Most of us hop in our Jacuzzi once a week to help relax our bodies. While we’re so relaxed, we often hop out of the tub and drain it without a second thought beyond maybe a splash of water to wash down any residue.
Just because you can’t see soap residue or other dirt in the tub doesn’t mean it’s not stuck inside your tub’s jets. You may even have begun to see small pieces of debris coming from the jets, themselves.
Today, we’re going to be talking about one of the easiest accessories for a hot tub to buy that costs literally pennies—vinegar! It’s one of the simplest ways to keep your tub looking great, and most importantly, it is the perfect answer for how to get rid of hot tub bacteria.
Why Vinegar?
Vinegar has long been used as a cleaning agent. It has acidic properties but is relatively weak and safe to use as long as you don’t expose your hands to pure vinegar for long periods of time. That being said, it’s best to wear gloves to keep your hands clean in case you have any spots in your tub that you need to clean.
A simple solution of two parts water and one part vinegar in a spray bottle will work wonders for making all but the toughest stains and grime vanish. It’s a great way to maintain the inside of your tub in between full cleanings.
Vinegar, a little baking soda as a foaming agent, and a toothbrush can also be used to erase tougher stains and get into the little gaps and cracks around your jets and drains. Feel free to do this before continuing on to clean your jets.
Cleaning Jets With Vinegar
Once you have the tub cleaned, it’s time to clean inside your water pipes and jets. Fill your tub with water to about three or four inches above the jets. Check your manufacturer’s instructions and see if you need to leave the air intake vents open. If you don’t, close them up to force as much water through the tubes as possible.
Next, throw in two cups of vinegar or four cups if you have a large tub. Don’t worry, you can’t really overdo it with the vinegar—it’s very safe when diluted in water. If you want to, you can always add a teaspoon or two of dish detergent to the water as well, but be prepared for some serious bubbles.
Some manufacturers will specifically instruct you to use bleach or chlorine to clean your tub. Be careful with how much chlorine you add to the hot tub the first time. Outside of stains that just won’t go away or specific instructions that tell you to do so, you should minimize bleach usage as it’s very harsh and can damage and dry out sensitive rubber gaskets.
Now, it’s time to turn on the jets to their highest setting and let the vinegar push through the jets for ten or fifteen minutes. You might start to see debris coming out of the jets—if you’ve never done this before, you might be in for a surprise. Let the jets run until you stop seeing debris pushed out of the tubes.
Once you’re done, drain the tub.
After Care
Fill the tub one more time and run the jets again, similar to a rinse cycle in a washing machine. This will flush out any remaining soap and grime inside the tubes. Drain the tub, and if there are any dirty spots left, you can sprinkle some baking soda around the tub while it’s still wet–this will make a paste that’s great for using with a toothbrush to get out those last little spots of grime.
Rinse one last time, and your tub should be looking great. If you do this once a month, your tub jets will stay much cleaner and last longer!
Hi, I’m Matt Harper, the founder of poolcareguy.com, a site I started with one simple mission: to help people around the world clean and take care of their pools and hot tubs on their own, without the hassle.
I’m not a professional pool cleaner and don’t have any formal training, I’m just an average guy who loves hanging out by his pool and hot tub and taking care of it. After many years on the job, I’ve become quite good at it.
On this website I will be teaching you absolutely everything I know about pools and hot tubs.