You may not be using your hot tub too often right now — although some hot tub and spa owners do enjoy them year round. If you’re using it throughout the year but maybe not as often as you would in the winter or cooler months, you may go to uncover it and find there is mold on the cover. Ugh! How to remove mold from the hot tub cover is something the pool contractors from Best Pro Pool Service in Turlock, California talk with their customers about.
Mold on the cover means that mold spores and bacteria have likely also dripped into the water itself. This means the water chemistry is skewed and if you’re hoping to take a soak and find mold on the cover, you will not be able to do that until you test the water and assure yourself it’s safe for use.
If you have not used your hot tub for a while, and haven’t removed the cover you may just find mildew has taken hold. It’s not the end of the world, but will take some cleaning time and may mean you’re not taking the soak you’d been planning on.
How to remove mold from the hot tub cover
When you see mold, the first thing to do is completely remove the cover. You will also want to remove its foam cores and clean them separately and thoroughly. Use a cleaning solution made specifically for hot tub cover cleaning. If you don’t have a special cleaning solution you can use a mix of:
one gallon of water
a teaspoon of mild dish detergent (like Dawn)
and one cup of bleach
A soft bristle brush
Wear rubber gloves when cleaning so you don’t dry your hands
You may want to wear eye protection as well
Clean in a well-ventilated area
Pour on some cleaning solution and let set for a while if there is a lot of mold. Gently scrub the mold with the soft brush or a sponge. Keep cleaning until it is mold-free. You will want to use a hose to rinse off the cleaning solution and the mold — if there is a lot of it — so you can keep cleaning the cover without simply moving the mold around.
After the cover is mold-free, rinse thoroughly. Lay the cover in the sun and let it dry completely. If you still smell bleach once it’s dry, rinse with water again and let dry thoroughly again. Once it’s clean and completely dry, reassemble and put back on the cover. Use a hot tub safe mold inhibiting spray to prevent it from happening again.
Even if you don’t use your hot tub often, you will still want to make sure the jets are running on occasion and you will definitely want to check the cover for mold. You can also give us a call for a service visit to check on the hot tub, the water and to assure the equipment is working well and that there is no mold growing.