How do you clean a tub properly on vacation? | Debbie's Caribbean Resort Reviews Forums

Chlorine bleach doesn’t do a very good job of removing bio-slimes that protect legionnaires, spores, bacterias, viruses and other pathogen organisms in Spas, Hot Tubs and Jetted tubs. You might have better luck at a resort by running lemon scented dishwasher detergent through a couple of times for a short term touch-up followed by a couple of fills, run and drains before use. Bio-slime can be removed with stabilised Chlorine dioxide and that’s how we would do it at home. Sorry, no portable machine for travellers yet.

	Canuks, when you sink down into that lovely hot tub… with a nice cocktail in hand… just keep thinking… bio-slime… bio-slime… bio-slime… oh yeah, this is soooo relaxing… bio-slime… bio-slime…

Any other suggestions? We’ve tried various dishwasher detergents in our jet tub, 4 or 5 Cascade Platinum Action Pacs‎ seem to work best, no need to add bleach to the cleaning water.

Steramine tab PH isn’t low enough to get through the pipes to clean the jets. Same as chlorine , it gets used up before it can finish the job. The problem here is a Bio Slime Gel that covers and protects the pathogens allowing them to reproduce and release. Give a jet tub a couple of days of rest and it might take ten cleanings to clear the pipes. Those who have spa tubs at home know what I’m talking about. It’s hard to keep those pipes clean between uses and it looks like hell when you don’t.Dishwasher powder has a high PH and strips the top layer of the slime in the pipes so the following rinses can clean a lot of the pathogens.Steramine Tabs will help to reduce the "Chlorine" smell from pools. In other words, it’ll get rid of the smell of pee (chloramines) in your swimming pool. (if you have kiddies in your pool) and is marketed for that.To clean a spa, hot tub or jet tub in Cuba would require a suitcase of chemicals to safely do the job without destroying the plumbing and fittings.

	You could try some pool/spa shock granules. It’s just a another way of super chlorinating. But, I don’t think you are allowed to bring it onto an airplane. Maybe the Cascade Platinum Action Pacs‎ might be a simple solution.

thanks guys. Anyone know anything about Steramine tablets?? My son uses Steramine tabs to disinfect wine jugs and bottles in his wine making hobby, looks like Steramine tabs are also used to help disinfect tubs and spas after biofilms are removed. Chlorox wipes look handy to remove soap scum biofilm off the hard surfaces. A three stage hot tub cleaning process with wipes, dishwasher detergent tubing soak, a rinse with Steramine water and final rinse with water should get to a reasonably disinfected hot tub. Everything should fit in a small ziplock.

The better resorts likely already do something similar. We’ve stayed in a couple of hotels where the tub was part of the room package but we just took showers anyway ???. Thanks for starting this topic Canuks.

When you get there, fire up the tub. If it looks awful it probably isn’t worth the time to fix. If it looks good it’s probably been being used a lot.A small Bromine puck from your pool and spa shop will clean up the biological stuff from a clean looking tub. Let it run in the tub for an hour, remove, drain and startup again. It’s about as good as it gets and bromine tabs are easy to hide in your pockets in a ziplock baggie. See here:

www.backyardcitypools.com/Pool-Chemicals/Bromine-Tablets.htm

Ask a friend with a hot tub for one. They cost about 25 cents each if you go to a spa/pool store.

Wiping down the tub interior with some Lysol wipes will complete the job.

	The bio-slime feeds on alcohol up to about 10%. You’d need straight alcohol running for a couple of hours. 30 gallons or so. Hydrogen peroxide would be cheaper in that volume.

	okay …… the pool shop gave me some Bromine tablets and I bought some Cascade Platinum (that was expensive) How many Bromine tablets do I need for a large 2 person Jacuzzi tub and do I use the cascade before or after the bromine??

Hi Canuks, the Cascade detergent is for cleaning biofilm out of the internal tubing, pump and off the tub hard surfaces, tub needs to be drained after using the detergent, this is the first cleaning step.

I don’t use bromine tabs but here’s a good video on their use; www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICTCrOue-8o

You’ll need a bromine floater and pH papers to test acidity of hot tub water.

	This is for a clean of a very large (2 person) Jacuzzi style tub. The resort is clean but I would hazard to guess they do not do a "full clean" of the jets after each guest. The resort is old enough now that I would feel more comfortable to do a good clean before I use the tub

A couple of detergent runs and drains of the tub before trying to disinfect. Depending on the water source, reservoir water will need a couple of ounces of baking soda and well water may need nothing added before the bromine. You can crunch up the tabs and mix them several times with hot water, adding that to the circulating water. Tie up the leftover bits in a piece of muslin with a ping-pong ball (or something else to help it float) and let it run for as long as you can. Don’t get in yet. Remove the bromine bits and safely dispose by digging a hole and burying it somewhere off the beaten path. The bromine chips shouldn’t be flushed because you have already killed half of their septic system. Fill run and drain a couple of times and you should be as safe as you can do with limited chemicals.If you can, leave the windows open to disperse the bromine odour and expect to read a review from the guest next door who was upset by the strong smell of cleaner. Let us know how it all worked, LOL

	If a typical 2-person hot-tub takes about 200 gallons to fill, how much water would it take to cleanse the unit following the recommendations in this thread? It looks like it might be as high as 1,000 gallons. Ouch. No wonder the resort doesn’t clean them often. They might be concerned about water conservation. The average shower uses about 25 gallons of water.

	I can’t imagine spending that much time on household chores while I am on vacation. By the time you get through sanitizing the thing, you likely have spent more time on it than you will in it! To say nothing of the fact that many resorts have low water pressure in the first place, so it’s likely going to take longer than average to refill it.

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