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Clorox Pool&Spa Shock Xtra Blue


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Hello everyone! I'm a newbie here so please forgive my lack of knowledge. We recently got a hot tub and I'm wondering about a shock product that I keep seeing in a local retailer. It's called Clorox Pool&Spa Shock Xtra Blue 6-1. I am wondering if this is ok to use in a hot tub? The bottle says pool&spa, but since there are no direction for spa use.. I'm a tad confused. I looked up a material safety data sheet googled the main chemicals. It seems all the chemicals individually are found at similar percentages in other Spa Specific Products. I tried emailing Clorox and they never replied back. Does anyone use this or know if it's ok to use in a hot tub?

Thanking y'all in advance.

Trampas

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I wouldn't use that product simply because of the copper in it. Besides which it has dichlor as the chlorine source, so it will add cyanuric acid to your water so you wouldn't use it continually anyway. Copper in excess can stain clothing and hair green.

The only things you need to manage your spa water are chlorine, cyanuric acid, and a few things to balance the water chemistry like baking soda, calcium, and dry acid or muriatic acid. You should read the sticky post above in this forum Dichlor/bleach Method In A Nutshell, as well as the other sticky posts so you'll have an idea how to handle things. You can get most of the supplies you need at the grocery and save lots of money. There are a few things you will need to get at the pool store, but don't let them sell you stuff you don't need.

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  • 2 years later...

Well, I too am confused.  I bought 40 lbs of this stuff online from Costco.  I thought that surely Clorox would provide instruction for spa usage since it it says "pool and spa".  I don't recall the word "spa" ever appearing on the package other than in the name.  Certainly no directions for spas and, like Eight0Eight, no response from Clorox to my email.  I haven't used it and I guess I'll have to return it since there are zero instructions for spa use.  I assume the copper would be in low levels so I wouldn't be worried about green hair.  I'm running low on supplies and want to come up with something affordable and easy.  Damn!

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Thanks for the reply RDspaguy.  I read the article, but I don't have a high enough IQ to follow all of those directions.  Given the choice between cheap and easy, I'll have to opt for easy.  My Bullfrog spa came with the frog system...smartchlor cartridges and a mineral cartridge.  May just have to stay with that or Nature2.

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I like mineral purifiers used with chlorine or bromine. They use copper and silver. I suspect that is what the granuules you got are trying to duplicate with the added copper, essentially an algaecide.

Why are you wanting to change it? Are you having some issue?

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Clorox responded:

     "Thank you for contacting Clorox® Pool & Spa™. Unfortunately our Shock XtraBlue, Shock Plus, Oxi Chlorine Free Shock Oxidizer and Salt Pool Shock Oxidizer are meant for Pools use only.The copper            in our shock is for algae prevention, not mineral cartridge substitution.  We do have our Clorox Spa All-in-One Sanitizer and Shock, which is meant for spa use."

So even though their product is labeled as being for Pools and Spas, it isn't for spas!

In my spa some years ago, I just used dichlor (plus adjusted for ph and alkalinity) and things seemed to go smoothly.  I didn't know about cyanuric acid build-up back then.  I'm years older now, but still not savvy enough to deal with that problem.  I just can't use dichlor for my routine sanitizer and weekly shock.  I wish it were as simple and cheap as it use be be (when I apparently was doing it wrong).  The mineral/chlorine systems seem pricey to me, but they do check off the simple box for me.  the mineral systems I see are Frog@ease, Nature2, and PoolRx. My spa came with frog@ease triangular cartridges that click into a holder besides the filters.  I don't know where I can get these other than the dealer 35 miles away.  Nature2 reportedly cant't be used if the cartridge won't fit in the filter, which is the case with my filters.  PoolRX is the longest lasting and cheapest for the mineral part, but it seems like an unfamiliar option.  I will have to study more about what they want for chlorine.

 

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I use dichlor in minimal amounts (1tsp plus 1/2 tsp per person) after each use. I have an ozonator so do not shock. I like a mineral purifier. Water is cheap and your spa is probably less than 500 gallon, so just drain and fill more frequently. Like every 3-4 months when you replace your mineral purifier. Works great for me. 

@dlleno, wanna jump in and talk bromine?

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Thanks RDspaguy, I think I'll take your advice.  I'll by a mineral something or other (probably the PoolRx) and buy a bunch of granular Dichlor.  I have found dichlor handy for lots of things over the years.

 My 360 gallon Bullfrog spa does not have an ozonator.  Being cheap to the bone, I figured I didn't want to replace a ($70 bulb every year).  Thanks again!

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You could consider bromine.  its a bummer that some of us just can't handle the chlorine and then we get into trouble when our skin tells us to keep sanitizer levels low, but the biofilms tell us to keep things high.  current state-of-the-art now over at the trouble free pool side is 5ppm free chlorine!  thats on account, in part anyway, that biofilms have been shown to survive in the traditional 1-3ppm chlorine levels.  

so you have a catch 22.  and then the mfgs come along hat-in-hand selling elixirs and promising certain victory if you spend more money .  some have great success with minerals,  so I would encourage you to experiment with silver, anyway, combined with a traditional halogen sanitizer. frankly these are the only things guarenteed/known/tested to kill the pathogens in reasonable amounts of time.  

the other options  which I am currently using in my owns spa is this Hot Tub Serum stuff.  its basically a weak formulation of ahh-some without the foam-producing surfactants and some other goodies in there that they won't reveal, but frankly this stuff is the bees knees in my spa right now.  it eliminates the problem of "lower" sanitizer levels, because its a companion/maintenance product.  

So for me I'd investigate either Serum or Silver, with either Chlorine or Bromine.  thats a lot of combinations to try, although my personal favorite is bromine and Serum .  that and RD's advice to change frequently -- there's really very little virtue in the extended drain cycles.

By the way - I'm not a fan of ozone with chlorine because ozone eats chlorine.  but its wonderful for bromine because it actually aids in the conversion of bromide salts to bromine. 

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