How to maintain your hot tub shinny: Want to keep body oils, hair products, lotions, and other goop from entering your spa’s filter? Drop a few tennis balls into your spa’s skimmers, or even directly into the water. Your fuzzy, yellow friends will soak up the bad stuff in their fibers and make it easier to keep your spa looking, and feeling, clean and healthy. For best results, change them regularly, especially if you use your tub frequently or have a lot of people using the tub at once.

Tips for purchasing a hot tub : The vinyl hot tub is a low cost option with very few features. There are two types of vinyl spa: the cheap inflatable and the more expensive soft-sided spa. Inflatable hot tubs are a short-term option for those looking to have a hot tub for one to two seasons. With just bubbles and no real massage action, don’t expect much more than a blow-up kiddy pool.

Here are several advices on how to maintain your hot tub and also a suggestion if you live in Colorado. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but drinking and hot tubbing are not a good mix. Despite all of those movies scenes depicting characters cavorting in hot tubs with their favorite beverage in hand, physicians and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) don’t recommend it. Sports stars and politicians have been known to imbibe while entertaining in a spa, but that doesn’t mean we should follow their example. The same caution should be used with drugs-check with your doctor before soaking in extremely hot water while taking a prescription. One reason is that both alcohol and some drugs (prescription and recreational) can cause drowsiness or disorientation. Check the water temperature before entering (it should not exceed 104 degrees), observe reasonable time limits (10 to 15 minutes), and enter and exit the tub slowly in case of dizziness or to prevent falls.

The most important step is to sanitize the water. The most popular way to do this is with chlorine or bromine based chemical, usually in a slow dissolving tablet form. There are several alternative sanitizing agents such as ozone, silver ions, copper ions, and enzymes but use these with caution since most are not effective without additional chlorine or bromine agents.

The spa filter can be under the skimmer basket accessed from inside the spa, or it can be a small tank that is opened up underneath the spa. You’ll need to locate it first in order to clean or replace the filter during your spa care routine. If underneath the spa, you may have a valve that can be shut to prevent water from rushing out when you open the filter. Loosening a large nut or just turning the filter body counter clockwise is the usual method to access the filter cartridge. Some water spillage is inevitable when opening it up, but if you are careful it can be very little.

Besides performing regular maintenance tasks, it also doesn’t hurt to perform regular inspections of your hot tub’s inner workings in order to catch small problems before they become big ones. Primarily, look for obvious leaks or wet areas beneath the tub. Catching these problems early can be the difference between replacing a $10 pump seal and needing a new $250 part. Also, pay attention to your hot tub’s functioning, and call in a repairman if you notice any major problems, such as failure to heat, pump, or filter the water. Catching an obvious problem like a failed heater during the dead of winter can mean the difference between replacing the heater with a new unit, and having to replace just about everything on your tub, or replace the tub completely, after you thaw it out. One of the most important things you can do to increase the longevity of your spa cover is to remove it at least twice per week. Use a spa cover lifter to completely remove it, or if you don’t have a spa cover lift, gently place it off the spa. Give your cover a few hours to breathe and shake off some of the constant heat and moisture. This is also a good time to add chemicals or shock the spa if you aren’t using it at the time.

But first let’s see the hot tub choice of the month : By far, Cal Spas has the most hot tub models available across its six hot tub product lines. Cal Spas also sells eight models of swim spas. The sheer number of Cal Spas’ available options is almost overwhelming. The manufacturer has 51 hot tub models and several color and upgrade options as well. Cal Spas is one of the only spa companies we evaluated with a salt water sanitation option, as well as UV-C and ozone options. This spa brand is a great option for different hot tub shapes as it offers oval and triangle spas in addition to the usual square options. With so many options, the website is difficult to navigate, and Cal Spas does not have pricing guidelines for its products, which makes narrowing down your options without speaking to a dealer inconvenient. However, we love the sheer amount of options at CalSpas when it comes to hot tub size, shape, color and upgrades. See extra information at Complete Hot Tub repair services on all makes and models in Colorado.