Verna- just my two cents here about the decontamination process. I have compiled this from my observations over the past few weeks. Please be sure your sanitizer level is properly adjusted as per Ahh-Some directions. See the collection of excerpts of discussions from experts regarding Ahh-Some below. In addition, some folks put a little bleach in the Ahh-Some tub water to kill the biofilm that is emerging.
The tub threw up its white flag, but not before I pounded it with 9-10 rounds(lost exact count). Nothing else came out on the following run. It feels amazing after such a grueling battle. Really a mentally and physically draining process but I'm not the type of person to say "this is good enough", I had to finish the job properly and wasn't going to be satisfied until the flushes were gunk free. That being said, there's a few tips I can offer in hopes of maximizing results vs effort.
1)Very important IMO - get a shop vac and start sucking up this brown **** from the foam/sides as soon as you see it. It makes cleanup that much easier and it prevents that gunk from traveling back into the pipes. Also, it's helpful to stop the jets every so often and wipe down the sides. It becomes much tougher to wipe off if given a chance to start drying. The bottom line is you want this out of the tub as quickly as possibly and with no chance of getting back into circulation.
I would also advise letting it do its job longer than the directions suggest. Run the jets for 20-30 minutes and then let it sit in the pipes for a while(maybe a couple hours). Then run the jets again for a few more minutes and drain.
Another thing to note in the instructions is that the water should be balanced and have proper sanitizer levels in order for the ahh-some to work. I nearly did the ahh-some with zero chlorine (I got back from vacation and my chlorine levels were at zero....long story), but read the back of the ahh-some container, and it mentioned that I needed proper sanitization levels in order for it to work.
Just an additional comment about combining the purge and the decon when Ahh-Some is used. this stuff is profoundly effective, as my own head-to-head experiments have shown. Other products release "little to nothing", such that one is tempted to combine the decon with the purge. not so with Ahh-Some!
Lagreca : here is what I do to get the gunk off the waterline: Ahh-Some itself is a great solvent for this stuff. fill a 5-gal pail with ahh-some treated water. as the stuff accumulates, wipe it up with a micro-fiber cloth and rinse in the Ahh-Some solution.
It turns out that Ahh-some is immune to the problem of combining the FC decon with the purge, as it is not an enzyme product. in fact, as the above post indicates, the Ahh-Some instructions specify elevated FC levels during the purge, just to insure proper kill of the gunk Ahh-some releases. however, the amount of material released by Ahh-Some can be so great, you won't be very anxious to wipe down your spa and cover with the water ... The solution to this problem, my experience has shown, is to drain and purge again with Ahh-Some until you achieve little to no new released material.
The point remains, however, is that you SHOULD dose with a high FC level when treating with Ahh-some. When performing a purge/decon procedure I can say from experience that more than one Ahh-Some purge may be required, and by the time you achieve a clean spa -- where Ahh-Some releases very little or no new material -- that's the point where the combination of ahh-some dose and high FC will provide the best decon solution for the wipe-down. It does take some experience with Ahh-Some and a biofilm contaminated spa to really see this.
I've been there. I have also achieved an Ahh-Some dosed spa, with ceramic filters installed into their normal positions -- generating no new contaminant release. Arguably the cleanest spa known to man.
Another benefit of Ahh-some, which I have verified in my own experiments, is that regular purging -- and I mean every fill -- is beneficial. I routinely dose with Ahh-Some and ~10 ppm FC before draining, and every time I see visual evidence that I'm doing the right thing. Beyond the biofilm removal claims of Ahh-Some, this stuff will release material you would not imagine was in your spa -- even with proper water maintenance. this comes from build up of non-oxidized wastes/oils/what-have-you ...
I will take the liberty to re-summarize my experimental product test results here:
SeaKlear "System Flush": does a little, but not much
Silk Balance "Clean Start" worthless -- its just borax in a really expensive container
Aquafinesse "Spa Clean": worthless
Natural Chemistry "Spa Purge" . Epic amounts of nearly-worthless foam
Unique Solutions "Ahh-Some": woh baby this stuff works!