Bathtub Ring in Hot tub

Have you given your hot tub a biofilm cleaning using Ahhsome?

A ring is somewhat inevitable in the spa. Short of rinsing off fully before every soak, there will be oils and other contaminants that will latch to the sides of the spa walls due to surface tension.

Certain materials do this more readily, and an abundance of surfactants in your water will increase this habit. Surfactants/sulfates are found in detergents and cosmetics, and will "lift" the dirt and debris and deposit it to your acrylic before it has a chance to get pulled into your filter reservoir.

Chlorine will break these down, though again, some elements faster and more effectively than others. AquaClarity is the product you would use for regular maintenance, though I'll concede we don't use the product so I'll limit my advice here other than it seems to be effective and well-loved.

All this said, rinsing off is your best tool. It's better to not take it into the spa than try to neutralize or remove it after the fact.
Folks ignore this advice for pools, mostly because we don't see the impact as readily. But a spa is the bathtub you rarely drain, so, it demands a little more from you to stay clear.

Miskelley Nancy said:

Thank you! No but reading through the threads, I think I will try try Ahhsome hot tub purge. Is this the same product?

Click to expand...

Ahhsome has a few different products. @Ahhsomeguy can tell you more about them.

Hello Misskelley Nancy: Glad to hear that you will be purging your hot tub plumbing. Our Ahh-Some Hot Tub Plumbing & Jet Cleaner will do a great job for you. Be sure to only buy the smaller 2 ounce size as you can get up to 4 purges from it. I strongly recommend that you read the complete instructions which are available online.
It is easy to do but you need to wipe away any released sticky gunk as it collects on the shell at the waterline and in the filter reservoir area so it doesn't dry on the shell. You may also view any one of numerous youtube videos on purging with Ahh-Some. Waterline discoloration rings can be bothersome. You may see them on occasion. Generally, when you see them, it is usually time to purge the tub. Wipe the ring away with a cloth. If it doesn't come back soon after that, you may be ok and it was just a collection of oils or stuff that washed off skin during a soak. You will be doing yourself a huge favor to periodically purge the hot tub plumbing. Water clarity will be much easier to maintain as your sanitizer of choice, in your case chlorine, will not dissipate as quickly as it would if you hadn't purged. We make a variety of products for swimming pools, filters, washing machines and dishwashers that are used to aid in the removal of bio-fouling contaminants. Someone mentioned Aqua Clarity.
This is an amazing product. You add one ounce weekly for each 200 gallons of water in your hot tub. Based on your gallonage you would actually use about 1.75 ounces weekly. We make a 6 oz. concentrated formulation that you mix with tap water to fill the gallon. 6 ounces of Aqua Clarity and 122 ounces of water. This would last you over 16 months. What it does is actually clarify your water while keeping the plumbing and jets whistle clean. Using the Aqua Clarity allows you to go for an extended period of time without having to purge the tub and dump the water nearly as often. You still use your chlorine as usual. You really need nothing else except periodic boosts with your chlorine periodically. Easy to use and with a minimum amount of maintenance on your part.
Hope this information assists you.

Low sanitizer levels will allow nasties to proliferate rapidly in a hot tub causing a myriad of unwanted side effects including increased biofilms.
Biofilms accumulate in all spas & jetted tubs no matter how well maintained & must be removed periodically or a high sanitizer demand will occur along with the issues you mention.
It sounds like Starting fresh with an Ahhsome purge is in order since you have never done one & are experiencing issues.
After which you can follow this guide for chlorine
Or this guide for bromine

Generally, if starting out with a clean, freshly purged tub, & adequate fc levels FC/CYA Levels or bromine levels according to bather load & standby demand are always maintained then there shouldn’t be any scum ring unless there’s an event where someone got in with alot of lotion/sunscreen on, alot of hair conditioner or fabric softener at which point a little extra sanitizer to oxidize it & extra filter cleaning will usually take care of it .
Kudos on getting a kit, update your signature with that & your spa info.
The strips aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on & they will falsely lead you astray with their “ranges”.

Purging with Ahh-some and then maintaining your chemistry with a good test kit, and trying not to bring contaminants (sun screen, hair gel, deodorant, etc) into the tub will go a long way to reducing the ring.

Using Aqua Clarity (again by Ahh-some) also helps

I do the above, and I get a 1" long "ring" in the exact same spot every two weeks or so. I forms in a spot where water tends to create a small eddy and not circulate as much. Sometimes it is not a biofilm, but just a deposit of "beauty products". I use the Ahh-some spray cleaner and a rag to remove that spot. I know I sound like an Ahh-some commercial, but the stuff does work.

Hot Tubs tend to get used with things like lotions and oils and are 100x smaller than a pool. It happens. If you aren't getting obvious biofilms building up then the occasional AHH-Some purge and water change is all you can really do in addition to you keeping the water in balance. I'd say it depends on what the ring is... if it's black or something that would be of more concern, but is still quite fixable.

I try not to use lotions/sunscreens before tubbing but my hubby can be grimy from work no matter how hard he scrubs in the shower- it’s in his pores I guess. So I like using the aqua clarity to combat that. I keep the fc up & have never gotten a ring from it, just a sheen maybe. We float a scum bug while soaking & it helps too.
The only time I ever had a “ring” persay was about a day after I used a certain self tanner that had a prominent guide. I can only assume the guide didn’t get fully washed off in the shower. It wiped off easily with a microfiber rag.
I have since switched to one that has almost no guide & haven’t had an issue again. I also use Australian gold sunscreen with bronzer (basically instant tan) which has stained my bathing suit before & so I am careful to let that wear off when swimming before hopping in the hot tub later that night if I have used it.
Generally the answer is more fc —> then filter —> then other stuff.
Fc is king - FC/CYA Levels
if that’s not adequate nothing else you do will really solve the problem, it will only mask it.