The Aftercare Guide
Caring for and looking after your hot tub lid could not be simpler, the steps are easy and take very little time to complete.
Even with the high marine grade vinyl we use if you allow it to become dry and brittle, it will look old and jaded, whilst having a propensity to tear at the seams and main stress areas. Our careful workmanship, the quality materials, internal sewn reinforcing will not help against the ravages of mother nature unless the hot tub lid / cover is properly cared for.
Every cleandown,which in most instances is every three months, clean and condition the cover using Aerospace Protectant 303, it is a gentle deep cleanser which adds UV blockers and plasticizers back into the vinyl. With regular use, 303 blocks up to 100% of the harmful UV rays, in essence prevents sun damage, if you think of it like "sun block" for you lid.
A well cared for spa cover is a thing of beauty in its own right. The reason for a spa cleandown is not only to refresh the water but to routinely clean the dirt build up that acts as an abrasive to the vinyl topcoat, which overtime causes significant wear to the fold, seams, and stitching.
At the same time the underside of the cover should be carefully cleaned with a light amount of spa surface cleaner and a soft washing brush before rinsing thoroughly with a hose, this reduces the mildew which grows and builds up on the damp vinyl, which if you let continue will begin to rot the fabric, accelerating failure.
Additionally try to spray or wipe off the underside of your cover approximately once a month to get the excess chemical residue off the membrane sheathing. This chemical excess will cause the membrane to eventually overtime dry out and crack.
The inserts
The high grade 5-3" inserts will gradually get heavy over time as they fill up with water. Not many companies will tell you this upfront but it is inevitable, this water comes from the steam vapours (evaporated water) rising up from the main body of hot tub water and entering through chemical burns or ozone damage in the lid underside, there is no lid on the world market that prevents water ingression - the trick is to prevent it for as long as possible.
This is why we are always developing our lid design and provide 2 barriers to entry on our custom covers as standard, no other company provides this as standard for such a fundamental failure -why? to keep costs down!
Our inserts are carefully wrapped/ sheathed in a 140 micron membrane barrier. But if you shock your hot tub or add high levels of sanitiser and forget to completely remove the cover for at least half an hour then you will not allow the membrane damaging chemical vapour to escape into the air.
Please remember as standard double wrap our cores to provide double the protection from water ingression, no other company offers this as standard.
This is the MOST IMPORTANT tip we can give you:
When shocking the spa or adding high levels of sanitiser always fully remove the hot tub lid and run the jets for a minimum of 30 minutes otherwise microscopic holes will burn the core sheath allowing water to ingress into the core, eventually making the r / spa covelid too heavy to lift.
This practise will prolong the life of your hot tub cover considerably. Please don't just flip one side open as all that will happen is the unopened side will fail and get heavy first.
A floating blanket will help to cut down on evaporation and chemical attack which will again prolong the life of your hard hot tub cover, it also has the added benefit of improving considerably the insulation.
Naturally inferior cores will bow over time, this is drastically minimised by our hinge support (galzanised steel, 3 times the strength of competitors aluminium channels) which provides additional structural integrity, however this potential bowing or a heavy downfall may cause you to get a puddle on your cover, unzip the vinyl covering and turn over the foam core. That will probably take care of it!
Another important thing is not to place heavy objects on the hot tub cover, this includes children and dogs as walking, sitting or leaning on the cover causing microscopic cracks to appear in the inserts/cores that will grow over time eventually causing the lid to fail.
Monthly maintenance of your spa cover...
Your spa cover should last years under normal conditions. Washing and protecting it monthly can help the outer skin look new for a very long time. We estimate your hot tub lid has an 75% greater chance of seeing a 5 year - 8 year lifespan if you use a cover lifter.
Extend the Life of Your Spa Cover by carrying out the following steps:
1. Rinse the dust and dirt from your cover
2. Wash with a mild liquid detergent,
(from the kitchen is fine),
and a sponge or soft brush if necessary.
3. Rinse again.
4. Dry with a soft, clean towel.
5. To extend the life of your cover, apply 303 Protectant.
6. This cover is over 3 years old
and still looks new whenever
we clean and protect it.
General tips for protecting your hot tub lid
Use the handles to position the cover & safety straps to secure your hot tublid. Try to minimise their use for carrying the weight of the cover. They can tear over time if you use them repeatedly.
Try not to drop, drag or scrape the cover as this damage will grow over time eventually leading to the demise of your spa cover. Have a look at our coverlifters and cover savers in our main shop poolandspacentre.co.uk
If you have any concerns about proper water chemistry, please contact us on 0844 800 3290, this will extend the life of your cover and your spa, and reduce the possibility of mildew.
After a snowfall or ice storm, use a soft broom to remove accumulation from your spa lid
Use Hold-Down Straps for added security in all wind and storm conditions.
Approximately every 12 months, take the inserts out and flip them over so that the opposite side of the insert is over the water.
Please Note: If, for any reason, you remove the cores from the vinyl encasement - DO NOT leave them exposed to direct sun. Also, DO NOT use plastic to cover your poolandspacentre lid or leave metal objects on top of the cover. On those once and a while summer days, the heat generated can melt the cores inside the spa cover.
When storing the hot tub lid, place on a flat surface as continual buckling, will bow the cores leading to water pockets forming on the hot tub cover top. (the duck pond effect)
Finally, there are a few things you can expect your cover to do under certain common conditions. For instance, you can expect the vinyl underside to become darker or lighter and the texture raised due to the chemicals and heat in the spa water. This will not diminish the function of the cover.
Thats about it for the aftercare of the lid, it is pretty straight forward, but if you are still unsure or have any question, please feel free to contact us for some expert advice.
