Turn Your Stinky Hot Tub Into a Restful Oasis With These Tips

Let’s face it: Relaxing in your hot tub is not pleasant when it smells like someone released a stink bomb. Why do some hot tubs stink? What can you do to correct it?

Foul smelling spas have bacteria hiding in them somewhere. Let’s have a look at the most common stink culprits and how to destroy them.

Your hot tub filter has a big job, arguably the most important job in the whole tub: It collects all the yucky debris and other “stuff” that gets into your water. As it turns out, that yucky debris and other “stuff”, coupled with warm water conditions is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.

I recommend rinsing the filter once a week (using a Jet Stream Filter Cleaning Tool makes this job fast & easy), deep cleaning the filter at every water change, and replacing it yearly.

For more on filter care and its importance, have a look at our Fundamentals of Filters – A Quick Guide to Hot Tub Filter Maintenance.

Taking proper care of your water chemistry should be on the forefront of every spa owners mind. A sharp or sour smell from the water indicates a low pH condition. A musty or stale smell indicates an overly high pH.

What’s involved in water care anyways?

• Balance – Aim for water pH between 7.2 – 7.6, and total alkalinity between 80 – 120ppm.
• Sanitize – Most hot tubs work best with bromine. Bromine isn’t a dirty word, despite what some may say. Properly maintained, bromine gives off no smell in a hot tub. Shoot for 4 – 6ppm bromine.
• Shock – Shocking breaks down organic waste contaminants that cause odor and cloudy water. Shock your water after each use, and weekly regardless of use.

Even if you’re careful and take pretty good care of the water, you can find yourself late to the bacteria party. For these cases, a decontamination procedure is in order. Remember, only you can prevent gross water.

The primary function of a spa cover is to retain the heat of the water. The cover is, however, under constant attack from steam.

The water molecules in steam have a way of exploiting any imperfection in the cover, collecting in the outer jacket and ultimately the foam. Think of steam as the Terminator, you know, the one made from liquid metal in the movies.

Of course, where water collects and is not sanitized, bacteria grows, and you get stinky-ness.

Here are some additional cover care resources:

Why Does My Hot Tub Cover Stink?

Mold and Mildew in a Hot Tub

Body oils, lotions, soaps, skin cells, sweat and other nasties just love to cozy up into your plumbing. That seems like the worst possible scenario, right?

Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to flush all that gunk out of your plumbing when it’s time to change the water. Spa System Flush super-cleans the hidden inner pipes, pumps, hoses, and jets of a spa quickly and easily.

You’ll be amazed at the volume of crud that comes out of the plumbing of even a well maintained tub!

Do you have a stinker of a tub you just can’t quite figure out? Leave a comment below!