You’ve heard of spring cleaning. Well, for hot tubs, fall cleaning is a thing, too. It’s really important to ensure your spa is pristine and ready for the fall season when you’ll be using your hot tub a good deal.
There’s no better place to take in fall foliage than relaxing in a spa’s therapeutic soothing waters — maybe spiced with a hint of a spa-safe pumpkin scent. Autumn’s crisp weather makes a steaming hot tub so tempting.
So let’s get started.
Cleaning Hot Tubs
The good news is that preparing your hot tub for this time of year is not complicated. It’s a good time, for example, to change the water (and consider changing it again just before the hard winter arrives in December). There’s a few more suggestions to get your hot tub ready.
Get the following 7 steps done and you’ll be great to go.
Cleaning Spa Cover
Cleaning Spa Covers
- Before you begin cleaning your hot tub, it’s key to clean the cover of any mildew or bacteria that may have collected in the warm summer months. It’s always best to check the manufacturer’s guidelines on what product to use. Using an approved protectant is easy, much like applying Armorall to the dash of your car.
Changing Your Bullfrog Spa Water
Bullfrog Spa’s Drain
Standard Garden Hose
2. Empty the hot tub: Pick the best place in the yard to drain the hot tub’s existing water. Turn off the power at the breaker. Locate the drain in the hot tub, (on most Bullfrog Spas, the drain is located on the right side of the spa base below the equipment compartment door) pull it out and remove the drain cap. Attach a standard garden hose to the cap and let the water flow out.
Cleaning the Spa Interior
Cleaning Spa Interiors
3. Once the spa is empty, you can clean the interior of the tub.
Expert Tips: If you clean your spa shell surface every time you change your hot tub water, this will keep your hot tub looking like new. A little mild dishwashing soap or a window cleaner is perfect for this. Simply, apply with clean cloth, rise, and wipe dry. If you own a Bullfrog Spa with the JetPak Therapy System™, don’t forget to clean your removable JetPaks® as well using the same method described here.
Cleaning the Filters
removing-filters
cleaning-filters
4. It’s also a good time to clean the spa filters which are very easy to remove. (They should be replaced annually). Just place the spa in “Hold” mode and remove the FilterCap and filter plate, take out the cartridge and use the same garden hose you used to empty the spa to spray water over the filter’s pleats.
5. With everything nice and clean, it’s time to refill your hot tub.
6. Now you might want to add spa maintenance chemicals after filling the tub with fresh water. This is another easy-peasy DIY project. See the following video:
7. You could also check out your spa head rests/pillows to see if they need a cleaning wipe.
(Note: There are steps to do some deep cleaning of the interior plumbing that you can see here.)
Hot Tubbing in Fall:
Fall is a time when the whole family wants to use the spa more regularly. As we mentioned above, and especially if the spa water hasn’t been changed in a few months, just before the chilly weather arrives, drain and clean the hot tub. Photo: Bullfrog Spas
Glass Fire Gems
If you have a natural gas fire pit/table, you can change the color of the fire gems as well. The gems come in many shapes and sizes and are easily changed to suit the season. For Fall, how about a copper glass gem (pictured here) to give an amber appearance. Photo: Outdoor GreatRoom Company
Clean Spa Water (Long Island/NY):
Clean Spa Water (Long Island/NY): Hot tubbers are not disappointed when the weather takes on a bit of a chill. They know the best hot tub season is just beginning.
But if you’d like to sign up for regular maintenance with us, you can relax, knowing we’re keeping the chemicals right, changing or cleaning filters when needed, draining and scrubbing the tub.
