Excess Foam From Clorox

[Fry Man]

My hot tub has a salt water clorine generator and at the present time it is not working at full capacity and can maintain FC in the tub without bathers and we have been adding Clorox during heavier usage. We have been experiencing heavy foam and did not see this in the past. The Clorox avialable in the stores has been changed. The Clorox is:

• Ultra Splash-Less bleach
  
• HE
  
• Thick Control Pour Formula
  
• 6%
  

Has anyone else experienced foaming from the Clorox? Is there another brand that does not foam?

[Mark SC]

Clorox Regular Bleach (6%) does not foam. I'm not familiar with the Splash-Less bleach, but a quick look at the Clorox web site shows that it contains some sort of thickening agent. That is likely what is causing your foaming. Switch to the regular bleach.

[waterbear]

use the store brand instead of Clorox. You want plain, unscented chlorine bleach. ALL the others (scented, thickened, outdoor, etc.) are NOT plain bleach and contain additived and/or degergents! Just make sure the bleach is either 6% or 5.25%.

[chem geek]

Clorox didn't change -- that particularly store just sounds like it ran out or is choosing not to carry Clorox Regular bleach. Splash-less is NOT the same and should not be used. As waterbear noted, if you cannot find Clorox Regular unscented, not splash-less, not outdoor, etc., then use a store-brand Ultra bleach (regular off-brand bleach is ery weak at 3% or less, but "Ultra" off-brand bleach is usually 6%).

[Kathleen Massey]

We have added the original Clorox bleach to our outside water fountains for years to keep them clean and have had no problems . The last few months we have so much foam in all the fountains and it’s really hard getting rid of. They definitely have changed the formula and we tried the cheaper brands and are having the same problem. What the heck is going on? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!!!!

 

[TFP]

Generally, pool owners advice against using bleach that is splashless, scented, or extra whiting.

It should resolve itself in a day or so with the pump/filter going. But yes, stay away from those too. Just regular/plain Great Value (Wal-Mart) or Bravo (HEB) bleach.

I would recommend you start scooping the foam out if you can. The thickening agents used in splashless bleaches are designed to be mixed in solution with concentrated sodium hypochlorite and high pH (from the excess lye). This means that when you add it to pool water that has a much lower concentration of chlorine in it, it will last longer than you think.