The Pesky Foam is beating me.

[goneaway]

Despite taking showers before jumping in the tub, and washing the costumes in fresh water only, the pesky foam is starting to win.

Using test strips, santisation is spot on at around 5ppm, so is PH and TA.
I'm using Bromine in a floater, so its usually sanitised all week long.
The tub is dosed with  Monopersulphate weekly.

My water hardness by default is around 100, so as an experiment on the last fill 2 weeks ago, I added 2oz of Calcium Chloride. Taking it up to an estimated figure of around 150.

At the weekend, the girls used the tub, with a few friends, they were under strict instructions to shower etc.
So sunday morning, I checked the state of the tub.
The water was clear, no bad smells, nothing floating around that shouldn't have been.
The water looked and smelled fine. However within minutes of putting the pumps and air bubbles on, the foam started forming.

At this point, i thought i'd try the suggested SeaKlear (which i managed to source at a high premium in the UK). SeaKlear wasn't the miracle cure i was hoping for.
I left the pumps running for about an hour, SeaKlear did nothing, the foam just got worse.
I'm not talking about a tub full of foam, but enough to put me off getting in.
After an hour i decided to dump the lot and start a fresh.

Given that hardness is approximately 150, Sanitation, PH and TA are within the recommended range, anything else you could suggest would be appreciated.

I don't really mind changing the water at such frequency, but the challenge of keeping it correct is my ultimate aim.

[zroger73]

You mentioned bathing before jumping in the tub. Even though you rinse, there is still fresh, residual soap on your body. Think about it - if you can smell the soap, it is still there. If anything, rinse off, but don't use soap. Think about deodorant, hair products, lotions, makeup or anything else that enhances the look/feel/smell of a human body. All that stuff promotes foam and gunk.

I have never had a foam problem myself, but I can't remember the last time my water saw clothing - just a personal preference and suggestion to my guests. I realize everyone has a different opinion about what is acceptable for their family and friends and respect that.

My suggestion? Get rid of the floater that dispenses an uncontrolled amount of bromine at a constant rate that is rarely appropriate. Stop using MPS. Switch to manually-added chlorine only. Use ONLY the chemicals necessary to adjust the basic water parameters and NOTHING ELSE.

[bob snader]

Girls are notorious for heavy conditioners in the hair, fabric softener in the clothes, lotions on the hands... etc, and my guess is that any showers which actually took place were short and inadequate.

I've found that guests and friends in general have absolutely no idea how easy it is to 'infect' the tub water.... and why should they. I'm always fully prepared to dump and refill anytime I have people other than my immediate family in the tub.

[goneaway]

I think i've resigned myself to that fact if i'm being honest.

[BuckeyeFan]

Keat63.
  The foam is a never ending battle for me as well. I just got my new hot tub in June and after weeks of learning my water balance and one empty and refilling to start from scratch I finally got the hang of it. But the foam has always been a major problem. Nothing I do will keep it from foaming up. Only me and my husband have used the tub and we both wash with plain water before we get in. I put my hair up , I wash off the filters once a week. I use products like Spa Perfect once a week and Bright&clear once a month. Still I get foam. I test my balance every other day and adjust if needed. Still get foam. I use the foam down stuff  sometimes when it gets really bad. I mean its like someone poured Mr. Bubbles in my tub sometimes. 
 I give up. Just have to deal with it and invite no one over to enjoy it with us. Zzz

[Sam]

Increasing calcium hardness will help some.  You don't want to go too high, but if you are around 100, try to get it up to 250 or so.  Also, when you wash your bathing suit, rinse it out really well in the shower before drying it.  Laundry detergent residue is a major contributor.

[goneaway]

Our bathing suits don't see detergents.
They had a fresh water wash from new, and only see fresh water after this, until they are ruined, at which point we start with new costumes.
I increased calcuim hardness, but can only obtain an estimate with test strips.
However, going on my local water authority putting the calcium in a range of 95-110, then using pool calculator, and said test strips, i'm now estimating the hardness is around 220.
I think it might have made some difference, the foaming isn't as bad, but it's certainly not like after adding a fresh fill.
On a fresh fill, if i switch the aeriator on the jets, the bubbles dissipate instantly.
After two weeks however, bubbles will linger on the top surface.

My experiments with silicone spray seems to work. A little squirt of spray, kills any foaming, which then collects in the skimmer, where i can manually skim it off with an old container. (but it's a tad messy)

My next experiments, would be to try a single drop of silicone oil, however, i'm not trying this until i'm ready for a water change. (just in case)

[wmccall]

Girls are notorious for heavy conditioners in the hair, fabric softener in the clothes, lotions on the hands... etc, and my guess is that any showers which actually took place were short and inadequate.

I've found that guests and friends in general have absolutely no idea how easy it is to 'infect' the tub water.... and why should they. I'm always fully prepared to dump and refill anytime I have people other than my immediate family in the tub.

You may be on to something here.  The kids were under strict instructions..... Doesn't mean they followed them.  Change the water and ban them for a week.

[Spoiledrotten]

I had the same problem in mine for quite a while. Found out it was from my wife's body lotion. She packs it on every night. She used to get right in the tub, therefore infecting the waters with the lotion. Can't win with that action. We talked about it. I changed the water, cleaned the filters well, she started taking "good" thorough showers before getting the spa, and we have had no problems since. This has been about 3 months now. She still uses the lotion after the soak, but even if she knows we're getting in it on Saturday morning, she won't lotion down on Friday night.