Spa Cleaning in Central Florida
Premium Spa Cleaning Service for Homeowners Across Central Florida
Professional Spa Cleaning in Central Florida
Clean, Balanced Spa Water Without the Guesswork
A spa is a small body of hot water that works hard. A few people in a 400-gallon spa put more load on the water than a crowd in a pool, and Central Florida heat and sun burn through sanitizer fast. That’s why spa water turns cloudy, foamy or smelly so quickly, and why hot tub cleaning can’t wait for once a season.
Our spa cleaning service keeps your spa ready whenever you are. We test and balance the water, brush the walls and seats, clean the tile line, vacuum the footwell and check the filter. Your spa gets water targets set for a spa, which run different from your pool’s. Chlorine or bromine, attached or standalone, we clean it the way a spa needs.
We also track how much use your spa gets, because that decides when it needs fresh water. Instead of a guess like every few months, we use a simple formula and a dissolved-solids reading to tell you when it’s time to drain, clean and refill.
If you have a pool and spa combo, we can take care of both on the same visit. And if we spot a heater, pump or jet problem, our repair team can take it from there. Between visits, we’ll tell you exactly what to watch so small problems stay small. Fill out the form for a free spa cleaning quote.
Why Spa Water Gets Dirty Faster Than Pool Water
In a pool, each swimmer has about 1,800 gallons of water to themselves. In a spa, it’s closer to 200. So six people in a 1,200-gallon spa put the same load on the water as 275 people in a 55,000-gallon pool. Sweat, body oils, lotion and skin all end up in a very small amount of water.
Heat makes it worse. Chlorine and bromine burn off faster in hot water, and bacteria grow faster too. An outdoor spa is shallow, so the sun destroys even more sanitizer. The jets throw air through the water, which drives pH up, and a hot spa evaporates quickly and leaves its minerals behind. Put all that together and spa water can go from fine to funky in days.
That’s why hot tub cleaning here is less about scrubbing and more about keeping up. A spa that gets a quick balance every week stays ahead of the load. One that waits a month usually needs a full drain to recover.
Spa Water Chemistry Targets
A spa needs different numbers than a pool. Here’s what we balance your spa to:
- Free chlorine at 3 to 5 ppm, a notch higher than a pool
- Bromine at 4 to 6 ppm, if your spa runs on bromine
- Combined chlorine at 0.5 ppm or less
- pH at 7.4 to 7.6, and never below 7.2 or above 7.8
- Calcium hardness at 150 to 250 ppm, lower than a pool’s 200 to 400
Small volume means small doses. Muriatic acid can be too harsh for a spa, so we usually lower pH with dry acid instead. Alkalinity gets used up faster in a spa, and when it runs low, pH swings and the sanitizer loses its punch. Calcium matters too. It gets less soluble as water heats up, so a spa with too much calcium drops scale right inside the heater.
Cloudy, Foamy or Smelly Spa Water
Most spa water problems come down to three things. Here’s what causes each one and how we fix it.
Cloudy Spa Water
Every dose of chemicals and every top-off adds dissolved solids. Once they climb about 1,500 ppm above where the water started, the water turns dull and the sanitizer stops working as well. A dirty filter adds to it. We check both, and if the dissolved solids are the problem, fresh water is the fix.
Foamy Spa Water
Foam usually means a filter that needs attention or water that isn’t getting oxidized enough to burn off body oils and lotion. Soap residue from swimsuits or cleaners adds to it, and low calcium hardness can make a spa foam more easily. A defoamer only hides the problem. When the water is loaded with gunk, the real answer is to drain, clean and refill.
Spa Water That Smells Like Chemicals
That strong chemical smell doesn’t mean too much chlorine. It means used-up chlorine, called combined chlorine, has built up in the water. We shock the spa to burn it off and bring free chlorine back into range. Bromine spas smell less, since bromine’s byproducts are less irritating than chlorine’s.
When to Drain and Refill Your Spa
There’s a simple formula for this. Divide your spa’s gallons by 3, then divide by the number of people who use it each day. The answer is how many days the water should last. A 400-gallon spa with two users a day needs fresh water about every 67 days. A busy spa needs it sooner.
We also watch the dissolved solids. When they reach about 1,500 ppm over the fresh-fill reading, it’s time, even if the calendar says otherwise. Foam, odor and cloudy water that won’t clear are other signs.
In-ground spas need extra care before draining. Much of Central Florida sits on a high water table, and an empty shell can lift out of the ground. We check for a working hydrostatic relief valve before any in-ground spa comes down.
Spa Filter Care
A spa filter works harder than a pool filter because of all those oils in a small amount of water. Cartridge filters should be opened and checked every week, and a spare cartridge makes swapping easy while one gets cleaned. Body oils and scale can turn sand into a clay-like mass, which is one reason most spas use cartridges. For a deep clean, our pool filter cleaning service covers spa cartridges too.
What's Included in Our Spa Cleaning Service
Every spa cleaning visit includes:
- Testing and balancing sanitizer, pH, alkalinity and calcium
- Brushing the walls, seats and tile line
- Vacuuming the floor and footwell
- Emptying the skimmer basket and checking the filter
- Tracking your spa’s size and use so we know when it needs fresh water
- Noting anything that looks off with the heater, pump, jets or blower
When we find a problem with the equipment, our spa repair team takes it from there. Chalky white buildup on the spillover or waterline tile is a job for our pool tile cleaning crew.
Spa Safety: Heat, Germs and the 15-Minute Rule
Spa water should stay between 98 and 104°F and never go higher. At 104°F, sessions should stay around 10 to 15 minutes. Longer than that and your body can overheat faster than it cools down, which is called hyperthermia.
Warm water is also where germs like to grow. Spa rash, the itchy bumps some people get after a soak, comes from bacteria you can’t see in the water. The bubbles from the jets also throw tiny water droplets into the air right where people breathe. That’s why spa water gets tested often and kept at spa sanitizer levels. The CDC’s hot tub safety tips back this up, and a quick shower before getting in keeps sweat and lotion from using up your sanitizer.
Hot Tub Maintenance Between Cleanings
Good hot tub maintenance between our visits comes down to a few habits:
- Keep the cover on when the spa isn’t in use. A cover cuts evaporation and heat loss, which together make up about 95% of the heat a spa loses
- Shower before you soak so sweat, oils and lotion stay out of the water
- Test the sanitizer and pH a couple of times a week if the spa gets heavy use
- Rinse the filter cartridge when the water looks dull, and keep a spare on hand
- Keep swimsuits free of laundry soap, since soap residue turns into foam
That kind of spa maintenance keeps the water safer, cuts down on foam and stretches the time between fresh fills. When the water still won’t cooperate, that’s what our visits are for.
Why Homeowners Choose Sunwave for Spa Cleaning
We’re a family-owned Central Florida company. We balance every spa to spa numbers, and we track your spa’s use so you know when fresh water is due. Our trucks are fully stocked, our licensed repair team is on call when something breaks, and there are no long-term contracts.
Schedule Your Spa Cleaning Today
Spa cleaning is one of our pool cleaning services, and it pairs well with our weekly pool service if your spa is attached to your pool. It’s all part of our pool service in Central Florida. Fill out the form or call (689) 312-9063 to get started.
Our Service Areas
We serve homes across Seminole County and Orange County, including Sanford, Lake Mary, Oviedo, Winter Springs, Orlando, Winter Park and Windermere. See every community in our service area.
Spa Cleaning FAQs for Central Florida Homeowners
Here are the spa and hot tub questions Central Florida homeowners ask us most. Still wondering about something? Give us a call at (689) 312-9063.
The cost for someone to clean a hot tub depends on its size, how dirty it is and whether it needs a full drain and refill. A water balance and scrub costs less than a drain, deep clean and fresh fill. If your spa is attached to your pool, adding it to your weekly visit is often the simplest option. We'll give you a free, exact quote.
A hot tub needs its water tested and balanced every week, plus a drain and full cleaning on a schedule set by use. Divide the spa's gallons by 3, then by the number of daily users. A 400-gallon spa with two users a day needs fresh water about every 67 days. Foam, odor or cloudy water mean it's due sooner.
No, you shouldn't use Dawn dish soap to clean your hot tub. Dish soap foams, and any residue left on the shell or in the plumbing turns into foam as soon as the jets kick on. Use a spa cleaner that doesn't foam or contain phosphates, which feed algae. Rinse the shell well before refilling, then balance the fresh water.
The 15-minute hot tub rule exists because staying in 104°F water too long can cause hyperthermia, when your body heats up faster than it can cool down. Spa water should never go above 104°F, and a soak at that temperature should last about 10 to 15 minutes. Get out, cool off and drink some water before you go back in.
To deep clean a hot tub, start by flushing the plumbing with a spa line cleaner to break up biofilm, since bacteria hide in that slime. Then drain it, scrub the shell and tile line with a non-foaming spa cleaner and clean or swap the filter cartridge. Rinse everything, refill and balance the new water before anyone gets in.
Drain and refill a plaster spa when its dissolved solids climb about 1,500 ppm over the fresh-fill reading, or when the gallons-divided-by-3-divided-by-daily-users formula says it's due. In Central Florida, check that the spa's hydrostatic relief valve works before you drain it, because a high water table can push an empty shell up. Refill the same day.
You clean an attached spa much like the pool it's connected to, just more often. Brush the walls, seats and tile line, and vacuum the footwell where dirt settles. Most attached spas share water with the pool, so balance the whole body of water, then bump the sanitizer when the spa gets heavy use. Check the spillover tile for chalky scale.
Foam after you drain and refill a spa usually means residue was left behind. A line flush or cleaner that wasn't rinsed out, soap from swimsuits or oils in the filter can all bring it back. Low calcium hardness makes spa water foam more easily too. Rinse the filter, keep calcium at 150 to 250 ppm and keep sanitizer in range.
You can disinfect a hot tub without draining it by shocking the water to burn off oils and used-up sanitizer, then bringing chlorine back to 3 to 5 ppm. Clean the filter at the same time. Keep in mind that bacteria in biofilm can take 100 times more sanitizer to kill, so if foam or odor keep coming back, drain it.
To keep hot tub water clean without the chemical smell, keep free chlorine at 3 to 5 ppm and shock regularly. That smell comes from used-up chlorine, not from too much of it, so more oxidizing makes it go away. Showering before a soak helps a lot. Bromine is another option, since its byproducts are less irritating than chlorine's.