Memorial Day is coming, and that’s a great time to get together with friends and family and enjoy a terrific weekend that could include hot tub soaking. When’s the last time you gave your hot tub a good “deep clean”? If it’s been a while, now’s the perfect time to hit it before the weekend is upon us. Here are a few things you can do to get your hot tub ready for the holiday.

• Do a good drain and refill. The excellent way to start this process is with Clean Start. From the makers of SilkBalance (http://www.oregonhottubstore.com/Silk-Balance-p/silkbal.htm), this product is stellar at cleaning the parts of your hot tub you can’t reach when you do a drain & fill. Leave the old water in your tub, remove the filters and add Clean Start to your tub, then run the jets for at least 10-15 minutes. Clean Start strips biofilm and other organics from the plumbing and parts of your tub while sanitizing at the same time! Nothing like knowing you’ve really got a tub that’s clean inside and out.
• Give your filters a deep clean with SeaKlear Filter Cleaner & Degreaser (http://www.oregonhottubstore.com/SeaKlear-Filter-Cleaner-Degreaser-p/sk_cln_dgr.htm). It’s easy to take a shortcut and just rinse filters, but that doesn’t do a great job breaking down the oils and other “stuff” that ends up in them when we soak. This product is designed to break down all those elements and get your filters back in great shape to do their cleaning and filtering. Clean water is great—keeping it clean with thoroughly cleaned filters is even better.
• If your cover has any mildew on it, get rid of it! A terrific way to deal with any mildew is with Simple Green. (Works great on hot tub pillows too!) It does a great job breaking that mildew down and cleaning the underside of your cover, the zippers and the seams. Spray some on, leave it there for about 10 minutes, and scrub with a scrub brush, then wipe clean. Clean the outside of your cover with dishwashing liquid. Once the outside vinyl is clean, treat it with 303 Protectant to keep the vinyl soft. 303 also has UV inhibitors to help protect the vinyl from the coming days of sunshine ahead.

Give your tub some TLC and get it ready for those busy weekends with the gang. You’ll be glad you did!