SPA Hot Tub
What destroys my hot tub cover? What damages my hot tub cover? Why has the stitching in my hot tub cover failed? Why has my hot tub cover gone green? Why has my hot tub cover got heavy?
Are questions we get on a daily basis from customers with all makes and models of hot tubs and we will do are best to answer them for you here.
A standard hot tub cover is made up of varying thickness tapered foam inserts inside vinyl skin. The 2 main pieces of the cover are stitched together along a central reinforced seam, that would normally fold over the lifter bar of your hot tub.
There are a lot of variables that can effect the lifespan of your hot tubs cover. Location of the hot tub, temperature that you run the hot tub at, how often you clean your hot tub cover, how often you UV protect your hot tubs cover,
With best practise your hot tubs cover should last well over 5 years.
As mentioned above there are lots of variables to this however by far the most common cause is chemical damage. We have dealt with thousands of covers from most of the major manufacturers and they have all had similar issues with chemical damage.
When we let customers know the cause of the issue, we often get a rather frosty response of "My water is tested routinely and it is always perfect, the cover has failed!"
Even with the best kept water, chemical damage can and does regularly happen to hot tub covers.
Your hot tub has a gap between the top of the waters surface and the bottom cover, this is called the freeboard. This gap often builds up a chemical cloud that can be very corrosive. This is especially an issue for hot tubs used less frequently and also if you use a floating dispenser. As opening the cover vents the gases. This is why when a cover fails. The common faults are discolouration, bleaching the underside, seam area going a shade of green. The central seam is often effected as the gases break down the stitching.
The wrap around the foam inserts can also get attacked and begin to breakdown, once this moisture barrier is broken the foam will then begin to take on water and become heavy.
To confirm that water chemistry is the damage there can be other contributing factors -
Opening the cover regularly allows this build up of gas to vent away from the hot tub. Leaving the cover off after dosing chemicals in also allows the initial strong gases to vent away before you close the cover up. Ensuring to keep your levels as close to manufacturers recommendations as possible will also massively help.
