Have you ever stepped away from your hot tub for a minute, turned it on, then returned to a tub full of bubbles and suds? You’re not alone, though, since one of the most looked-up spa problems online is hot tub foaming remedies.
Fortunately, there are several easy solutions available to address this seemingly enormous issue, which is actually not that big of an issue at all.
Knowing what causes foaming can help you restrict its entrance into your water, limit its source, and apply the right treatments to completely remove it.
This article can help you find the answer if you’ve been wondering what generates foam in a hot tub.For more ideas, visit https://www.watsons.com/st-louis/hot-tubs-spas and have a look at the care instructions.
What Does a Hot Tub’s Foam Mean?
Spa foam is defined technically as the movement of water with a built-up level of total dissolved solids (TDS). They function as a surfactant to lower the water’s surface tension when combined with air and water.
However, just what does this mean?
Your body oil, cosmetics, lotions, dissolved salts, fabric softeners, and soap residue from your swimwear are all washed into water’s surface as dissolved solids.
While air is mixed with the remnants of even the finest chemical treatment plan while the jets are operating on their surfactant qualities, foam is produced.
Surfactants arrange themselves between the water-air barrier, producing foam, because of their unique molecular structure, which permits one side to be drawn to water and the other to resist it. Because of their propensity to stack on top of one another, bubbles increase in number with the amount of TDS present.
How to Spot Foaming Culprits and Prevent Them
Some causes of foaming are more harmful than others and lower surface tension, which results in the ideal sudsy feeling. It is imperative that you identify the potential cause of your foam and take the appropriate measures to eradicate it if you wish to prevent this from occurring.
Foreign Debris
These consist of the previously listed soaps, lotions, cosmetics, hair care items, perspiration, body oils, cellular debris, organic things that could have drifted into the water, etc.
It also covers any drinks you might like to have while relaxing in the spa. Alcohol and sugars both have surfactant properties.
Actions that you can take:
These cause foam most frequently and are also the most difficult to manage. Rinsing off your skin and hair before entering the tub may also assist, as can running several rinse cycles through your swimwear. Another need is to make sure you don’t spill your drink.
Low Concentrations of Calcium
Water with low calcium levels has a weakened surface tension and is considered “soft.”
It’s crucial to maintain the proper amounts of calcium hardness in your water since it can cause severe damage to equipment over time.
Actions that you can take:
Weekly measurements of these levels should be made using hardness test strips, and water should be changed with calcium hardness increaser compounds as necessary.
Too High or Too Low a pH Level
Adding a chemical to a pH meter to gauge how acidic the water in a pool is. A frothy spa experience may also be the result of unbalanced water.
Your pH levels can change for a variety of reasons, so maintaining a regular maintenance routine and neutralizing the water is a crucial first step in keeping it balanced, clear, and clean. Check here to know more.
Actions that you can take:
Use pH test strips to test your water once a week, shock your system once a week, and adjust the pH as needed.
How to Remove Foam from a Hot Tub?
The control strategies listed above are excellent for keeping you informed about the potential causes of foaming in a hot tub and how to address or prevent them in the first place.
Naturally, you won’t immediately be able to determine which of the aforementioned solutions is the real offender or whether a combo issue is occurring. To focus on your problem, begin with the basics:
Test Your Water First
Check your sanitizer, pH, and alkalinity levels in the spa. These might help you determine if your problem is being caused by an imbalance or by anything else.
To gain some understanding of what you could be adding to your spa with each soak, you can also test for TDS. Check for poor calcium hardness as well.
If you notice that these levels are off, try changing them to determine if this isn’t the primary cause. To test and add, it might take a few tries, which can make you think about a full spa drain.
Empty and Replace
Consider emptying the entire tub, cleaning it out, and refilling it if your water is really frothy. This enables you to begin over, having eliminated all surface elements and concentrating just on the chemical levels.
After refilling, give your tub a test, add chemicals, let it settle, and then test the substance levels once again to look for low levels of calcium or variations in pH.