Take Good Care of Your Hot tub and It Will Take Good Care of You

Okay, so the water in your portable hot tub has finally reached the saturation point of Total Dissolved solids, and the time has come for you to drain it and refill it.  Now is the time to give the hot tub a good going over with a sponge, scrubber and mild cleaning solution – to detail it, as it were – to clean every inch of the hot tub that the water has been in contact with over the course of the last few months since the last time you switched the water out.Check your portable hot tub owner’s manual.  Generally you can get away with using something as ubiquitous as mild antibacterial dish soap to clean it, but you should probably make certain, especially if your tub is made of sealed wood or if the soap has any unusual properties, before introducing anything new to it.  When in doubt, leave it out.We know for certain when it is time to drain hot tubs spas and clean them if there is a slippery layer of mildew on the walls of the basin, even if it is totally invisible.  To lengthen the life of your water, skim it, cover it, check it with test strips at every available opportunity, and make sure you and your guests rinse off thoroughly WITHOUT soap before getting in.When it comes time to refill the portable hot tub, you will certainly have developed an appreciation of just how sensitive the water chemistry is, and how challenging it will be to maintain the perfect pH and hardness balance over the course of the next few months.  So you will not hesitate to explain to your distinguished guests how they can help you by taking the time to rinse off in the shower prior to entering the hot tub.  Not only will their naturally occurring bodily oils contribute to the chemical cocktail, but, even more so, the personal products they wear on a daily basis will mix in and complicate the water chemistry balancing act.Home furnishings expert Mark Dillyard says, “Kind of like the way buying and driving a new car will make a big impression on your sense of self, new portable spas come with hours and hours of specialized experience.”  It’s so true- hot tubs spas are not just financial or design decisions, they're lifestyle commitments, and owning and using portable spas change our lives, at least as much as new cars do.  And it’s no secret how meticulously new car owners look after their prized possessions.Dillyard goes on to ponder whether, if your possessions really own you, can that be such a bad thing when the possession in question is a portable hot tub?  I think not, since portable spas are such great investments in our happiness, our health, and the value of our homes.  It pays to take good care of them.