How do I clean the aromatherapy canister and change the scent?

There is no fixed schedule for changing the scent in an Ella aromatherapy canister, and there is no published routine for taking the canister apart to clean it. You refresh the scent whenever you like by twisting the chrome cap open, adding a whirlpool scent cartridge or a few drops of essential oil, and twisting it closed, and you keep the canister and the jet lines it feeds clean by putting only those two things in it and running the monthly vinegar flush. The Aromatherapy Canister: How It Works, What Goes In It, How It Is Plumbed and Which Tubs Can Have It explains the assembly and the plumbing; this page is the care routine that goes with it.

What You Are Cleaning: A Chamber in the Jet Plumbing

The canister is a NuWhirl four part assembly, and the chrome Easy Grip cap sitting flush on the deck is the only piece you see or touch. Below it, a canister 1 5/8 inches in diameter and 2 7/8 inches long holds the scent, a nut secures it through the deck from below, and the canister sits on a standard 1 inch Schedule 40 PVC tee plumbed into the jet line, on either a pressure line or a vacuum line of the jetting system. When the hydro massage runs, the circulating water passes the canister and carries the scent out through the jets.

That is the detail that shapes the cleaning question. The canister is not a tray you lift out and rinse in the sink. It is a small chamber in the same plumbing loop as the pumps and jets, and everything except the cap lives beneath the deck and behind the apron. Its cleaning is therefore tied to how you treat the tub's jet system as a whole, and the two things that matter most are what you allow into the canister and whether you keep up the flush that cleans the lines it is teed into. What Is an Aromatherapy Canister on a Walk-In Tub? shows where it sits on the deck.

Changing or Refreshing the Scent

1. Twist the chrome cap open.
2. Insert a scent cartridge made for whirlpool aromatherapy canisters, or add your chosen liquid essential oil.
3. Twist the cap closed.
4. Fill the tub past the highest jets and run the hydro massage as usual. The circulating water picks up the aroma and disperses it through the jets.

How often you do this is up to you. Ella sets no interval: you replace or refresh the scent whenever you like by opening the cap again. The practical signs are simple. If the bath no longer smells of anything, the scent inside has been used up or the canister is empty, and a fresh cartridge or a few more drops bring it back. If you want to switch scents, open the cap, insert the new cartridge or oil and close it before the next bath. Because the only visible part is the cap, changing the scent never involves the nut, the tee or anything beneath the deck.

What Keeps the Canister Clean: What Goes in and What Stays Out

• Use only liquid essential oils or cartridges made for whirlpool aromatherapy canisters. The canister body is shaped to accommodate the most commonly available scent cartridges, and essential oils are the recommended scent.
• Keep crystals and beads out. Undissolved crystals or beads can block the canister, and scent beads placed in the water or a loose tray never reach the flow at all.
• Keep salts and bath bombs out of the jets entirely, and never pour essential oils straight into the water on a jetted tub. Oils can get stuck in the jet and air pumps, foul the lines and damage the motors, and that kind of damage is not a warranty matter. Oils also feed the film of residue inside the plumbing that later comes back out as black flakes or brown slime from the jets. Can I use essential oils in a walk-in tub with jets? explains the difference between the canister and the bath water.

The canister exists so scent stays in one chamber instead of being poured through the whole pump and jet system. Used that way, it keeps residue out of the lines rather than adding to it, which is why the care routine is mostly about discipline at the cap.

The Monthly Vinegar Flush

The flush is the cleaning step Ella publishes for the jet plumbing, and because the canister is teed into that plumbing the circulating flush water passes it just as bath water does. Combine 2 cups of white vinegar with 2 cups of water, fill the tub with water to one inch above the highest jets, add the mixture, run the tub for 10 minutes, then drain. Do this before first use and once a month. Flushing after every bath is not necessary, but oils in the water make the monthly flush all the more worthwhile, and if you use oils at all you should plan on extra flushes. If oil has gone into the bath water by mistake rather than into the canister, run the flush straight away.

What Is Not Published, and What to Ask the Team

Ella has no published step by step routine for unscrewing the nut, lifting the canister out and cleaning it by hand, so please check with the team before you disassemble anything beneath the deck. If the scent is not coming through, run the simple checks first, as How Does the Aromatherapy Option on My Tub Work? lays out: confirm from your order that the canister was included, since it is an ordered option rather than a standard feature; make sure the scent went inside the canister rather than into the water or a loose tray; and check that the canister is not simply empty. If those do not solve it, or you suspect something is blocking the canister, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 with your model, your serial number, a photo of the cap on the deck and a photo of the tub's accessible plumbing. The team identifies the part from your photos and tells you what the next step is.

Common Questions