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Wooden hot tubs are used quite differently than other types. Users usually fill up the wooden hot tub with water, use it several times in the next 2-3 days, and then drain it. It is a rare occasion that a wooden hot tub is used every day for hundreds of days a year. Thus, wooden hot tub maintenance is a bit different and easier to perform than maintenance of other types of hot tubs and spas. Still, proper maintenance is an essential factor that affects the longevity of your wooden hot tub. When maintained properly and regularly a wooden hot tub could last for decades.
Wood Of Your Wooden Hot Tub
Various Cedar species like Western Red Cedar, Alaskan Yellow Cedar, or Port Orford Cedar are the top choice lumber to build wooden hot tubs. Many manufacturers use it, and it is considered a high-end material for hot tubs for its outstanding qualities required for the best and most luxurious wooden hot tubs. High impermeability to the liquids is one of the esteemed characteristics of all Cedar species. It is well known for its slow growth which results in dense fiber what makes cedar extremely weather-resistant and suitable to build exterior elements for your house such as decks, posting, siding, fencing shingles, and of course hot tubs. Some species of Cedar are well known for their cellular composition that consists of millions of tiny, air-filled cells per cubic inch, and provides a high degree of insulation, ideal for hot tubs.
Teak is also one of the best wood species to be used for wooden hot tubs. This is not a surprise because we all know that Teak is used on boats and expensive yachts because it is decay resistant as well as resistant to moisture damage. It is also a choice of hot tub builders that guarantee many years of usage.
So, how to treat this kind of hot tub made of such a quality wood like Cedar or Teak?
Clean The Wood Regularly
It is advised to brush your wooden hot tub when it is empty. The idea is to remove all the dirt that may be found in your hot tub after use. Important thing is to prevent forming a slippery coating caused by various bacterias that can be found in your wooden hot tub after usage. The proper way is to disinfect and clean the tub regularly. Give it a good scrub to all accessible areas inside your wooden hot tub, then rinse the inside. From time to time brush your wooden hot tub with a scrub sponge and mild soap and then rinse it well.
The exterior of your wooden hot tub should be treated with linseed oil every 2-3 years. This oil makes up for perfect protection to weather conditions, especially when summers are scorching hot. High summer temperatures could make wood on your hot tub very dry, and if the wood is not protected with linseed oil small cracks can appear. Use it only on the exterior of the hot tub, not on the interior.
Soaking in the wooden hot tub is a special feeling. Although wooden hot tubs can be equipped with modern filtration systems, and gas or electric power heated, true fans will always choose the simplest system, like it was hundreds of years ago, wooden hot tub heated by the firewood burning in the stove. This kind of hot tub also requires using sanitizing solutions that are not chlorine or bromine-based because these kinds of sanitizers may damage the wood.
Sanitizing Wooden Hot Tub
Owners of the wooden hot tub usually choose a nonchemical way to sanitize the water. Chlorine-based or bromine-based sanitizers kill bacteria that could be found in the water of your hot tub. But the problem is that those sanitizers present a potential health hazard and may cause skin irritation or a very unpleasant rush to people with sensitive skin. Also, many of us don’t like the smell of chlorine in the water. The main problem is, both chlorine and bromine damage the wood, and manufacturers of wooden hot tubs don’t recommend using these kinds of sanitizers.
Most owners of wooden hot tubs choose to drain the hot tub after each use, clean the dirt and all residues with a sponge and mild detergent. Draining a wooden hot tub requires time and wastes a lot of water. Many owners try to use this water for watering their garden. This can be done easily by connecting the drainage spigot with a watering hose. It is an elegant way to mitigate water waste and show your consciousness and care for the environment. Of course, this is out of the question if the chemicals are used for sanitation of the water.
If you don’t want to drain the tub often, you need to sanitize water in your wooden hot tub, because human skin contains bacteria that remain in the water after soaking. These bacteria rapidly multiply, especially in a hot water. Unpaired oxygen or oxygen ions kills bacteria more efficiently than chlorine or bromine, doesn’t damage wood and it is not harmful to people. These characteristics make unpaired oxygen a perfect sanitizer for wooden hot tubs. Unpaired oxygen is found in hydrogen peroxide and ozone.
Hydrogen Peroxide Can Be Used As An Effective Sanitizer
Hydrogen peroxide suitable for wooden hot tub sanitation is 27% solution. In water, this solution releases oxygen ions that immediately latches to everything in the water and kill bacteria in the process. Hydrogen peroxide can be bought in any pool or hot tub store. It is usually sold as an oxidizer or “shock treatment” for pools, spas or hot tubs. Not that everybody knows but it can be used also as a very effective sanitizer. It is very powerful and if contacted it can cause severe burns on the skin. Also, you should follow the instructions for use in order to pour the right amount enough to sanitize your wooden hot tub. Be sure what capacity is your hot tub because you shouldn’t pour more than ⅛ of a cup per every 100 gallons of water in your wooden hot tub. This is sufficient for sanitation before you hop in for a soak.
Ozone Sanitation
To use ozone for sanitation of a wooden hot tub you need a device called an ozone generator. It releases small ozone bubbles into the water and kills bacteria found in the wooden hot tub water. Ozone is not that efficient at sterilizing wooden hot tub walls because ozone bubbles do not latch well to the surfaces and therefore don’t kill well bacteria onto hot tub walls. If you want to use ozone as a sanitizer you will still have to change water frequently. It is not that good of a sanitizer as hydrogen peroxide.
General Wooden Hot Tub Maintenace Tips
A wooden hot tub can provide you with great moments of pure enjoyment only if it is maintained properly. There are some general tips that will help you keep your soaking paradise in a good shape and secure longevity for it.
- First of all, you should encourage wooden hot tub users to take a shower before they hop in. It is simple to understand why. Users should rinse off their body dead skin, oils, and organic matter. The more they rinse off the less will bring into the tub and the fewer bacteria will end up in the water.
- Always use nonchemical solutions for sanitizing. Solutions based on chlorine or bromine could damage the wood. You should avoid them. manufacturers of wooden hot tubs recommend using hydrogen peroxide. Alternatively, you can use ozone. Ozone is not that efficient as unpaired oxygen ions from hydrogen peroxide, but it will do a good job.
- To prevent bacteria growth in your wooden hot tub water sterilize the water right after every use. If you don’t drain your wooden hot tub after each use and keep the water in, be sure to keep it clean and bacteria-free. Otherwise, the bacteria will grow and water will become potentially a health hazard.
- Inspect your wooden hot tub frequently for cracks and other damages. Also, inspect metal straps around the wooden hot tub. Fix any problem immediately when spotted.
- If your wooden hot tub is heated by the stove use only well-dried hardwood to burn in it. This will help prevent the build-up of tar on the inside of the stove. Also, avoid using wet/green wood or any kind of coal fuel.