How Do You Clean You Spa Filters?

[GKL]

I've not seen any discussion (here) on the methods used in cleaning of spa filters?

I just changed mine out with new and wanted to know if the use of any special cleaner is worth the cost, or is there a more economical solution. (Muriatic acid?) If there is a good product, please post and suggest a location to purchase.

Also is it a good idea to keep the ones I just took out soaking in water or other solution?

GREG!

[Jim_The_Jim]

I've not seen any discussion (here) on the methods used in cleaning of spa filters?

I just changed mine out with new and wanted to know if the use of any special cleaner is worth the cost, or is there a more economical solution. (Muratic acid?) If there is a good product, please post and suggest a location to purchase.

Also is it a good idea to keep the ones I just took out soaking in water or other solution?

GREG!

We recommend to our customers to spray off then soak the filters every six months in GLB Filter Cleanse. Rise well and let them dry out. With two sets you can rotate and replace every five years or so. Spray off once a month and soak in a bleach soltution to keep them sanitary.

Our customers will buy their first replacement set in 5 years then six months later buy the second set for rotation.

[Trigger]

GKL.

I hav heard of folks using muratic acid to clean thier filters, and they say it works ok, but I'm not crazy about it. Muratic acid is frowned apon environmentalists, Muratic acid can discolor wood. I've also heard it can damage bathroom fixtures (if you clean your filters inside this may be a concern).

I've also heard folks using "Simple Green" to clean thier filters, but I don't know how well it works, or how much rinsing is involved. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

Anyhow, FWIW, here's what I do:

I have a spare flitler that I keep clean and rotate that in when I need to clean the filter in the hot tub.

To clean the dirty filter, about once a month or so, I use lesisure time's filter clean product and have good luck with it. (Not the spray on stuff, but the concentrate that you mix with water). I have a 5 gallon bucket that I mix up per the label and soak my filter for 24 hrs. I then rinse the filter out extreamly well in tub/shower stall using a hand held sprayer. I put the now clean filter aside and save it for next month. I put a cover on the 5 gal bucket of filter cleaner and re-use it. I found I can get 3-4 uses out of it before I need to mix up a new batch.

I have a standard, conventional pleated filter, and I've found it's easier to clean and rinse if you remove the band around the pleats. I never got a straight answer from a "pro" if this was a good idea or not, but after several years of doing this, my filters have held up well, and my water quality hasn't suffered. (removing the band hasn't effected the filter's ability to trap dirt). Removing the band has made cleaning the filter ALOT easier.

We recommend to our customers to spray off then soak the filters every six months in GLB Filter Cleanse. Rise well and let them dry out. With two sets you can rotate and replace every five years or so. Spray off once a month and soak in a bleach soltution to keep them sanitary.

Our customers will buy their first replacement set in 5 years then six months later buy the second set for rotation.

huh? Can you slow down and retype that?

The first set of filters included with the tub lasts about 5 years at which time they replace them? ok.

At 5.5 years you then recomend they buy a 3rd set to rotatate in?

I understand rotating filters in. It's convienent. But why not have them rotate filters in the first five years?

Oh and Jim. I checked your web page, perharps you are unware of it, but you ETL page has been "under construction" for about a year (or more). I'm sure we can all agree that ETL and/or UL listings is important, and that there has been much controversary over your listing. In fact folks accused you of out right lying about it. So given that, you might want to update that page. Ok?

[GKL]

huh? Can you slow down and retype that?

The first set of filters included with the tub lasts about 5 years at which time they replace them? ok.

At 5.5 years you then recomend they buy a 3rd set to rotatate in?

I understand rotating filters in. It's convienent. But why not have them rotate filters in the first five years?

Oh and Jim. I checked your web page, perharps you are unware of it, but you ETL page has been "under construction" for about a year (or more). I'm sure we can all agree that ETL and/or UL listings is important, and that there has been much controversary over your listing. In fact folks accused you of out right lying about it. So given that, you might want to update that page. Ok?

Hey Trigger, Jim has been the only one to post anything with regards to my question. You only used it as a means to get your dig in at JIM and still did not answer the topic question. SO, THANK YOU JIM.

GREG!

[Trigger]

Hey Trigger, Jim has been the only one to post anything with regards to my question. You only used it as a means to get your dig in at JIM and still did not answer the topic question. SO, THANK YOU JIM.

GREG!

Huh? I'm at the office and typing my respsonse between issues. I spent 20 mintues typeing my response to you. I think if you re-read my post it addresses your points, I do anwser your questions in relation to my expereince. So to the best of my ability. I geniually tried to offer my expereince and promote discussion around the topic. While also trying to figure out the insane awnser another posted replied with/

hey...sorry to have bothered you.

WTF?

[MaRiSpaTech]

Do not use muratic acid to clean your filters unless you get all of the oil off of them first! Muratic acid is only needed to disolve calcium or rust stains on filters and can ruin the filters if they are not cleaned first. You can use a hosehold or automotive type degreaser like simple green or purple power to soak them. This works, but not as good as a specially made filter cleaning product. I like Leisure Time instant cartridge clean, is requires no soaking and works great.

[New NW tub owner]

I've not seen any discussion (here) on the methods used in cleaning of spa filters?

I just changed mine out with new and wanted to know if the use of any special cleaner is worth the cost, or is there a more economical solution. (Muriatic acid?) If there is a good product, please post and suggest a location to purchase.

Also is it a good idea to keep the ones I just took out soaking in water or other solution?

GREG!

Well...it depends on what's clogging them up. People with really hard water or water with a lot of iron or manganese (you know who you are) in it will have the filters clog up with those. For those, a soak in a mild acid such as vinegar (24 hours minimum) followed by a dunk in baking soda/water solution (1 hour minimum) and then a a spray with the hose and then a full dry should restore them to new performance.

If they are clogging up with oily stuff such as from your skin or tanning products, then they need to be soaked in a good detergent solution such as dishwashing soap or laundry soap solution (which should be at least 100F) for 3 hours or so and then spray with the hose and then a full dry.

If they are clogging up with just plain dirt like from your feet when you get in or leaves/needles chunkies that are blowing in and decomposing, then just a full spray with the hose and let them dry out should get them pretty clean..

If they are clogging up with bio growth in your tub because you haven't been sanitizing regularly like you know you should, then they will be clogged up with that and the best way to clean them would be a soak in a dilute bleach solution for a hour followed by a spray rinse with the hose and then full dry for several days. However, they's clog right up again if you don't get on the stick and sanitize your tub regularly to keep the water sparkly clean.

The bottom line is that there's no one answer for everyone because everyone's water and tub use is different.

[Chas]

Go to Unicel and read the info. Very good info on the care and feeding of cartridges, including a page or two on acid washing of filters.

[JoeM]

I have two filters and rotate monthly. Every month i take the dirty out and put dry/clean in. The dirty i rinse before I soak in a 5 gallon bucket with a mixture of TSP solution mixed to box recommendations of TSP. I let sit fully under the TSP solution overnight and then rinse thouroughly the next moring. Then let dry for a week or so before storing for the next month.

If you dont know what TSP is, I think it stands for Sodium TriPhosphate or something like that. I think its the same chemical in dish washer detergent.

I think I took this method from the Unicel website.

[Curious]

Not sure if this was mentioned above but a lot of people are reporting success putting them in the dishwasher. See the post titled "Features Worth Paying For?".

[Wizzardofspas]

So many good tips in all the posts! best one was see "Unicell"! Note that the Band on the filter keeps the pleats sepperated, otherwise they mash together in use, loss of surface area! Keeping a five gallon bucket of firmenting filth to be used again, is almost as disgusting as sticking your filter in the dishwasher, I hope you at least spray it out first! If you spray it off first might as well just do it correctly. Cleaning a filter is no fun we all know, Soaking is a pain. If you have a high pressure nozzel, solid one piece brass, with a hose valve added to it, you can spray out between the pleets just fine. If you degrease the filter when you change the water every 3 months like you are supposed to with a "spray on" "Filter degreaser! the filter will have soaked long enough by the time you Drain, clean, and fill the tub. rince it out stick it in you are done. whole thing takes 2 hours at most (with sump pump)

Filter in the dishwasher? you really want that on the dishes you eat from? It sure is popular lol!!

I'm new to the site, finding it fasinating so far! Is this site affiliated with Hot-Springs?

[104 Degrees]

So many good tips in all the posts! best one was see "Unicell"! Note that the Band on the filter keeps the pleats sepperated, otherwise they mash together in use, loss of surface area! Keeping a five gallon bucket of firmenting filth to be used again, is almost as disgusting as sticking your filter in the dishwasher, I hope you at least spray it out first! If you spray it off first might as well just do it correctly. Cleaning a filter is no fun we all know, Soaking is a pain. If you have a high pressure nozzel, solid one piece brass, with a hose valve added to it, you can spray out between the pleets just fine. If you degrease the filter when you change the water every 3 months like you are supposed to with a "spray on" "Filter degreaser! the filter will have soaked long enough by the time you Drain, clean, and fill the tub. rince it out stick it in you are done. whole thing takes 2 hours at most (with sump pump)

Filter in the dishwasher? you really want that on the dishes you eat from? It sure is popular lol!!

I'm new to the site, finding it fasinating so far! Is this site affiliated with Hot-Springs?

I agree dishwaher. wizzard, is soaking it in Filter cleaner the same as Degreesing it??

[Wizzardofspas]

I agree dishwaher. wizzard, is soaking it in Filter cleaner the same as Degreesing it??

That's a great question; so glad you asked 104! Soaking your filter is degreesing your filter! I'f you are spraying out your filter with water every 2 or 3 weeks it should come back looking relatively clean; however over time greese builds up in the fibers. Your 1 yr old filter (never degreesed) may look clean, yet causing problems. Flo restrictions, will affect pressure, and flo switches,

; creating error codes, and problems with the heating system. (especially if the guys on the line got cement on the bypass valve in a canister). Many spa products will require you to degrease your filter more frequently. Clairifier, and anti foaming agents, for example. If you are using these products you need to be on top of your filter maintenance.

[104 Degrees]

That's a great question; so glad you asked 104! Soaking your filter is degreesing your filter! I'f you are spraying out your filter with water every 2 or 3 weeks it should come back looking relatively clean; however over time greese builds up in the fibers. Your 1 yr old filter (never degreesed) may look clean, yet causing problems. Flo restrictions, will affect pressure, and flo switches,

; creating error codes, and problems with the heating system. (especially if the guys on the line got cement on the bypass valve in a canister). Many spa products will require you to degrease your filter more frequently. Clairifier, and anti foaming agents, for example. If you are using these products you need to be on top of your filter maintenance.

Thank you

Do you mean "water clairifier". i dont use a anti-foam since i wear nothing in the tub

[Aric]

Now I'll add my two cents. I had used the Leisure Time concentrated cleaner as described. However I ruined a filter with that cleaner as well. In my soak bucket, I hadn't noticed a very small piece of metal that had fallen in there. Although I held the bucket upside down to dump out dust prior to filling it must have stayed stuck to the bottom. Well needless to say the cleaner reacted with the metal and turned everything crusty brown including the bucket and the filter. That started me feeling uncomfortable about soaking my filter in something so nasty and then soaking my body in the hot tub that I stopped using a cleaner. After that, I bought a new filter, and just power washed the filter more often, and it seemed to work fine. I'd power wash it twice a month. And I didn't notice any drop in performance and it was still going strong after several years.

[104 Degrees]

Now I'll add my two cents. I had used the Leisure Time concentrated cleaner as described. However I ruined a filter with that cleaner as well. In my soak bucket, I hadn't noticed a very small piece of metal that had fallen in there. Although I held the bucket upside down to dump out dust prior to filling it must have stayed stuck to the bottom. Well needless to say the cleaner reacted with the metal and turned everything crusty brown including the bucket and the filter. That started me feeling uncomfortable about soaking my filter in something so nasty and then soaking my body in the hot tub that I stopped using a cleaner. After that, I bought a new filter, and just power washed the filter more often, and it seemed to work fine. I'd power wash it twice a month. And I didn't notice any drop in performance and it was still going strong after several years.

You can get a good power washer from 80 to 100 bucks. i have one and its easy to use.

[Brulan1]

You can get a good power washer from 80 to 100 bucks. i have one and its easy to use.

Either Acid wash(muriatic acid w/ water), or Robarb makes a filter cleaner called EZ filter cleaner.

[Dr. Spa]

Acid washing WILL reduce the life span of your filter cartridge and should ONLY be done if there are mineral deposits that need to be removed.

[Aric]

Now that everyone seems to be saying put it in the dishwasher with some dishwasher detergent, I may just go that route. Better than spending 15 minutes power washing the blessed thing.

But I'll never go back to acid washing/soaking with filter cleaner.

[waterbear]

I've said it before and I will say it again. TSP (the real stuff, not the substitute that is the only thing legally available in many states now because of the phosphate ban) or powdered autmatic dishwasher detergent like Electrosol or Cascade (I use the generic stuff from Kmart) is the best dereaser for soaking your filters. Unicel, which is one of the largest manufacturers of OEM and replacement filters seems to agree if you visit the link to their website that was posted above. Most propriatey acid filter cleaners are based on phosphoric acid (usually listed as organic acids in the MSDS)and degreasers. They work well when used according to directions but they can be expensive.

A few more observations:

DO NOT ACID WASH unless you have degreased first and only do it if there are scale deposites on the filter, as Dr. Spa just stated. Acid washing causes the Remay Polyester material that makes up the pleats to stretch and lowers it's filtering ability. If you acid wash before degreasing you will harden the orgainics on the filter into a cement like mass that will ruin it by plugging it up.

A lot of people are suggesting using a pressure washer. Not a good idea. The high pressure can acually cause the integrety of re Remay Polyester to fail and can literally rip a hole in the filter. A high pressure garden nozzle (those short brass ones) is your safest bet. There are some special filter cleaning nozzles and wands now available that just attach to your garden hose. I have tried a few, they work, they can make the job a bit easier and faster, but they really are not necessary.

When I got my first portable spa many years ago the dealer told me to put the cart in the dishwasher once a month with no detergent after hosing it off or soaking it. I never did. Just didn't like the idea of cleaning out that gunk where I clean my dishes. Same dealer is the one who told me to use laundry bleach to shock my bromine spa so I guess he did know what he was talking about.

[Aric]

Just didn't like the idea of cleaning out that gunk where I clean my dishes.

Understood, but I'd like to point out, my spa water was always sanitary, whereas that serving tray that had thanksgiving turkey slices on it for several hours and stayed in the sink overnight because the dishwasher was full, but went in the next night probably was crawling with deadly bacteria. Of course, the serving tray didn't have long strands of blonde hair in it, which my filter did.

[104 Degrees]

Understood, but I'd like to point out, my spa water was always sanitary, whereas that serving tray that had thanksgiving turkey slices on it for several hours and stayed in the sink overnight because the dishwasher was full, but went in the next night probably was crawling with deadly bacteria. Of course, the serving tray didn't have long strands of blonde hair in it, which my filter did.

YUK

[waterbear]

Understood, but I'd like to point out, my spa water was always sanitary, whereas that serving tray that had thanksgiving turkey slices on it for several hours and stayed in the sink overnight because the dishwasher was full, but went in the next night probably was crawling with deadly bacteria. Of course, the serving tray didn't have long strands of blonde hair in it, which my filter did.

One of the main purposes of a filter is to trap orgainic debris. Some of this will start to decay in the filter. It collects such things as body oils, lotions, etc. Your water may have been sanitary in that it had enough residual sanitizer to take care of any pathogens introduced into it but I doubt your filter was.