How to Get Rid of Foam and Bubbles in Your Hot Tub

Having a bubble bath might be desirable if you’re in your bathtub and want to add some luxury to your soak. But having bubbles in your hot tub is not something you should be aiming for.

Excessive foam and bubbles in a hot tub usually mean that something is out of balance and the water isn’t quite right. It’s a relatively common issue, but that doesn’t mean it happens a lot to the same person. Generally, once people have it happen, they realize something must be done and figure out how to fix it: often by coming in and talking to one of our retailers at Hydropool.

That’s why we wanted to write this article. What causes hot tub bubbles or hot tub foam? Finding the root cause is crucial to getting rid of bubbles or foam in your hot tub.

Generally, it is one of these three things:

• Water contaminants
• Water imbalances
• Organic matter in the water

In this article, we’ll go over the various explanations of why there might be bubbles and foam in your hot tub and then in each section we will talk about what you can do to rectify the situation.

 

 

Water Contaminants

This is the most common problem when water turns bubbly. It usually means something soapy or foamy has got into the water and in such quantity that it can’t be filtered out.  

If your hot tub water suffers a build-up of contaminants you might end up with excessive foamy and bubbly water. Many of these contaminants are accidentally introduced into the hot tub by the users themselves.

Soap residue, deodorants, perfumes, makeup, sweat, oil, and dirt can all be inadvertently added into the water by the bathers. Once they are in there in any quantity, it can be difficult to filter them out with standard hot tub filters.

If you have a foaming issue and you suspect it’s from a soap that you introduced to the hot tub, you can easily purchase a defoaming agent and follow the instructions on adding it to your hot tub. These are available at local retail hot tub stores or at stores such as Canadian Tire or Home Depot. They generally cost about $10-$15.

While they will break down any soap you have in the hot tub, to solve the problem for the long-term what’s key is that you need to find the source of the problem and remove it.

One way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to have everyone shower before getting into the hot tub. That’s a bit of a hassle though and in practice most of our customers say it is too much of a nuisance to do consistently.

What is very common is that people are using swimsuits that have been through the laundry and still have soap residue on them. Soap residue can easily attach itself to bathing suits and find its way into the hot tub.

One easy solution is to just not wash your swimsuit with soap. Given that it’s only going into your hot tub, it is not actually getting dirty each time you use it. If you do want to wash it, you should rinse your bathing suits in fresh water as best as possible before entering the hot tub to make sure all remnants of soap are out.

Other contaminants can include lotions, hair sprays, or other skin care or beauty products. While they often end up in the hot tub in small quantities, over time they can accumulate to create a foam.

Water Imbalances

When you own a hot tub, you need to keep chemicals on hand to keep the water properly balanced. But even if you do that, foam can sometimes pop up. What causes it then?

Usually, poor water balance on its own rarely causes foamy water. But what it does is make the water more vulnerable to becoming foamy from other issues.

For example, biofilm can build up in the hot tub, usually in the hot tub pipes, which will drain your sanitizer by making it work extremely hard to keep the biofilm in check. Draining your sanitizer leaves your water more vulnerable to substances that create foam, such as makeups and lotions and deodorants.  

Another thing that often sneaks up on people: If you use old or poor-quality chemicals, it can be harder to keep the water balanced which may result in excessive foam and bubbles. Keep your chemicals stored in a cool, dark place and make sure to keep them out of the sunlight as much as possible.

Organic Matter

Organic waste products can be responsible for foamy, cloudy and foul-smelling water.

These issues can usually be solved by adding shock. Hot tub shocking is the process of adding chemicals to the water to reduce the presence of organic material. If you’ve had a hot tub for any length of time, chances are you’ve already used shock.

Shock additives can be chlorine or non-chlorine based. It’s best to use a chlorine-based shock when first filling your hot tub with water. After that, you can use a non-chlorine-based shock treatment on a regular basis.

The frequency of shocking will depend on how often the hot tub is used. If your hot tub is used often – two to three times a week - then shock the water once a week. If it’s being used less often, you’ll only need to do it every other week.

If you have foam and you believe that it is being caused by organic matter, then you may need to shock your hot tub multiple times over a couple of days to ensure it is cleared out.

First ensure your water is balanced correctly, then shock the hot tub. Wait a day and see if the matter has cleared. If not, shock the hot tub again. If the problem does not resolve itself with this method – you may have to do this for a few days - we’d advise you to bring a water sample to your local retailer who can give you a better understanding of what’s going on with your water.

How to Get Rid of Bubbles in a Hot Tub?

If you get bubbles or foam or have any issue, the first thing you need to do is figure out what the original cause of the problem is. It’s generally one of three things: soap coming into the hot tub via swim suits, an issue such as biofilm draining your sanitizer which allows a problem to flourish or lastly, some organic matter has infiltrated your hot tub water that requires shocking to kill it.

While there are products such as defoamer and shock will often solve the problem as well, if you don’t fix the root cause, the foam or bubbles will just keep coming back. If this article hasn’t helped and you’re still stuck, a local retailer can work with you to solve the problem. Find the one closest to you here.