HAVE FUN WITHOUT ACCIDENTS: TOP TEN TIPS FOR CHILD SAFETY IN THE HOT TUB

August 31, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

Labor Day will soon be here and many of you will be having friends over for picnics, barbecues and hot tub soaking.   Thinking about all that fun to come can push safety aside as a major consideration when using the hot tub. Establishing some safety rules for hot tub use is the best way to have fun without accidents especially when children are going to be at the party.  As the Boy Scout motto says: Be prepared!

1. Treat the hot tub like a pool. Make it a house rule that children never go in the hot tub without adult supervision.
2. Install a locking cover to prevent use by children or anyone else when you’re not present.
3. Get in the tub with small children

. Smaller children are more likely to get in the hot tub when the bubbles are off. Once your child is comfortable, you can turn jets on with most of the air dialed back. Gradually add air as they feel more secure. Note that small children may not weigh enough to hold themselves steady in front of the jets. A strong air and water flow may throw them off-balance so hold them until they can manage.
4. Turn the temperature down. Let smaller children work their way into the hot tub gradually. First a toe, then a foot. For that initial dip, turn the temperature down to 100 degrees or less to get them used to the water.
5. Planning a hot tub party with your pre-teens/teens? Explain that horseplay, diving, splashing water out of the tub are NOT acceptable. Keep a close eye on the party. I-phones and other electronics like i-pods do not belong in the tub unless the electronics have come with the tub.
6. Explain the rules ahead of time and enforce them. Tell them that accessories are not play toys-i.e. the cover is not a trampoline!.
7. Watch for red faces! When kids look too hot, encourage them to get out of the hot tub or sit on the edge and dip their feet instead. Have them stay out until they’ve cooled down.
8. Help them stay hydrated by having water and juice nearby. Don’t forget the food-no matter old your kids are, they’ll probably be hungry after hot tubbing.  And, serve the food after the dip. You don’t want a mess on your hands from spilled snacks in the water. Remember to use non-breakable cups and plate to avoid broken glass and/or pottery around the tub area.
9. No bubbles in the tub please. Never allow kids to add anything to the tub without your permission. Some children are allowed to maintain the family hot tub and are very good at it. We’re talking bubble bath and soap here.
10. Lock up the chemicals. Keep all spa chemicals locked up and out of reach.

A little prevention can go a long way.  Have fun in the tub with safety first. Enjoy your Labor Day party!

SANUM PER AQUA. Latin for Health through Water.

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WANT TO AVOID THE FLU-START BY TAKING A SAUNA REGULARLY

August 27, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

With flu season around the corner and scare stories in the headlines, take a few steps to avoid the flu or at least lessen the symptoms and shorten the length of your agony.

1. Bake out toxins and boost your immune system by taking a sauna! Taking regular sauna baths will reduce cold symptoms and prevent their recurrence. A recent New York Times articled cited a 6 month study in which the group who went for regular sauna sessions caught flu fewer times than those who didn’t do any time in the sauna.  It was found, too, that those that caught a cold or flu suffered for a shorter time and had milder symptoms.

2. Avoid blowing your nose too hard! It is not a joke! When you blow your nose, the mucus can get up to the superior part of sinuses and stay there, blocking your airways and can lead to a sinus infection. The best method to get rid of a stuffy nose is to blow it slightly or to use a special nasal spray. Stay hydrated and avoid alcohol and caffeine.

3. Keep exercising! A recent study shows that flu doesn’t affect the lung functions or their ability to support physical activity. Even though you might not feel like it, keep up your physical activity. it seems that those who continue their fitness sessions recover as quickly as those who stop them, but they feel much better because the symptoms felt milder. It could be, too, that they felt like they were doing something positive for their body.

4. Avoid dry air except for the sauna! Studies show that the flu spreads faster in dry air. When absolute humidity is low (the amount of water from the air), the virus survives longer. If the air in your house is usually dry, buy a humidifier. You may not think this would be the case in rainy Seattle, but many people keep their homes closed up tight in the winter with the heat on high reducing humidity.

5. Avoid the cold! Your grandmother was right when she told you to wear an extra sweater and scarf to stave off the flu.  A group of volunteers kept their feet in very cold water in a recent study. After the experiment, they were more predisposed to flu than those who stayed away from the cold water. When blood vessels contract because of the cold, asymptomatic viruses multiply in the airways and flu symptoms start.

6. Sleep! In a recent study, people who slept less than 7 hours a night were 3 times more exposed to the risk of developing flu than those who sleep 8 hours or more. So, turn off the TV, put down that paperback thriller and get to bed early. Benjamin Franklin was right. Getting to bed early makes a man healthy and maybe wealthy without medical bills and certainly smug,

THE GOOD SWEAT starts with a Finnleo Sauna from Olympic Hot Tub Company.

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HOT TUB ETIQUETTE-ALL OF THE DOs and DON'Ts FOR HOT TUB ENTERTAINING

August 26, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

You’ve just purchased a new hot tub. It’s hot and ready to go.  You’ve invited friends over for a test dip…but before that test dip, here are a few tips to make your experience and theirs a perfect one.

1. Nude or not nude? Be sure to let your guests know what the rules of the “house” are. There is nothing more embarrassing than having your guests strip to the buff when you and your partner have opted for suits. If you’ve opted for nudity, it is really important to tell your guests before the date so they have a chance to decline. As gracious hosts, you want your guests to be comfortable. A mix of suits and nudity doesn’t work for either group.  Either way, do only what’s comfortable for you!
2. Opted for suits? If suits are worn, make sure you tell your guests to rinse theirs thoroughly in plain water.  Most suits carry soap power residue from the washing machine! Even a small amount of soap powder can cause a mountain of bubbly foam when the jets are turned on. It’s hard to get rid of all that foam and its ugly to look at.
3. B. Y. O. T.  It’s a great idea to ask guests bring their own towels and take them home for drying. Eliminating a big stack of laundry to wash & dry is a winning idea.
4. Shower before soaking. Ask all guests to do a quick rinse off before soaking. Washing all of the lotion, deodorant & sweat down the drain instead of leaving it behind in the tub will help keep your new hot tub water clean.
5. Open cuts & sores? Make it a rule to stay out if you have open cuts or sores (and ask guests to do the same) and never discuss your scars! Ditto about asking others about their birthmarks, warts or scars.
6. Love in the tub? If you’re with your lover, hold the passions until you reach dry land. Intimacy is best done in private.
7. No foamy stuff, please! Ask guests to refrain from adding bubble bath, bath oil or any foreign substances to the hot tub.
8. Photo op? Not a great idea. Don’t take pictures without getting everyone’s permission first. Better yet, don’t take pictures. There’s nothing drearier than showing the office gang the photos of your Saturday night hot tub party.

9. What to eat? Light finger foods especially fruit are the best choices when soaking and make good party fare for guests. Potato chips are the worst thing to eat in a hot tub.  Potato chips or other snack foods (crackers, goldfish) if spilled into the hot tub accidentally make a gummy mess that’s hard to clean up.
10. Save alcohol for after soaking. Alcohol in the tub can be deadly. Hot water is a stimulant and alcohol a depressant on your system. Alcohol’s effects are felt very swiftly in a hot tub at 104°. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages for guests-iced tea is a great choice.
11. Share the jets! Many hot tubs today have different types of jets at each seat. By changing seats, you’ll get to sample the effects of each jet.  Let everyone have a turn in front of all jets for the best experience.
12. Pets in hot tubs? Cute, but NO! Pets in hot tubs are not recommended both for the pet and the water quality!
13. Children? Kids love hot tubs, but NEVER leave children alone in a hot tub-even for a minute!

Sit back and relax. Enjoying your new hot tub.  Having friends over to share the hot tubbing experience is one of life’s biggest pleasures. Follow our tips for a successful, healthy time for all. We’re always open to suggestions from readers. Any other hot tub etiquette tips we should add to this list?

SANUM PER AQUA. Latin for Health through Water.

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HOT TUB JEWELRY

August 19, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

I think everyone has an unsuccessful business venture in their past.  Mine was a line of rubber jewelry for hot tubs through Olympic Hot Tub Company. It was designed to be worn in the hot tub to cover the “naughty bits” as Monty Python would say. Anyway, it didn’t go far.  I looked on line to find something similar, but apparently rubber jewelry for the hot tub was never destined to take off. I found this hot tub duck necklace at My Jewel Thief on line.  One can’t have too many hot tub ducks. This would be great to wear while hot tub soaking to set a lighthearted mood.  Anyone have special jewelry for the hot tub?

RES EST SERVA VOLUPTAS. Pleasure is a serious business.

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What Not To Bring In The Hot Tub: The Top 10 No Nos of Hot Tubbing

August 18, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

WHAT NOT TO BRING IN THE HOT TUB-THE TOP TEN No, Nos OF HOT TUBBING
1. Alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant and hot water is a stimulant. Passing out or falling asleep in the hot tub is not hard to do after a few drinks. Drowning has occurred in hot tubs due to alcohol use. Save the drinks for after your soak.
2. Glass. It’s so easy to drop a glass and have it shatter. You don’t want glass fragments in or around the tub. Always use plastic cups and containers.

3. Bubble Bath or other sudsers. Sure it looks like fun seeing all of the foam that can result from hot water, jets and bubble bath, but it’s a sorry mess to clean up. Typically it’s best to drain the tub and start over with fresh water after first cleaning the filters and the spa shell if you’ve had bubble bath added.

4. Swimming Pool Chemicals. It’s tempting as you’re cruising the aisles of big box stores to fall for really cheap chlorine that’s says for “Pools and hot tubs”. Wrong. Hot tub water chemicals, especially chlorine have a specific formula that lasts in hot water won’t turn the water cloudy and has the right pH for hot tubbing. You should buy only chemicals that are specifically formulated for hot tubs and spas.  For example, SeaKlear brand makes a distinction between all water care products. They’re clearly labeled “pool” or “spa”. Pool chlorine is a calcium based formula; hot tub chlorine is a sodium based formula. If it doesn’t say sodium di-chlor on the label, leave it on the shelf no matter how cheap it is! The advice applies to water balancers. If it doesn’t say for hot tubs and spas, don’t buy it.

5. Electronics. Water and electronics don’t mix. Stick to battery operated toys and games unless the music or television system is part of your hot tub or spa and designed to operate near water. Wouldn’t you hate to drop your i-pod or iphone in the water?

6. Bathing Suits washed with soap. Avoid susdsy residue by rinsing suits in water only.  Even if you’ve worn your suit in a heavily chlorinated swimming pool, you don’t need soap to rinse only clear water.

7. Open Sores. Please use common sense and let open sores heal before tubbing.

8. A Hot, Sweaty Body. Even though today’s advanced water care systems can handle sweat, why not shower first and avoid potential water problems? Sweat has organic compounds that are neutralized by chlorine, but the more sweat the greater the need for chlorine and shock. And, it’s best to cool down before you soak anyway.

9. Sun Tan Oil. Why add oil to the tub? Rinse off before you soak.

10. A Grumpy Attitude. Soaking is about relaxing and having fun. Chill out on land and come to the tub with an open heart and mellow attitude.

SANUM PER AQUA. Latin for Health through Water.

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Celebrate National Relaxation Day by Soaking in Your Hot Tub

August 15, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

Did you know it’s not only fun to soak in your hot tub, but it can be vital to a healthy lifestyle?  Life is stressful! Have you seen the news lately? It’s enough to send you right back to bed some mornings. Too, there are always so many things to do and never enough hours in the day. We prioritize and compartmentalize and organize and we try to squeeze each and every minute of the day to its fullest. So take a minute. Pause. Stop what you’re doing and consider: Why do we need a National Relaxation Day? Because we’re all doing too much!

Our bodies and minds need time to rest. Without recovery from the day’s events, we can’t feel energized and ready for a new day. I can just hear the workaholics among us saying, “But it’s slacking off!.”  Ignore their whining! It’s the only way to be more productive. When you take a reasonable amount of time for rest and relaxation, you can come back with more gusto and verve. When you push yourself too hard, you tempt the “burnout demon”. You lack energy and joy in life.  And, worst of all you won’t be as productive. So sit back and relax. Take that soak in your Hot Spring Spa and honor National Relaxation Day. One suggestion for celebration this day every day: pencil in “Hot Tub Time” in your day planner. A daily soak not only brightens your mood it’ll make you more productive!

SANUM PER AQUA. Latin for Health though Water.

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ABOUT SilkBalance FOR SPAS AND HOT TUBS FROM A HOT TUB COMPANY OWNER

August 14, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

About SilkBalance for spas and hot tubs:

My husband and I have been in the hot tub business for 32 years. Since 1982 we have carried Hot Spring Spas exclusively and have been the #1 selling Hot Spring dealer in the U.S. for many of the preceding years. We now have over 17,000 customers in the Puget Sound area who have purchased Hot Spring and other Watkins brand spas from us.

During our years in business, we have seen everything under the sun cooked up to make hot tub care “easy”. The claims for every one of these “miracles” proved to be nothing but hot air. When we heard about SilkBalance we were not only skeptical but downright disbelieving. There was no way we were going to buy and then tout your product to our customer base that believes in us and trusts our integrity. Our service tech coordinator summed it up by saying he had “seen it all” in his years in the hot tub industry and was sure it would be just as lame as all of the other products that had come along.

But human nature being what it is, we were curious. And, ever the optimist, I thought that SilkBalance just might work given the science behind it and the testing it had undergone. The real push was our company motto: “We make it easy to take it easy.” We have consistently worked to make everything easier for our customers so all they need do is relax. If SilkBalance worked, it would be a big step to making water care easier for our spa owners.

On a personal note, the air was so dry this past winter that my skin resembled craters on the moon. I didn’t use my own Hot Spring nearly as much because of the dry skin factor. Many of our customers told me the same thing. Dry skin was a bad side effect of hot tubbing in winter just when you wanted to hot tub the most!

The results? SilkBalance works. It does everything it promises: no mixing, no balancers, and no dry skin! It’s natural. The water of our own Hot Spring feels like our favorite natural hot spring in California: Tecopa. We have crystal clean water in our own spa and in the showroom spas. There’s no chlorine smell; no odor of any kind. In fact, we tell customers to take a deep breath when they walk in and smell…nothing!

It’s so easy to use and such a relief to know that you’re not bathing in a vat of chemicals. My own skin has never felt softer and been less irritated. It’s good for the planet and good for people. It saves so much time and hassle. By taking the work out of maintaining a hot tub, it’s fun again! And, we can truthfully say: “We DO make it easy to take it easy” because it’s easier and more effective than any other water care system on the market. Our customers love it! We love it! Thank you, SilkBalance.

Alice Cunningham
Co-owner
Olympic Hot Tub Company, Seattle, Washington

SANUM PER AQUA. Latin for Health through Water.


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Hot Tub Duck of the Day

August 14, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

I passed my neighborhood Tully’s this morning and already the retirees were having coffee and working sudoku puzzles.  I couldn’t resist posting this duck for your hot tub.  The pencil is a good idea if you’re new to sudoku.  Working (or attempting to work) a sudoku puzzle is a fun thing to do in the hot tub if your mind won’t quiet and you have to keep it active.

Daydreaming is my favorite hot tub activity.  With the weekend coming up I’m feeling whimsical and ready to kick back.  With this unseasonably cold, rainy weather, my body’s confused, though. Is it summer or not?  I’m going to soak in my Hot Spring Spa tonight and ponder this.

What’s your favorite thing to do in the hot tub?

SANUM PER AQUA. Latin for Health through Water.

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Change Your Mood With a Good Soak in Your Hot Tub

August 13, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

Change the way you feel in a few minutes by soaking in your Hot Spring Spa. It’s the fastest, surest way to “dial-a-mood”.

If you want to to feel energized, antic and ready to be productive, try a vigorous soak with pounding jets for 10 minutes at 104 degrees.

If you’d rather feel mellow and detached, trim the jets back and soak for 20-25 minutes (maximum) at 104.

If you want pain relief, keep the jets at the highest level you can tolerate and experiment with the length of time you stay in.  If you set your temperature at 102,  you can stay in longer for maximum pain relief.

A good soak is your backyard hot tub is guaranteed to change the way you feel. And, it’s not illegal, immoral or fattening!  I’m frequently asked if eating chocolate in the hot tub counts towards one’s daily calorie count.  Answer: Yes, if you want the truth.  No, if you want to pretend.

SANUM PER AQUA.

Latin for Health through Water.

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ASTRONOMY FROM THE HOT TUB: LOOK UP TONIGHT TO SEE A SPECTACULAR METEOR SHOWER

August 11, 2009 By Alice Leave a Comment

One of the best things about night hot tub soaking is the chance to look up at the stars. Many of our Olympic Hot Tub Company customers keep telescopes by their tub to get a magnified view of the heavens and tell us that they have a new appreciation for star gazing since purchasing a hot tub.  A few minutes spent on the excellent website from the UK Astronomy Now Online will give you an idea of what’s going on in the night sky. Tonight look upward to the northeast for one of the most spectacular celestial shows of the year. The Perseid meteor shower will be peaking. Read on!

If you’ve every wished on a shooting star, here’s your chance to make lots of wishes. Meteors are the result of small particles entering the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, around 60 kilometers per second in the case of the Perseid shower, which results from the Earth passing through from the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, last in the vicinity of the Earth in 1992. Meteors appear as brief streaks of light flashing across the sky, and unlike many astronomical phenomena, are best seen with the naked eye, rather than through a telescope or binoculars.

The best time to watch is between midnight and dawn Wednesday. Forecasters say the best stretch could come between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. PDT Some Perseids might be visible late Tuesday night, and Wednesday night into Thursday morning could prove worthwhile, too. Meteor forecasting is still an unpredictable science, however, so the best bet for anyone truly interested in spotting shooting stars is to get in as much observing time as possible from around midnight tonight, Tuesday, until dawn Wednesday, and if you miss that show, try the same time frame Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. Meteors should be visible in the pre-dawn hours, weather permitting, all around the Northern Hemisphere.

So take a late soak in your Hot Spring Spa tonight and look skyward, make those wishes and hope they come true. This could be the start of a whole new hobby: hot tub astronomy.

Note on the photo above: Brian Emfinger photographed this early Perseid meteor shower fireball, with a smoke trail, from Ozark, Arkansas just after midnight on Sunday, July 26, 2009. Credit: Brian Emfinger, used with permission (more photos: http://www.realclearwx.com). View related photos

SANUM PER AQUA. Latin for Health through Water.

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