It pretty much goes without saying that being a hot tub owner you will encounter cloudy, milky, or foamy spa water sooner or later during the period you own a spa. Well! These are no grave issues and can be handled by using certain simple methods and a little attention. In this blog, let us discuss in detail what milky spa water is, how it is caused and what you should do to put right such problems to make your spa water dazzling clean once again.

Your hot tub should be crystal clear when you want to use it, not full of water that is too cloudy to see through

What is Milky hot tub water and what are its possible causes?

Milky spa water is the state of water where it essentially looks like milk, adding a white hue to the water, making it hard to see the bottom of the spa. Similar to cloudy water, there can be multiple causes to this problem including suspended insoluble particles, dead algae, organic debris, poor filtration (dirty filters), heavy usage or poor water chemistry.

Here are few common causes of milky hot tub water:

1. Laundry detergents from swim suits or clothes.

While laundry detergent is necessary to use on your clothes and keeps them clean and smelling great, unfortunately, the detergent comes out of your clothing when in hot tubs. And because the hot tub doesn’t drain like your bathtub, these outside elements often cause excessive foaming or milkiness. One solution for this is to hand-wash or rinse your swimsuit after use in your hot tub, instead of throwing it in the laundry. This will help ensure none of the detergent seeps into the water!

2. Deodorants, lotions, shampoos, perfumes

Cosmetics can also leave a residue in the water that may make your hot tub appear milky. One quick fix is to rinse off in the shower before going in your hot tub (same concept as rinsing the detergent out of your suit first). Or, you can help avoid this by not using these kinds of items in general before you plan to use your hot tub.

3. Spilling drinks or food in your hot tub.

While this is always accidental, different food and beverages can cause unfortunate foaming, not to mention other potential problems. If you are going to have food/drink in your hot tub, it’s a good idea to use lids and to always use plastic drinkware. This will help your spa and help to avoid any potential injuries!

4. Cheap chemicals!

Oftentimes if you buy cheap chemicals they can contain unnecessary additional fillers that make hot tub water really foamy. Typically, buying cheap products from a general store instead of a trustworthy hot tub source or simply using an excessive amount of chemicals, in general, can cause unwanted suds! A high level of total dissolved solids (TDS), the combined content of inorganic and organic substances in the water, causes foaminess if not treated with something like, lets say, SpaBoss.

How to fix milky spa water

Your first action point would be checking your hot tub filter, which is done in most cases where clarity is an issue. If your filter fails to pick the minute particles, then this could be a matter of concern.

Take your filters and rinse them thoroughly with running water or soak them overnight in a filter cleaner. We carry a couple of hot tub accessories like the Filter Flosser and Power Pic Reach that can help. In most cases rinsing your filter helps massively to fight milky hot tub water.

If that isn’t the issue, the next step is to check your water balance with test strips. Make sure the pH and alkalinity balance are within appropriate levels and then go from there.

If you’ve been keeping up with your chemicals, a daily shock is another thing to test; choose the one that goes with your sanitizer system. Give it about an hour at least and then test again.


If the cloudy spa water remains, and your hot tub water is more than a couple of months old, it’s time to try draining and refilling the spa. Giving the hot tub surface a good cleaning while it’s drained gets rid of algae, contaminants, debris, and other foreign substances that enter the hot tub when people are enjoying it.

If the water is cloudy and foamy or bubbly, more could be going on there. It could be shampoos, lotions, perfumes, and other chemicals and contaminants that can get into the water through normal use. Rinse off bodies and swimsuits before getting in to help prevent cloudiness day to day. Normal hot tub maintenance involves regularly adding chemicals to keep the water clean and healthy. With time, all these chemicals can make the water appear cloudy. That is why regularly draining and refilling your hot tub is a crucial step to keeping your hot tub fun for many years.