I'd like to get people's thoughts on using Ahhsome in our hot tub and letting it sit over night. I planned on cleaning up the scum and foam as best as I can during the circulating cycle but then letting it sit over night to give a thorough soak. Bad idea? Thoughts?
Ahhsome
- Thread starter bbates
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 24,411
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
It would be bad if the scum line dried on the tub wall as you would then have a very hardened mess to deal with. It’s best to donit during a time when you can be there to observe it and take corrective action as-needed.
Perhaps @Ahhsomeguy can better answer the question.
Perhaps @Ahhsomeguy can better answer the question.
Oly
Gold Supporter
This is an interesting question. When I purge my tub prior to draining I run the jets for at least an hour with the cleaner in the water and always remove any discolored foam ASAP. I did stop the jets and kept the water still for a bit but realized having the treated water flowing through the system would be more effective so kicked on the jets again. Not sure how leaving the cleaner in the tub overnight with no circulation would effect the purge. I agree not removing the scum right away would be an issue.
We had purchased the tub new in June of 2018 and did a purge in August after reading some posts here at TFP. There was a NASTY yellow/greenish scum build up and we ended up doing two purges back to back.
Since then, I've followed the TFP method using bleach as my sanitizer. We use our tub frequently, often twice a day even in sub-zero weather, so I expected an ugly purge this spring.
I did the purge yesterday. During the cleaning cycle I made sure to keep the scum line cleaned off of the sides. I am happy to report that there was very little buildup that came out of the tub. No colored yuck at all!
Since then, I've followed the TFP method using bleach as my sanitizer. We use our tub frequently, often twice a day even in sub-zero weather, so I expected an ugly purge this spring.
I did the purge yesterday. During the cleaning cycle I made sure to keep the scum line cleaned off of the sides. I am happy to report that there was very little buildup that came out of the tub. No colored yuck at all!
- May 23, 2015
- 24,411
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Even brand new tubs can develop biofilms because ALL tubs are pressure tested at the manufacturer for leaks and the equipment is cycled. There is no way to drain the plumbing dry and so often stagnant water is left in there. The fittings and tubes are often lubricated with various compounds to make assembly easier. All of this leads to stagnant, nasty water in the pipes.
Yes, thanks to TFP, we decided to purge our 1 month old tub! First picture above is from that purge.
Bottom picture is yesterday’s purge after 7 months of HEAVY use. Not sure I could have gotten a cleaner result. I think it is the fruit of taking care of the tub using the methods and education found here at TFP.
Where's the best place to buy Ahh-some? I asked at the store that sells Spas, and they had never heard of it. I hadn't done a ton of Spa research, but I had heard of Ahh-some from TFP a few years back.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,386
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Perfect - Thanks! Didn't realize that they sold it or I would have ordered it with my test kit refill a few weeks ago!
- May 3, 2014
- 58,386
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
- May 23, 2015
- 24,411
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
You can use Ahh-some to deep clean your clothes washing machine too. Having taken apart a machine in my past, you would be amazed at how naaaaaaasty the tub gets even when the machine is regularly used. Top loaders are bad but front load machines are a 100X worse. The build up of soap scum / biofilms is impressive. Bleach doesn’t touch it. Hit the machine with Ahh-some (especially if it is a top loader and has an Affesh Clean cycle which fills the entire tub up) and you’ll be amazed at the nastiness that comes off into the water.
For the washing machine trick, we have front loaders. Do you just run the machine on a cycle, and then when it completes, wipe it out? I almost think that our machines "detect" the load size, and then choose the amount of water required, but I'd have to read up more on it...
- May 23, 2015
- 24,411
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The Ahh-some website has a process sheet on how to use it to clean a washing machine. I believe you use a smaller amount and pre-dilute it in a quart of hot water before adding it. Best to email them directly on how to use it in your specific machine.
Good to see all the good purge posts here . I dont get a chance to visit here often but its good to see folks corroberate my findings and to see the benefits of purging with ahhsome. Btw u can let ahhsome dosed water sit over night . Just wipe down the water line and above. Rinse the rag in an ahhsome solution in a bucket. Especially if you are working late in the evening and light is running out It's a lot better to let it sit overnight than to pull the drain plug before retiring for the night
I let mine sit overnight - running it 3-4 cycles before letting it sit overnight and wiping the sides down during the 3-4 cycles. I also use an aquarium fish net to scoop out gunk in the foam and floating on the water. A long overnight soak with Ahhsome results in a very clean flush/refill/flush/refill the next morning. I do a second refill, put it 20ppm of bleach, one cycle and dump it and then to get rid of any residual Ahhsome and gunk and then refill and balance.
Its interesting to me that none of the other products I've tested ...silk balance, seaklear, natural chemistry, etc, benefit from an overnight soak and I have tested this just to see . They all do their work within an hour or less. But ahhsome I find will sometimes release even more material after a longish soak and this appears to be effective for really bad situations requiring multiple treatments. It appears better to have fewer long soak treatments than many short ones.