What keeps your hot tub water clean?
When asked this question, most people immediately conjure up an image of their sanitizer. While that isn’t technically wrong, there’s another important element that’s working in the background to maintain the crystal clear state of your water–your hot tub filters!
In fact, they’re the guardians of your water, keeping floating debris from reentering your spa as it circulates through your system.
With such an important job, it becomes crucial to maintain their quality, and this all comes down to giving them a good clean!
Whether you’ve been enjoying your spa for many years, or are just dipping your toe into the hot tub world, we want to set you up for success in keeping your spa in pristine condition.
In this article, we’ll teach you how to clean your hot tub filters like a pro and provide an easy step-by-step checklist to make it truly effortless.
For More Than Just Clean Water
Before we jump into the deep end, it’s important to understand the importance of your hot tub filters.
While their main role is to filter out contaminants and keep your water clean, they also have a major influence on a number of other elements of your spa.
The most notable is the overall efficiency of your hot tub. In fact, without proper care, they could send your energy bills climbing!
If that’s not bad enough, clogged filters can also lead to:
- Cloudy or foul-smelling water
- Poor water pressure
- Cold water
- Poorly treated water
Keeping your filters clean helps combat each of these issues, significantly decreasing the risk of them occurring in the future.
A Complete Hot Tub Filter Cleaning Checklist
Now that we’ve got a clear picture of what can go wrong if we neglect filter care, let’s jump into how you can keep yours in pristine condition, maximizing their longevity!
Cleaning your filters is broken down into a multi-step process, each one providing a deeper clean than the last.
Why, you might ask?
Have you ever noticed that as you try to clean something, there are always some particulates that tend to be harder to wash away?
This is exactly what happens with your filters. Your most frequent clean will help keep surface debris to a minimum, but it’s unable to penetrate deeper into the pleats to lift heavier buildup.
Your more advanced steps will make up for this by providing a more intense clean without being done so often that it wears down the material of your pleats.
By following a multi-step process, you’re able to keep your filters in their best condition, reducing the risk of replacing them early (and spending more money to do so!)
Ready to master your filter care?
Let’s jump into it!
Your Weekly Schedule
Rinse Your Filters – Time Expectation: 5 minutes
Materials You Need
- Gently running water
- Filter cleaning attachment for your hose (optional)
Easily the fastest and simplest step, your weekly clean consists of rinsing the surface debris off your filters.
After removing them from your hot tub, rinse them under gently running water. This will rinse off any surface debris that’s built up over the last week.
If you want to make this clean even more thorough, there are special attachments for cleaning filters, called filter flossers, that you can get for your hose to provide a better clean.
After rinsing your filters, it’s important to inspect them for any damage before returning them to your hot tub.
If they have any tears or rips, or the pleats are popping out of the end caps, they won’t be able to properly filter out the debris in your water.
If you discover any damage, throw the filter out and replace it with a fresh one.
Track Your Progress!
- Rinse
- Inspect
- Reinstall
Your Monthly Schedule
Soak Your Filters – Time Expectation:20 minutes
Materials You Need
- Gently running water
- Filter cleaning attachment for your hose (optional)
- Filter cleaner (spray or powder)
Each month, you’re going to take one extra step to provide a more robust clean aimed at lifting more deeply embedded debris.
You can do this in one of two ways:
1. Soaking them in diluted filter cleaner
2. Spraying them with filter cleaner and setting them aside to soak
Ultimately this will depend on personal preference. Each one will provide the same results, leaving you with renewed filters.
However, before you get to the soaking part of this clean, you’ll want to follow the same steps in your weekly rinse, taking time to inspect your filters before soaking them.
This simply helps save you from wasting any of your cleaning products on filters that are damaged.
After rinsing and inspecting your filters, either submerge them in a bucket of diluted filter cleaner or spray them with your filter cleaner and set them aside.
Wait for 15 minutes, then thoroughly rinse them off, and you’re ready to put them back in your spa!
Track Your Progress!
- Rinse
- Inspect
- Spray/Soak
- Wait 15 minutes
- Rinse
- Reinstall
Your Quarterly Schedule
Deep Clean Your Filters – Time Expectation: 12 hours
Materials You Need
- Gently running water
- Filter cleaning attachment for your hose (optional)
- Filter cleaner powder
- Bucket
Don’t let that “24-hour” timeline scare you. This time is only longer than the ones above because your filters will be soaking overnight.
This is the deepest clean you’ll perform and is meant to “reset” your filters to help you maintain their longevity to the fullest.
As above, the first portion of this clean follows the same steps as your monthly clean. However, you will need a filter cleaner that is meant to be diluted in water.
After rinsing and inspecting your filters to verify they’re in good shape, dilute your filter cleaner in a large bucket of water, carefully following the instructions on the bottle.
Then, simply submerge your filters, let them soak overnight, and let everyone in the house know the hot tub is off-limits until the filter has been replaced the next day.
You never want to use your hot tub without a filter!
The next morning, remove your filters from the bucket and thoroughly rinse them off before putting them back into your spa and “re-opening” it for family fun!
Pro tip: Pair this clean with your quarterly water change!
Track Your Progress!
- Rinse
- Inspect
- Soak (overnight)
- Rinse
- Reinstall
#1 Tip To Make Filter Care Even Easier
Congratulations!
You’ve just learned how to keep your filters in premium condition and have taken control of the health of your water!
Want to take it even further?
While the above steps can leave you with clean water and help maintain the efficiency of your spa, there’s one simple step you can include to really put this routine into overdrive.
Use two sets of filters!
Yet again, this can be taken even further, with a step that will truly transform your entire routine
One of the best ways to amp up the effectiveness of your clean is by allowing your filters to dry after you clean them.
This allows the material of the pleats to “re-tighten” as it dries, giving you even finer filtration once they’re returned to your spa.
However, this can take hours, and shutting down your spa each time isn’t ideal.
To get around that while still harnessing the power of drying your filters, you can keep a second set on hand and switch them out each time you clean your filters.
This way, after you remove the set of filters that need to be cleaned, you can immediately replace them, ensuring your spa is always ready to use.
After rinsing or soaking the filters you just removed, simply set them aside in a clean area to dry and switch them during your next clean!
When Do I Need to Replace My Hot Tub Filters?
Even with the best care, your filters will need to be replaced eventually.
This can vary based on your hot tub, so it’s important to check your owner’s manual to see the recommended frequency for your spa.
However, the general range often ranges from every 12 months to 2 years.
This ensures you’re not relying on filters that have worn down with age and use, and are taking the steps to keep both your spa and water in pristine condition.
4 Tips To Support Your Filters
If you’re looking for ways to help minimize the amount of work your filters need to do, you’re in luck.
There are a number of ways you can help reduce the amount of debris that gets into your water, keeping your filters cleaner for longer.
1. Pre-Soak Showers
Each time you step into your spa, anything clinging to your skin or swimsuit will end up in the water.
This can range from makeup and body lotion to detergent and hair products, which turn into oil as they melt into your water.
Your filters come in contact with every drop of water in your spa as it circulates through your system, and these oils can coat the pleats, reducing their effectiveness over time.
Quickly showering before you hop into your spa can help wash away those contaminants beforehand, keeping your water, and filters, cleaner.
2. Use Spa Sponges
Even if you rinse off before using your spa, there’s still going to be some organic matter that ends up in your water, whether it’s from sweat or dead skin cells.
An easy way to combat this is to use spa sponges after each session. Simply throw them in to float along the surface of your water and they’ll slowly absorb any of the oils that may be lingering.
For an ultra-affordable option, you can use tennis balls to achieve the same results!
3. Keep Your Spa Covered
Your cover is a crucial element of your hot tub, protecting it from the outside elements anytime you’re not lounging below its surface.
Each time your cover is open, dust, bugs and various other debris end up in your water, flowing through your system and getting trapped in the pleats of your filters.
The easiest way to combat this is to simply keep your cover on any time you’re not in the water and to skim the surface of your spa if you notice any debris floating on the surface.
4. Adjust Your Schedule Based on Usage
Lastly, you may need to add an extra rinse if your hot tub suddenly sees an increase in visitors, such as following a hot tub party.
More people naturally means additional organic matter and general debris, which puts extra strain on your filters.
To combat this, you can simply rinse your filters the day after your party, to give them that extra clean they’ll need after your evening of fun!
It’s important to remember that this rinse won’t replace your usual weekly rinse, but will simply support it by removing the excess grime it may have collected during your gathering.
Hot Tub Filters and Premium Spas For Sale in Courtenay, BC
At Rainforest Outdoor Living, we’re proud to offer a premium experience to the residents of Courtenay, and the surrounding areas.
Whether you’re in the process of renovating your backyard space and are looking to outfit it with the perfect patio set, or you’re finally taking the leap to design a dreamy oasis, our experts are here to help!
Our showroom boasts a wide range of backyard leisure essentials, and we’d be thrilled to help you find everything you need to bring your dream space into reality.
Contact us today, or visit our showroom to discover everything we have to offer.
