Foam... A Fact Of Life?

[panthergirl08]

So, I've read that foamy water is a result of lotions, deodorants, skin oil, etc. I'm not a huge "product user"... I wear deodorant and use a moisturizer on my face and that's it. But my 3 week old spa is getting pretty foamy when the jets are on, and I have a Scum Bug floating around. I've given the filters (Eco Pur) a good rinsing and maybe it's time for another . Should I just accept the foam as a fact of life? Or buy the de-foamer chemical at the spa store? The foam doesn't really bother me.... is it damaging my tub?

thanks for your help!

Teresa

[Roger]

So, I've read that foamy water is a result of lotions, deodorants, skin oil, etc. I'm not a huge "product user"... I wear deodorant and use a moisturizer on my face and that's it. But my 3 week old spa is getting pretty foamy when the jets are on, and I have a Scum Bug floating around. I've given the filters (Eco Pur) a good rinsing and maybe it's time for another . Should I just accept the foam as a fact of life? Or buy the de-foamer chemical at the spa store? The foam doesn't really bother me.... is it damaging my tub?

thanks for your help!

Teresa

What about laundry detergent in your suits?

If you buy foam down dillute it in a spray bottle and just mist over the foam. The foam is not hurting your tub. What kind of sanitizer are you using?

[Chas]

The key to your answer is that your spa is just a month old. You are ready to observe

"Chas' Law."

Change the water. I have preached this for 22 years - at the end of the first month do a water change. This is a one-time thing, most folks do fine with a three or four month interval after this first month or so of ownership.

Remember to turn off power to the spa first, drain, wipe down the waterline and/or filter area with a soft towel, and refill.

Balance your water, and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to care for. The foam should go away. In fact, the days should start getting longer, the weather should start getting warmer, your outlook on life will improve, and the price of gas will go up!!

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

The key to your answer is that your spa is just a month old. You are ready to observe

"Chas' Law."

Change the water. I have preached this for 22 years - at the end of the first month do a water change. This is a one-time thing, most folks do fine with a three or four month interval after this first month or so of ownership.

Remember to turn off power to the spa first, drain, wipe down the waterline and/or filter area with a soft towel, and refill.

Balance your water, and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to care for. The foam should go away. In fact, the days should start getting longer, the weather should start getting warmer, your outlook on life will improve, and the price of gas will go up!!

Chas, you are so right. A new tub is sometimes a pain in the *** the first month. All the oils that come off the new plastics ect. Other reasons of foam are...high PH, soft water, and sweat/body oil(each person swaets about a pint per 30 min. spa use)

[Jake the dog man]

Yup, like everyone else has stated, the foam isn't hurting anything, but it can be kinda yucky. I keep the defoamer in a small spray bottle to, but I rarely need it. I always let my daughter use bubble bath right before we change our water, every 2-3 months, and still don't get a foaming problem afterwards.

I like to point of changing water in the first month too. I did that, but not because of foam or anything specific, but a general rule of thumb. I also change the oil in a new car after a few weeks. Just to get the crap/flash/grit/etc out.

Good Luck & let us know!

[panthergirl08]

What about laundry detergent in your suits?

As unsanitary as it might come out sounding... I'm not a huge suit washer...

For gosh sakes, they go in sanitized water every night!

If you buy foam down dillute it in a spray bottle and just mist over the foam. The foam is not hurting your tub. What kind of sanitizer are you using?

I've been using dichlor since it's a master spa with the Eco pur filter, and they recommend it over bromine.

[panthergirl08]

The key to your answer is that your spa is just a month old. You are ready to observe

"Chas' Law."

Change the water. I have preached this for 22 years - at the end of the first month do a water change. This is a one-time thing, most folks do fine with a three or four month interval after this first month or so of ownership.

Remember to turn off power to the spa first, drain, wipe down the waterline and/or filter area with a soft towel, and refill.

Balance your water, and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to care for. The foam should go away. In fact, the days should start getting longer, the weather should start getting warmer, your outlook on life will improve, and the price of gas will go up!!

Chas, you are so right. A new tub is sometimes a pain in the *** the first month. All the oils that come off the new plastics ect. Other reasons of foam are...high PH, soft water, and sweat/body oil(each person swaets about a pint per 30 min. spa use)

[panthergirl08]

Chas, you might have a point. I'll give it a try (even if it means being spa-less for a day or so)

The ph was all over the board the first 2 weeks, as I struggled to get it just right. And the water out of our spiggot is pretty soft, as we live diagonal from the local well and it's softened right there.

Chas, you are so right. A new tub is sometimes a pain in the *** the first month. All the oils that come off the new plastics ect. Other reasons of foam are...high PH, soft water, and sweat/body oil(each person swaets about a pint per 30 min. spa use)

[Roger]

What about laundry detergent in your suits?

As unsanitary as it might come out sounding... I'm not a huge suit washer...

For gosh sakes, they go in sanitized water every night!

If you buy foam down dillute it in a spray bottle and just mist over the foam. The foam is not hurting your tub. What kind of sanitizer are you using?

I've been using dichlor since it's a master spa with the Eco pur filter, and they recommend it over bromine.

It doesn't sound unsanitary at all. I never washed them either. But as long as the company was right we never wore them either!

[asharerin]

What size is your filter and how long are you filtering? I discovered with my parents tub that after heavy use the water would produce foam and leave a disgusting scum line around the tub and on the bromine floater the next day. It was nasty. We treated the water as per the directions and all the levels were fine. We couldn't figure it out. Then I did some reading and found out we did not have the filter cycles set long enough for heavy use.

Their tub is a free flow 230 gallon and has a small 35 sq. foot filter. It was set to automatically filter every 12 hours for 4 hours. With 4 adults crammed in there for 1.5 hours it had no chance at removing the contaminants that produce scum and foam. So after heavy uses we set it to filter continuously and the next day no foam and no scum. We shock after each use as well. With lighter use we change the cycle to 6 hours every 12 hours and it manages fine.

Also make sure to open your jets all the way so you agitate the water as much as possible when filtering. This will cause the contaminants that produce scum and foam to get filtered as much as possible and come in contact with your sanitizer as much as possible. We have found water agitation is the biggest key.....we tried filtering just as long with the jets open half way but it did not do as agood as job as having the jets open all the way for filtering. If your tub has the small circ. pump to filter it may no be strong enough to agitate the water effectively enough after heavy uses to get rid of all the scum and foam unfortunately.

[Jake the dog man]

asharerin... I'm a big believer in "whatever works for you & you are happy with..." but that seems like an excessive amount of time to run the filter each day ( 4-8 hours a day?), especially for such a small tub. I'll admit to probably not running it enough, with almost daily use by myself, wife & sometimes 1 child, so we are not in the heavy use mode.

Sorry if I misunderstood. I just think there may be an easier way...