Lots of foam in tub

[Raceguy388]

Hello everyone. I'm about a a month into our caldera mankena and loving it!! The only issue were having is lots of foam in the tub when we use it. What is the cause of the foam and what's the best remedy?? Thanks for the help

[Racenut]

Could be soap from washing swim suits.  Body lotions or stuff like that will cause it too.

Could also be caused by water chemistry being out of whack, whats the water testing at?  especially pH and calcium hardness.  Is the water clear when jets are not running?

There are anti foam additives you can use, but I'd say you gotta determine why it's foaming.  If it's due to soap and stuff like that, then anti foamers.  if the chemistry is out, then fix that first.

[Sam]

Foam is definitely caused by soap residues on your skin and in your suits.  As Racenut said, (you're both race themed names) pretty much any product, cream, soap, lotion, etc, that we use will slowly build up in the water over time.  Add in the agitation and aeration of warm water and you have a the perfect circumstances for foam.  Again as said above, there are foam eliminating products but the best thing to do is reduce or eliminate those product residues from entering the spa.

On a side note, the addition of calcium to the water will make it less likely to foam.  I would only add calcium hardness if you have very soft water though.

[dlleno]

+1 on the above.  You can also use anti foam products in a pinch , which I have done successfully but the need to use them means too much of the the stuff Sam mentioned is in your water. 

Also make sure not to use fabric softeners!  By process of elimination you can figure out where stuff is coming from and sometimes it means instructing guests ...

[aquaman617]

I agree on the above.  Whenever my kids have friends over, the foam level goes up a lot the next day - detergent residue from suits, shampoo, skin lotions, etc.

First, try to eliminate the source.  My kids know that they need to rinse out their suits before using the tub.  After that, I would suggest giving the filter a good cleaning.  Last, keep an anti-foam spray or drops on hand.  I find a few drops in the water will eat away the foam in seconds.  The anti-foam doesn't get rid of the detergents, etc. causing the problem, it just makes bubble formation difficult.  You still need to clean up the source.

[dlleno]

I will add another comment to this subject, and that is sometimes it can get uncomfortable when you have to instruct guests, but you really have to get to the bottom of this issue and you DO have the right and responsibility to make your own rules.  Its unfortunate that sometimes folks who would otherwise welcome and respect rules of a pool are not as eager to respect the same for a spa, and yet it is the spa that is the most sensitive to this kind of stuff -- think about it.  in a pool you can easily have 1000 gallons of water per swimmer, but in a spa you have like 100. 

So here's just some encouragement to ask guests to respect your wishes, and you'll have many happy soaks.   

I'm interested in the outcome here as well, so keep us informed!