complete look at the overall health of your hot tub water while catching some potential issues that your home tests might miss.

TAKE YOUR WATER SAMPLES WITH THE JETS RUNNING

Still water develops areas with slightly different water balances than others over time. Taking your test at the surface of the water, for example, might yield different results than if the sample were taken from water at the bottom of the hot tub.

This is especially true of sanitizer levels, with the level of sanitizer typically being much higher near the dispenser. For this reason, it’s usually a good idea to run the jets for a few minutes before taking your sample. Running the jets will mix up the water; evening out those small differences in water balance and giving you a more accurate result.

ADD YOUR CHEMICALS CORRECTLY

Believe it or not, how you add chemicals to your hot tub water can make a big difference in how effectively they do their job. To ensure your hot tub chemicals are working at peak efficiency you will need to do 2 things:

Make sure your jets are on. Turning on the jets (with the air controls off) will keep the chemicals suspended in the water as they dissolve. This helps the chemicals dissolve fully and spread evenly throughout the water while also preventing them clumping together on the seats or floor of the hot tub.
Add each chemical at least 15 minutes apart. Spacing out your chemicals by at least 15 minutes give each chemical the opportunity to fully incorporate into the water before the next chemical is added. This prevents the chemicals interacting with each other in ways that can reduce their effectiveness and negatively affect the water balance of your hot tub water.

LEAVE YOUR COVER OPEN AFTER SHOCKING

We recommend that you leave your cover fully open for at least 30 minutes after “shocking” your hot tub water. Shocking the water helps your bromine or chlorine work more effectively by releasing gases like Nitrogen that bond to them.

If you close your cover after shocking these gases can’t escape, reducing the effectiveness of the shock treatment and damaging the underside of the cover over time.

STORE YOUR CHEMICALS AND TEST KITS INDOORS

To keep your chemicals and test kits working at peak efficiency you’ll want to store them in a dry space that isn’t too hot or too cold. High heat and humidity can negatively affect the quality and effectiveness of both powder based chemicals and test strips. Extreme cold can also freeze liquid based chemicals, which can degrade their effectiveness once thawed back out.

KEEP YOUR COVER CLOSED & LOCKED WHEN NOT IN USE

Hot tub covers are equipped with straps that clip into special locking clips that are installed on the cabinet of the hot tub. Anytime you close the cover, make sure you also clip in the straps. Locking the cover down with these straps forms a tighter seal with top lip of the hot tub; greatly increasing the energy efficiency of the hot tub.

CLOSE YOUR AIR CONTROLS WHEN NOT IN USE

Adding air to water will slowly raise it’s pH, while also lowering the water temperature and can cause you to go through more sanitizer! For this reason we recommend shutting off all of your hot tub’s air controls before you get out.

OPEN ALL WATERFALLS AND JETS WHEN NOT IN USE

When you’re finished using your hot tub, you will also want to ensure that all of your waterfalls and jets are in the open position. Closed waterfalls and jets lead to poor circulation and dead zones in your plumbing. These dead zones are ideal places for bacteria to grow; leading to cloudy water and increased sanitizer use.

WRAPPING UP

While hot tubs can have a bit of steep learning curve, once you master a few basics you’ll find that they’re typically quite easy to maintain. Following these tips will help you to get cleaner, clearer water with less effort, and can save you some money at the same time!