So you’ve meticulously cleaned out your hot tub, changed your water, and you’re ready to flip the switch and jump in. You turn on your hot tub and you’re greeted by an explosion of clingy, annoying foam. It’s enough to put a dampener on your whole evening, but it doesn’t have to be that way! Below, we’ll explain the hows and the whys of hot tub foam so you understand what it is and how to deal with it.
What Makes My Hot Tub Foam?
Hot tub foam isn’t as fun as it might sound. It can make a relaxing spa session an annoying experience as you’re swallowed by the expanding foam. It’ll cling to your body and the surface of your hot tub, and it can leave unsightly water marks if you don’t clean it away properly. It’s such an inconvenience, yet every hot tub owner will likely have to deal with it at some point in time. Here’s what causes hot tub foam and how you can prevent it.
Surfactants
The main causes of hot tub foam are things called surfactants. There’s no way to explain this properly without getting a bit technical, so bear with us! A surfactant is a molecule made up of two parts; a head and a tail. The head is attracted to water, while the tail is water-repellent. When you get lots of surfactants together, they’ll naturally arrange themselves into a circular shape, with air on the inside and water on the outside. The result? A bubble! Lots of surfactants mean lots of bubbles, which creates that explosion of foam.
Surfactants tend to be found in things that contain natural oils; hair products, deodorants, make-up, detergents, and so on. They’re not easily picked up by your filter, even if you use a spa clarifier, but they only really cause issues if there’s a high number of them.
Soft Water
Water is held together by something called surface tension. This is complicated, but all you need to know is that each water molecule is more attracted to other water molecules than it is to the air. This is why water tends to form droplets as the molecules cling together. Surfactants lower the surface tension of water as they stop water molecules from clinging together properly. Soft water also has a naturally lower surface tension, so it’s even more affected by surfactants and results in a thicker foam.
You can solve this problem by turning off any water softening features in your hot tub and adding water hardeners if necessary. You don’t want your water to be too hard, but if you have a lot of foam, it’s likely to be too soft.
Dirty Water or Hot Tub Pipes
Bacteria film and dirt are a big cause of hot tub foam. Over time, these things will build up in your pipes and filter system. When this happens, they’ll start to circulate in your water, causing a build-up of foam. You can keep on top of this by regularly changing your hot tub water and cleaning your hot tub. It’s best to be thorough, so clean your hot tub’s pipes, filter system, jets, and the surface of the tub itself to help prevent foam.
You
Even if you check all of the above, there’s still a chance that your hot tub session could turn into a foam party. That’s because the biggest culprit for bringing surfactants into your hot tub is you! The oils from your skin and hair, any deodorant or makeup you’re wearing, and the traces of washing powder on your swimwear are all surfactants, and they’ll all cause a lot of foam to appear if they build up. If you have several people in your hot tub, it could turn into a bubble bath pretty quickly!
You can reduce this problem by making sure you shower before you jump in the jacuzzi. This is why most swimming baths will ask you to shower before you enter the pool! Shower in your swimwear to try and rinse as much detergent out of it as possible. If you have long hair, you should tie it up to keep it out of the water. This should reduce the number of surfactants that end up in your spa water.
How to Prevent Hot Tub Foam
What all of the above should tell you is that it’s really difficult to completely prevent hot tub foam as there are so many different things that can cause it. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still end up with a mountain of foam! If this happens, you’ll want to have some anti-foam on hand. Anti-foam neutralises surfactants’ natural tendency to form bubbles, so while they’ll still be in your hot tub, they won’t actually create foam.
If clingy foam starts to appear, just add a bit of anti-foam into your water. The Pro-Kleen and Cleenly anti-foam on our site can be safely added while you’re in the tub, so it’s convenient to keep a bottle handy near your spa.
It’s important to remember that hot tub foam can be a symptom of a problem rather than the problem itself. If there’s a lot of foam, it’s probably an indicator that you need to change your water or flush your hot tub system.
