When soaking in your hot tub is causing skin irritation and redness you need to use hot tub chemicals for sensitive skin.
If you are using chlorine to sanitize your hot tub or spa pool you should change to bromine-based chemicals. Bromine is recommended for spa pools and hot tubs as it works much better than chlorine at higher temperatures. It emits less odor and is gentler on your skin than chlorine.
The other option is convert your hot tub or spa to saltwater chlorination. Spa pools and hot tubs that utilize saltwater chlorination are less expensive to operate, require less chemicals and maintenance compared to other sanitation solutions.
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Hot Tub Chemicals for Sensitive Skin
What is better for hot tubs chlorine or bromine?
What is Bromine?
You may already know from your high school chemistry lessons that Bromine is a chemical element directly underneath chlorine on the periodic table of elements. So Bromine has similar properties to chlorine in that it is used to sanitize water by killing bacteria, algae and other contaminants.
Bromine exists as a red-brown liquid at room temperature and is less reactive and a weaker oxidizing agent than chlorine. However, bromine is still a relatively reactive chemical and toxic.
Advantages of Bromine
- Bromine works better and is more stable at higher temperatures than chlorine so it is commonly used in spa pools and hot tubs.
- It produces less chemical odor than chlorine which suits small water pools and spas or people who cannot stand the smell of chlorine. Bromine-base chemicals are recognized as hot tub chemicals for sensitive skin.
- Bromine is less reactive on your skin and is recommended for people with sensitive skin. However, chlorine and bromine have similar chemical properties so if you are allergic to chlorine using bromine will not be an alternative sanitizer.
- It does not attack stainless steel fittings whereas chloramines can cause severe corrosion to these fittings especially if chlorine is used in an indoor pool.
Disadvantages of Bromine
- Bromine is a less powerful oxidizing agent than chlorine so it’s not as effective as chlorine requiring more bromine to achieve the same level of sanitation.
- Bathers really need to wash their skin and swimwear after bathing in a bromine spa or hot tub because the chemical smell tends to stay on your skin and swimwear.
- Some people have reported a bromine rash after bathing in bromine treated pools and spas.
- The main disadvantage of bromine is that it costs much more than chlorine. As a result pool owners prefer to use chlorine in a swimming pool but may use bromine in the spa or hot tub.
What Should the Bromine Level be in my Hot Tub?
The normal level for bromine in pool water is 3 to 5ppm. It is recommended to maintain the level around 5ppm for hot tubs and spas.
Please read our post on Hot Tub Chemistry for Beginners
What chemicals do you need for a hot tub?
You will need the following chemicals for your hot tub:
- Test strips to test the chemical composition of the water
- pH increase
- pH decrease
- Alkalinity Balancer
- Bromine tablets or granules
- Spa Shock for weekly super-sanitation
How do I Add Bromine to my Pool?
Bromine is manufactured in a tablet form that can be added to the hot tub using a chemical feeder or floating device. It dissolves more slowly than chlorine so takes longer to disinfect the water but the tablets last longer than chlorine tablets.
You can purchase granular bromine that can be slowly poured into the spa or hot tub with the water circulating to mix it in. Always run the pump for at least 10 minutes to dissolve and mix in the bromine.
How to Shock a Bromine Pool
Bromine reacts with bacteria and other contaminants in the water to form bromamines just like chlorine reacts to form chloramines. The bromamines waste product needs to be eliminated from the pool by shocking the water and filtering contaminates out of the water.
How soon can you use hot tub after adding chemicals?
Always run the pump for at least 20 minutes when adding spa chemicals to your hot tub. You must fully dissolve and circulate the chemicals before you can enter the water. When you shock the water you must wait until the next day for the chlorine or bromine level to return to normal levels before using the hot tub. Soaking in super saturated levels of chlorine or bromine will dry out and irritate your skin.
Bromine Rash from a Swimming pool
Some people have reported skin irritation and redness after bathing in pools or hot tubs treated with bromine. While this condition is less common you must be careful that if you have sensitive skin and spend time in these pools that you wash your body afterwards. If you have a suspected bromine-related dermatitis you must avoid pools and hot tubs using bromine sanitization.
Can I be allergic to my hot tub?
Some people develop a skin rash or complain about irritation, itchiness or redness on their skin. If the hot tub is not sanitized correctly it could be a bacteria in the water causing your skin condition. Otherwise, it’s an allergic reaction to the hot tub chemicals.
When this happens reduce your time in the hot tub or avoid the hot tub completely until the irritation goes away. Always shower after bathing in a hot tub to remove chemicals from your skin. Apply a skin moisturizer or a dermatological cream to the area of irritation to reduce redness and itchiness.
Is a Hot Tub Bad for your Skin?
When you spend a short time in a hot tub it can provide you with significant health benefits such as reducing muscular aches and pains.
However, when you spend a longer time in hot water it can work against you. The heat from the water can dehydrate your body and cause your skin to dry out. When the skin on your fingers becomes wrinkly it’s time to get out of the spa. When your skin dries out it may feel itchy and irritated. Sitting in a hot tub for a longer period of time may cause a rash or other skin conditions.
If you already have a skin condition (such as eczema) soaking in hot tubs may make the condition worse. Always consult your medical practitioner for advice before using a hot tub or spa.
Please read our post on How Long is it Safe to Stay in a Hot Tub?
Can I use Epsom salt in my hot tub?
No, never use Epsom Salt in a hot tub or spa pool.
The salt will upset the water chemistry by changing the pH and alkalinity. Epsom salt will reduce the effectiveness of the sanitizer (chlorine or bromine) leaving the water unsanitized and open to bacteria.
But even worse it will cause corrosion in the water heater and filtration system’s metal plumbing that will be very expensive to fix.
Only use Epsom salt in a bath where you drain the water after you have finished soaking and washing.
Do I need to shower after a hot tub?
Yes, I always recommend to rinse off in a shower after using a hot tub. This is essential after using a public hot tub or spa pool. The fresh water will wash away any excess chemicals or contaminants from your skin. For health and hygiene reasons you should normally shower every day to clean your body of bacteria, dirt, dead skin, sweat and other contaminants. Using a hot tub accelerates the body’s processes of shedding skin and sweating. So your body can still be dirty after a soak in a hot tub.
Why Use Saltwater in the Hot Tub?
Spa pools and hot tubs that utilize saltwater chlorination are less expensive to operate, require less chemicals and maintenance compared to other sanitation solutions. Salt water chlorinators produce chlorine to sanitize the water but at a lower and consistent concentration than other methods of sanitization.
Saltwater chlorination is a lot milder on your body because the concentration of chlorine is lower and more stable than in a freshwater spa. There is usually no chlorine smell and the salinity is so low you won’t normally detect it. Saltwater chlorination is recognized as hot tub chemicals for sensitive skin.
How do you maintain a saltwater hot tub?
Maintaining a saltwater spa or tub is the same as a freshwater spa except once the water chemistry is balanced you don’t add any sanitizer as the spa is self-chlorinated. You will need to clean the chlorinator cell every 3 to 6 months and the filter every month but cleaning you should only need to empty and refill the water every 12 months.
Benefits of a Salt Water Hot Tub
There are many benefits to using salt water in a hot tub or spa pool over conventional chlorine, bromine or other sanitization. Saltwater sanitization gives the following benefits:
- Water has lower chlorine concentration
- Water has less odor
- Lower usage of other chemicals
- Lower running costs
- Softer water is gentler on skin
- Salt is good for your skin
- No foaming
- Less chemical residues
- Spas & Tubs require less cleaning and fewer drains
- Conserves water
Please read our post on Salt Water Hot Tubs & Spas
When Should I Change the Water in my Hot Tub?
A hot tub or spa pool holds only around 1,000 liters of water compared to the average in-ground swimming pool which holds 40,000 to 60,000 liters of water. Therefore, a hot tub has 40 to 60 times less water than a swimming pool so it will become more dirty 40 to 60 times faster than a swimming pool.
When a person is immersed in a hot tub the dirt, sweat, skin flakes, hair, sunscreen, make-up, shampoo residue, etc. can make the relatively small volume of water become dirty very quickly without sanitation chemicals. Hot tubs that are correctly sanitized still become dirty after 3 or 4 months of continuous usage. Adding more chemicals doesn’t really fix the issue. You will be bathing in a chemical soup.
The only way to resolve the issue effectively is to drain and clean the hot tub, replace the filter element then refill with fresh water.
Please read our post on How Often Should You Change Your Hot Tub Water
Conclusion
I have over 30 years’ experience with swimming pool and hot tub care. I recommend saltwater chlorine sanitation for outdoor pools and bromine sanitation for hot tubs or indoor spa pools.
Outdoor spa pools adjacent to a swimming pool should use saltwater chlorine as the sanitizing agent. Sometimes the pool water spills over from the spa into the pool. So it makes sense to use the same routine for both pools. If the outdoor spa pool is salt water then it will be chlorine sanitized with a saltwater chlorinator. Saltwater chlorination is gentler on your skin and less likely to cause irritation or redness.
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