Are all chlorinating liquids the same?

[DowneastSpa]

Hello all. Been reading for a while, first time post. I have a 350gallon Caldera Reunion spa. Dipping my toes into the dichlor/bleach method. Are all chlorinating liquids from pool stores basically the same? I picked up some Bioguard Chlorinating Liquid (10% sodium hypochlorite).

I know with regular bleach you need to worry about not using scented, concentrated, splash-less, etc etc due to fillers and other ingredients that can cause foaming or other issues. My question - are there certain brands of Chlorinating Liquid that have the same issues? Or is 10% chlorinating liquid the same product brand-to-brand?

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! The Bioguard liquid chlorine by itself should be fine. You have the right idea to avoid laundry products with additives. Clorox brand laundry bleach is also suspect, not to mention expensive, so I would avoid that as well. But other than the % of strength, liquid chlorine/regular bleach is about the same.

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[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

There are many places you can get chlorine and most way cheaper than your pool store.. But if the pool store has what you need and because of the spa you will not be using much it will be just fine..

Also look into a salt water generator as an option... I loved mine when I had a hot tub.. It is super easy and all chlorine pools and spa's are salt water pools and spa's

 

[DowneastSpa]

Thanks for the replies! We do actually have the factory saltwater system on the tub (last year's model, delivered in Nov 2021), and absolutely love it. I only have the liquid chlorine as supplemental after a long soak, lots of adults, or kids in for a while. Other than that the salt system keeps up. We left for a week-long vacation in February and came back to FC and all other water chem numbers right where they should be with spa untouched for the full week.

The gallon was under $6 at the local pool store, and so far the additions I've done have been right in line with poolmath for FC change for the spa.

 

[cowboycasey]

Nicely done

 

[Bperry]

Thanks for the replies! We do actually have the factory saltwater system on the tub (last year's model, delivered in Nov 2021), and absolutely love it. I only have the liquid chlorine as supplemental after a long soak, lots of adults, or kids in for a while. Other than that the salt system keeps up. We left for a week-long vacation in February and came back to FC and all other water chem numbers right where they should be with spa untouched for the full week.

The gallon was under $6 at the local pool store, and so far the additions I've done have been right in line with poolmath for FC change for the spa.

The same gallon should run about $4-$5 at Home Depot, etc.

 

[phonedave]

One thing to watch is the dates.

Liquid chlorine degrades over time and faster in the heat. There is a thread on how to read date codes if you search for it. Some of the big box stores may not have the freshest bleach or chlorine. Sometimes you find it in dollar stores for the same reason - very old. Not saying the pool stores are necessarily better either. Just something to be aware of if you find a treasure trove of cheap chlorine.

Around here, most Home Depos do not have year round pool sections, because we are not in a year round pool area. There is one by me that does keep stuff on the shelf year round, but I don't think they replenish it. They just have like 8 feet of shelf space with a bunch of stuff from last season on it. I would not buy "pool chlorine" from that store in December. However, I would buy plain HDX bleach from the cleaning products aisle.