Ahh-Some. My Amazon post and Ahh-Some's reply.

[tlippy]

I searched this forum before I posted this.  Just another take on this product.  Seems to get all positive reviews-everywhere.  Just wish there was a test kit to check for "bio-film" rather than take the reviewers "feel good" responses as gospel.  I do give the manufacturer credit for taking the time to answer.  But so did Bernie Madoff.  I'm just a skeptic.  My spa does look/feel wonderful after the treatment but it has new water.  If I use the product again I will not leave the filter in the spa water.  The goop got on the filter and I can't remove it.  It's just on the top as the filter stayed upright. 


My Amazon review and comments from Ahh-Some.

It bubbled - but so does soap. It left a grease (Ahh calls it bio film) ring around the tub. Left the filter in the main spa body during the 30 minute clean cycle as per Ahh's instructions. The grease was also deposited on the filter and I am unable to remove it. Here's the kicker: Called Nordic my spa manufacturer. They sell Ahh. But I was told that they took a brand new spa and tested the product. Same results as me. Big greasy ring around the spa. There is no way any bio was present in a brand new spa. It's also 2x as expensive as their competitors - who also claim they remove bio. Here's what I'll do in the future: Heep the 4 chemicals I test up. Drain the spa (250 Gal) 3 x / year. Period! Wish Ahh would take the rest back - I'll pay for the 2 1/2t I used.
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Ahh-Some Customer15 hours ago (Edited)
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Hi Tom:: I make the Ahh-Some cleaner. What you are describing is actual biofilm. Biofilm IS present in brand new unused tubs as well as tubs that are used on a regular basis. It sounds like you may have run the jets with the Ahh-Some product for an extended period of time. If you do this, your Biofilm and other contaminants will adhese to the acrylic shell.
Be sure to rinse and wipe immediately after the purge is complete. Do not let the sticky stuff stay on the acrylic shell or it can be time consuming to get it off. Rinse it immediately.
You must use what we tell you to use as a dosage. More is NOT better! It sounds like you did do this. Our product has been tested against numerous other cleaners and we have science to prove that we purge and clean more effectively than all the brands we tested. We sell our product to most of the leading hot tub manufacturers in the industry because it works. These manufacturers, including the one you mention, Nordic, recommend it because of the past results they have attained. Nordic is one of the very best manufacturers in the business. However, just because your hot tub is new does NOT mean your plumbing has no build-up. I absolutely guarantee that all new tubs have a build-up. If you look at the hundreds of extremely positive reviews you can see that most users are thrilled with the results. What you describe is absolutely NORMAL. When you say grease what you are describing are polysaccharide or sugar molecules that clump into goo. This is what was inside your piping.
Please contact me at 860-896-0836 and We will gladly refund your purchase. Remember this: Many manufacturers and dealers do not want to tell you about biofilm in hot tubs or jetted tub plumbing. They want to sell tubs and tell you about all the great things you get from Tub ownership. They are correct! A well maintained tub and one that has the plumbing purged on a regular basis can be a wonderful asset to family health and recreation. Plus, the ongoing maintenance will be much easier and your water will look, feel and smell fantastic.

[Tman122]

I don't agree with the product or most of the stuff on their site. There are others that work just as good or better IMO. But I don't think they are needed as much as they would make you believe as long as you maintain and drain your water properly.

But hang on a couple minutes I will get blasted for not believing in the "science"

[tlippy]

AHH- me 2 on the blasts. 

[Vinny]

Hopefully you don't see this as being blasted but it seems to work better than other products by the fact I get brown gunk with it and not with another product.

I had used Swirl Away in the past and thought it was doing something. I would do a treatment, drain, refill, run and drain again before filling. I was cleaning my tub. I use Ahh-some and I actually get brown stuff coming out. Maybe the Swirl Away didn't clean anything and Ahh-some cleaned something and I don't have proof that it actually cleared a bio film but it did clean by virtue of the stuff sticking to my hot tub walls. The first time I used it I had neglected the tub and used it a few times in a row with each time less brown stuff accumulating on my hot tub surface. The last time I used it to clean the tub I used it once, drained, refilled, ran, drained, refilled for use and more brown stuff came out after the clean water.

I also used to do jut 50+ PPM bleach and let it run for an hour, drain, refill, drain and refill for use. I never saw anything with that as well.

It seems to do something more than Swirl Away and the bleach method. I will not say it kills a bio film, they report it does. I guess the only way to know is to do a before and after culture of your plumbing to get actual proof that it kills a bio film if one is present.

[tlippy]

Nah-Vinny.  Good post.  I don't know if the gunk on the sides is bio or Ahh.  One guy on this forum praised Ahh and got dumped on real bad.  Just wish there was a tab to do some test. He performed a lot of tests and Ahh came out the winner.  I do find that the manufacturer's reply sounded reasonable - even offered a refund.  I'm gonna keep the stuff and see what happens  the next time I use it.  Might have to do a retraction on Amazon    This bio-film seems to be relatively new on the scene.  Hot tubs have been running for years without worrying about this stuff.  Thanks for replying, Vinny.

[Vinny]

Actually tlippy, bio films have been around a while. My tub is 12 YO (2005 Artesian Grand Cayman) and it was discussed back then; Ahh-some was not. The infamous hot tub rash was/is supposed to be from bacteria gone wild with a bio film taking hold in a severe case. The thought back then was to use an excessive amount of chlorine (50+ PPM) in the tub for a short duration (about an hour)  and make sure you run the pumps, air controls and let it "scour" the tub to kill the bio film if any. As the high chlorine hit the bacteria and or their protective slime it would kill the bacteria and strip the slime to kill the bacteria. Back then I used Swirl away as well as the bleach and really nothing was coming out as far as I could see.

Like Tman said - if you keep your hot tub correctly you probably won't ever get a bio film or need to clean the plumbing. I decided to use it strictly because there are times I don't keep it correctly and it gets away from me. I believe it's cleaning because it goes in as a blue gel, foams mostly white except for whatever that brown gunk is. Is it possible that the brown gunk is a reaction to the chlorine in the tub and a chemical in the gel - yes, it's a possibility but really no way of telling. I will say though that when I did use it for the first time the first batch of suds was extremely gross with the amount of junk that was in it. As I used it for the second and third times - not as much stuff with I believe a lot of chlorine.

If it does kill bio films, it makes sense to use it especially for newbies. Most newbies don't really know anything about the tub chemistry and probably don't put enough sanitizer into their tub. If you use it once a year as a cleaner it will add some additional time to the routine but may give you a better piece of mind that your tub is clean, assuming you believe it is actually doing something.

[tlippy]

These reply's have been most informative and reasonable. Thanks to those who contributed.  No flames either.

[Tman122]

I don't agree with the product or most of the stuff on their site. There are others that work just as good or better IMO. But I don't think they are needed as much as they would make you believe as long as you maintain and drain your water properly.

But hang on a couple minutes I will get blasted for not believing in the "science"

I do believe that a build up of gunk can happen to a tub that is not properly maintained. I never had that problem. I've cut apart some awfully old tubs with nothing in the pipes except brittle PVC.

[bud16415]

Would someone that has a jar of this stuff please take a perfectly clean glass jar say one gallon. Put a gallon of water from your hot tub in it and add the proportional amount of Ahh, and shake it up. There should be no biofilm in a glass gar that just came out of the dish washer so if it forms gunk the gunk is coming from the combination of spa water and the Ahh. Another test would be use hot tap water and some chlorine or if you wanted to be super scientific try distilled water and chlorine. I don’t have any Ahh or I would give it a go and I don’t feel like buying any.   

[someguy]

Great idea Bud: We await the results. 

[dlleno]

Would someone that has a jar of this stuff please take a perfectly clean glass jar say one gallon. Put a gallon of water from your hot tub in it and add the proportional amount of Ahh, and shake it up. There should be no biofilm in a glass gar that just came out of the dish washer so if it forms gunk the gunk is coming from the combination of spa water and the Ahh. Another test would be use hot tap water and some chlorine or if you wanted to be super scientific try distilled water and chlorine. I don’t have any Ahh or I would give it a go and I don’t feel like buying any.

I've done this in my own spa.  i purged several times and proved that ahh-some itself did not introduce contamination.  that is, I had a fully treated spa, producing all the normal ahh-some foam, WITH FILTERS INSTALLED, without a trace of brown gunk.  zero.  it takes patience to achieve this, and more than one purge, but I can tall you from my experience, the biggest mistake one can make when purging is to stop at the first one. 

the biggest secret of using a good purge product, no matter which one, is to purge more than once. I went through several thousand gallons of water to learn this, and I can say without hesitation that none of the products I have worked with will do this, including ahh-some.  sometimes, for a troublesome spa, it  can take up to 10 -- and I'm not making this up this number came from a real world experience, although rare.

I will also offer that just because there is brown gunk doesn't make it biofilm but that doesn't mean it is benign either.  it took me 3 purges to clean my spa out, and I can tell you that the brown gunk may be oils and skin flakes and other things, but the important point here is that these ingredients can become a food supply for biofilm. you don't want that stuff in your hot tub, or at least i dont  

filters:  if you are getting gobs of brown goo in your filters when treated with ahh-some that means they are packed with yucko.  whether it is biofilm or not is up for discussion but in my case I cleaned my filters with standard filter degreaser product and THEN dumped them into the vessel to get in on the ahh-some treatment. . I found that ahh-some pulled more stuff from the filters than the standard treatment could.