Why doesn’t anybody share their anecdotes? I’ve looked for years and NEVER found one telling direct personal experience without baloney, agenda or pontification.
We’ve been using Clorox (and knock-offs) for years. See youtubes called “the BBB method”.
Yes, the pH wobbles around — we use Borax and Sodium Bicarbonate (“baking soda”) to stabilize the pH (both of which tend to raise pH; therefore, we also add muriatic acid now and then to bring pH back down.
In our experience, the “best” overall smell and look and feel and cleanliness of the water is achieved with pH maintained around 7.4
Yes, the water begins to feel quite salty and it definitely dries out the skin quickly and deeply. This is great for persons having oily skin; not so great for dry or sensitive skinners.
There is never any grit, grime or buildup — even the “scumbug” floaties go months and months before absorbing any barely noticeable buildup. We use a cap-full of Clorox after every dip into the tub, a handful or three of Borax and Baking Soda after changing the water (which we’ve kept in use for up to 6 months; 4 bathers total; careful not to contaminate with clothes having soap residue, or skin with heavy antiperspirant or added lotions or oils). We use a cap-full of muriatic acid about once weekly. This keeps everything wonderful, except that eventually (4 – 6 months) the water becomes so drying that we change it to remove the inevitable buildup of salts. The tub is 300 gallons, constantly heated, kept covered unless in-use, not in direct sunlight, constant filtering. Spa has a built-in UV light and also an ozone percolator. There is only ever any smell (of chlorine) if we use too soon after the last use and addition of cap-full of bleach. Using this method, just measured TDS today, after 3 months: 111. All other numbers are near perfect — pH 7.4, 2-5ppm chlorine, almost no cyanuric acid (no sunlight exposure, not needed).
In contrast, before the BBB method, we used the Clorox solid Dichlor cystals, and before that the custom / special / expensive spa chemicals sold by hottub dealers (tried numerous different brands). There was always some smell; the water felt heavier more quickly; the chemical brew seemed overkill (read the labels) versus the plain/simple/known bleach, borax, baking soda, acid; the filters needed cleaning more often; there was ALWAYS some kind of grime, all around the water edge, underneath, and especially on our direly suffering scumbugs.
YMMV
Why doesn’t anybody share their anecdotes? I’ve looked for years and NEVER found one telling direct personal experience without baloney, agenda or pontification.