Your hot tub should be a place to relax, not a source of cloudy water, bacteria, or ongoing maintenance headaches. But many hot tub owners underestimate how quickly spa water can collect body oils, sweat, cosmetics, and debris, especially with regular use and a smaller water volume than a swimming pool.
Regular hot tub cleaning is about more than appearance. It helps prevent bacteria buildup, protects your equipment from premature wear, and keeps your water safe for everyone who uses it. In this guide, we’ll explain how to clean a hot tub properly so you can keep your spa fresh, sanitary, and running efficiently year-round.
Why Cleaning Your Hot Tub Actually Matters
A lot of hot tub owners treat cleaning as an aesthetic chore, something you do because it looks nicer. But there’s a much more important reason: your health.
It's a health issue, not just appearance
Hot tubs are warm, small bodies of water that cycle through a lot of human contact body oils, sweat, lotions, and cosmetics accumulate quickly. That environment is ideal for bacteria to thrive. Biofilm a thin, slimy layer of bacteria builds up inside your plumbing lines where you can’t see it, recontaminating your water every time the jets run.
Legionella bacteria, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, can grow in poorly maintained spa water. Hot tub folliculitis (a skin rash caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa) is another common result of improperly maintained water. These aren’t worst-case scenarios; they’re well-documented outcomes of neglected spa maintenance.
It protects your investment
Scale deposits and biofilm don’t just affect water quality. Over time, they damage your pump seals, clog your heater, and degrade jet internals. Regular deep cleaning and proper water chemistry can extend your hot tub’s life by 10 to 15 years. A properly maintained tub that lasts 20 years is a very different financial proposition than one that needs a major repair or full replacement after 7.
For Airbnb hosts, it's non-negotiable
If you rent your property short-term, a dirty hot tub is one of the fastest ways to earn a damaging review. Guests expect a clean, odor-free spa and they notice when it isn’t. Beyond reviews, there are genuine liability considerations if a guest develops a skin infection or respiratory illness after using a neglected hot tub.
How Often Should You Clean Your Hot Tub?
Most people either clean too rarely or don’t follow a consistent schedule. Here’s a simple framework to follow:
Frequency | Task |
After every use | Wipe the waterline, check sanitizer levels |
Weekly | Test and balance pH, sanitizer (chlorine or bromine), and alkalinity |
Every 1–2 weeks | Rinse filter cartridge with a garden hose |
Monthly | Deep clean filter with a chemical soak solution |
Every 3–4 months | Full drain, shell scrub, and refill |
Annually | Flush plumbing lines to clear biofilm buildup |
For Airbnb and vacation rental hot tubs, that schedule compresses significantly. High guest turnover means the water gets heavy use in a short time. A water change every 4–6 weeks is often more appropriate, and a thorough cleaning between guest stays is strongly recommended. Want a deeper breakdown of cleaning frequency by usage and season? Read our full guide: How Often Are You Supposed to Clean a Hot Tub?
Signs it’s time for a deep clean right now, regardless of your last service date:
- The water is cloudy or has a greenish tint
- There’s foam that doesn’t clear after running the jets
- A musty or chemical smell that won’t go away
- Sanitizer levels keep dropping even after you add chemicals
- You can feel a slippery residue on the shell or jets
- Someone experienced skin irritation or a rash after soaking
- The tub has been sitting unused for more than a month
If you’re seeing three or more of these signs, it’s time for a full drain and deep clean, not just a chemical adjustment.
What You'll Need Before You Start
Gather everything before you begin so you’re not hunting for supplies mid-clean:
- Submersible pump or garden hose with a drain attachment (a submersible pump drains the tub in minutes vs. hours)
- Hot tub line flush product (Swirl Away, Spa Flush, or similar)
- Hot tub filter cleaner both a spray for rinsing and an overnight soak solution
- Non-sudsing hot tub shell cleaner (this is critical regular cleaners create foam problems)
- Soft cloths or a non-abrasive sponge
- Hot tub cover cleaner and UV protectant
- pH test strips or a digital test kit
- Chlorine or bromine sanitizer
- pH Up and pH Down adjusters
- Rubber gloves and safety glasses
One important warning: Never use household bleach, dish soap, vinegar, or general-purpose bathroom cleaners on your hot tub. These products disrupt water chemistry, damage acrylic shells, and create excessive foam that’s difficult to clear. Always use products specifically formulated for spa use.
Step-by-Step: How to Deep Clean a Hot Tub
Step 1: Flush Your Plumbing Lines
This step comes first and most people skip it. That’s a mistake.
Biofilm builds up inside your spa’s plumbing every time the tub is used. It clings to the interior of pipes and jets, and when you drain and refill without flushing first, that biofilm gets reintroduced into your fresh water almost immediately. You’ll be fighting cloudy water and dropping sanitizer levels before the tub is even warm.
To flush your lines, remove the filter cartridge, then add a line flush product directly to the water. Run your jets on high for 20 to 30 minutes. What you see coming out dark foam, debris, discolored water is the biofilm being pulled out of the pipes. It can be shocking the first time.
If your tub hasn’t been cleaned in six months or more, let the line flush product circulate overnight for a more thorough purge. Use a skimmer net to remove surface foam as needed. Not sure if you have a biofilm problem? Read our detailed guide: How to Get Rid of Biofilm in a Hot Tub Without Draining.
Step 2: Turn Off Power and Drain the Hot Tub
Before you do anything else, shut off power to the tub at the circuit breaker. Never drain or clean a hot tub with power still running to the pump or heater.
Attach your garden hose to the drain valve, or drop a submersible pump into the water. The pump will clear a standard hot tub in about 10 to 15 minutes. A hose drain can take an hour or more.
In Colorado, you can typically drain hot tub water onto your lawn or driveway, as long as your sanitizer levels are low. If you’ve recently shocked the tub, wait until chlorine levels drop below 3 ppm before draining near vegetation. Check local guidelines if you’re unsure.
Once drained, use a wet-dry vacuum to pull remaining water out of the jets and suction fittings this prevents mildew from growing in the residual moisture.
Step 3: Clean the Hot Tub Filter
Your filter is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to water clarity, and a clogged or degraded filter is often the root cause of persistent water quality problems.
Remove the cartridge and rinse it thoroughly with a high-pressure garden hose nozzle, working from the top down between the pleats. Spray at an angle to push debris out, not deeper in.
If the filter is visibly dirty after rinsing, soak it overnight in a hot tub filter cleaning solution diluted in a bucket. This breaks down oils, minerals, and trapped debris that rinsing alone won’t remove.
A good practice is to keep a second filter cartridge on hand so you can swap them out one soaks while the other runs. Replace your filter every 12 to 18 months, or sooner if the pleats are cracked, compressed, or discolored.
Step 4: Scrub the Hot Tub Shell
With the tub drained, spray the entire interior shell with your non-sudsing hot tub cleaner. Work in sections, wiping with a soft cloth or non-abrasive sponge. Never use abrasive scrubbers; they scratch acrylic, creating microscopic grooves where bacteria can hide.
Pay particular attention to:
- The waterline ring (mineral scale and body oils collect here)
- Around and inside each jet opening
- Headrest areas and neck rests
- Corners and seams at the bottom of the tub
Remove headrests and footrests if they detach, and clean behind them separately. Rinse the entire shell thoroughly to remove all cleaner residue any leftover product will foam in the water.
Step 5: Clean the Jets
Hot tub jets are often overlooked, but they harbor biofilm and mineral buildup that affects both water quality and jet performance.
Spray jet nozzles directly with your shell cleaner. Use a small brush, an old toothbrush works perfectly to scrub around the nozzle openings and inside the jet housing. Wipe clean with a cloth.
While you’re working on the jets, check for any that feel loose or cracked. This is also a good time to inspect the interior of the tub for any early signs of shell damage.
Step 6: Clean the Hot Tub Cover
The cover sits directly on warm, humid water all day which makes the underside a prime location for mildew growth. Most people spend a lot of time cleaning the shell and forget the cover entirely.
Start by hosing down the top surface to remove leaves, dirt, and debris. Wipe with a damp cloth and your cover-specific cleaner. Then clean the underside carefully if mildew is present, spray with cleaner and wipe with paper towels rather than a cloth you’ll reuse.
Check the seams along the underside for mold growth, which often appears as black or gray speckling. Finish by applying a UV protectant conditioner to the vinyl top surface. Colorado’s high-altitude sun is particularly hard on spa covers; this step extends the cover’s life significantly.
Step 7: Refill the Hot Tub
Fill the tub using the filter area (where the filter housing sits), not from a jet opening. Filling from the filter area prevents an airlock from forming in the pump, which can cause the pump to run dry and overheat.
If your Colorado tap water is hard which is common in much of the state consider using an inline hose filter during refilling. This reduces calcium and mineral content going into fresh water, which means less scale buildup and easier chemistry balancing going forward.
Do not turn the power back on until water has reached the minimum fill line on the tub. Running the pump dry, even briefly, causes damage
Step 8: Balance Your Water Chemistry
Turn power back on and allow the water to heat to around 70°F before adding any chemicals cold water doesn’t distribute chemicals evenly.
Balance in this order for best results:
- Total alkalinity (target: 80–120 ppm) this stabilizes your pH
- pH (target: 7.2–7.6) outside this range, sanitizers lose effectiveness and the water becomes irritating to skin and eyes
- Sanitizer chlorine (3–5 ppm) or bromine (3–5 ppm)
- Calcium hardness (target: 150–250 ppm) low calcium causes foaming; high calcium causes scale
Run the jets for 20 minutes after adding chemicals to circulate everything thoroughly. Retest after 24 hours and make any final adjustments before you get in.
Signs Your Hot Tub Needs an Immediate Deep Clean
Don’t wait for your quarterly schedule if you’re seeing any of these warning signs:
- Water that stays cloudy despite chemical adjustments this often indicates biofilm in the pipes
- Persistent foam that returns within minutes of using the jets
- A musty, earthy, or strong chlorine smell (paradoxically, a strong chemical smell often means the sanitizer is reacting with contaminants, not that you have too much)
- Sanitizer levels that drop rapidly and require constant dosing
- Visible slime or residue anywhere on the shell
- Skin rash or eye irritation after soaking
- Water that hasn’t been changed in more than four months
Seeing three or more of these signs? It may be time to call a professional. Missa Clean provides hot tub deep cleaning services across Colorado get a free quote today. If your tub has been sitting unused for weeks or months, it needs a different approach entirely. Read: How to Clean a Dirty or Unused Hot Tub Properly.
Hot Tub Cleaning for Airbnb Hosts in Colorado
If you rent your property on Airbnb or another short-term rental platform, your hot tub operates under very different conditions than a private residential spa.
Guest turnover means your water absorbs significantly more body oils, cosmetics, and contaminants in a shorter time. Chemicals get consumed faster. Biofilm builds up more quickly. The standard quarterly drain-and-clean that works for a household of two simply isn’t adequate for a vacation rental that sees multiple groups of guests every month.
What Airbnb hot tub maintenance should look like:
- Water change every 4–6 weeks (rather than every 3–4 months)
- Chemical check and adjustment between every guest stay
- Filter rinse at least every two weeks
- Full shell wipe-down between stays
- Professional deep clean every 4–6 weeks, or any time the water quality looks off
Beyond the hygiene considerations, there’s a direct business case. Guests frequently mention hot tub conditions in reviews both positively when it’s clean and negatively when it isn’t. A single bad review mentioning a dirty or smelly hot tub can suppress bookings for weeks. And if a guest develops a skin rash or respiratory irritation, you face potential liability as the property host.
DIY vs Professional Hot Tub Cleaning Which Do You Need?
DIY Cleaning | Professional Service | |
Time required | 4–8 hours | You do nothing |
Equipment needed | Pump, cleaners, test kit | Included |
Biofilm removal | Partial | Complete |
Chemical balancing | Requires your knowledge | Handled for you |
Best for | Routine quarterly maintenance | Move-in/out, Airbnb turnovers, neglected tubs |
Approximate cost | $30–60 in supplies | Flat service rate |
DIY cleaning is absolutely viable for a well-maintained hot tub that gets regular attention. If you’re already on a quarterly schedule, your chemicals are balanced consistently, and you’re not seeing any warning signs you can handle it yourself with this guide.
A professional service makes more sense when:
- The tub hasn’t been cleaned in six months or longer
- You’re dealing with persistent water quality problems that don’t respond to chemical adjustments
- You’re preparing a property for rental or sale
- You want a thorough pipe flush and deep clean that goes beyond surface maintenance
- You simply don’t have a half-day to spend on the process
Expert Hot Tub Cleaning When You Need It
Cleaning a hot tub properly takes time, the right products, and consistent maintenance. If you’d rather leave the work to professionals, Missa Clean is here to help. We provide expert hot tub cleaning services throughout Colorado for homeowners, Airbnb hosts, and vacation rental properties. Our team handles everything from draining and deep cleaning to filter service, shell scrubbing, and water balancing, so your spa stays clean, safe, and ready to use.Call (720) 325-1600 today to schedule your hot tub cleaning service or request a free quote.
FAQs
How often should you clean a hot tub?
Plan on a full drain and deep clean every 3 to 4 months for a residential hot tub used by a household. Test and adjust chemicals weekly, rinse the filter every 1 to 2 weeks, and soak the filter monthly. Airbnb and vacation rental hot tubs need more frequent water changes typically every 4 to 6 weeks.
Can I use bleach to clean my hot tub?
No. Household bleach is not formulated for spa use. It damages acrylic shells, disrupts water chemistry, and can create unsafe conditions when it mixes with existing sanitizers. Always use products labeled specifically for hot tubs or spas.
How long does it take to deep clean a hot tub?
A full drain, clean, and refill takes 4 to 8 hours from start to finish, plus additional time for the water to heat and for initial chemical balancing. It’s typically a half-day commitment.
How do I get rid of cloudy hot tub water?
Start by testing and rebalancing your chemicals. Low sanitizer, high pH, and high alkalinity are all common causes of cloudiness. If the water doesn’t clear within 24 hours of chemical adjustment, biofilm in the plumbing lines is likely the culprit. A line flush followed by a full drain and clean is usually required at that point.
How do I remove the waterline ring in my hot tub?
The waterline ring is a combination of mineral scale, body oils, and sunscreen. Apply a non-abrasive hot tub shell cleaner directly to the ring when the tub is drained, and wipe with a soft cloth. For stubborn rings, let the cleaner sit for a few minutes before wiping. Avoid abrasive pads; they scratch the acrylic and make future buildup worse.
Can you clean a hot tub without draining it?
For routine weekly maintenance testing chemicals, rinsing the filter, and wiping the waterline, yes, you can keep your hot tub in good shape without draining it. But for a true deep clean that addresses biofilm, shell buildup, and seriously imbalanced water, draining is required. A no-drain clean works best as a maintenance habit between full water changes not as a replacement for them. For a full step-by-step routine: How to Clean a Hot Tub Without Draining It.
