Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Today brings a curious question about a float center owner who’s trying to deal with salt dust everywhere, including in their tool room. While salt does get everywhere, it can’t evaporate like water can and doesn’t travel through the air very well.
Graham and Ashkahn try their best to answer it and try to figure out what might be causing it, having not experienced something like that themselves at Float On. If any float centers out there have experienced this phenomenon and have any insights, send it our way!
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Today’s question is, “What about the phenomena of evaporation resulting in salt residue everywhere? Anyone else have this? Do you have to clean out the HVAC system? We found that some of the tools rust just from the salt in the air. Just from the salt in the air.”
Ashkahn: Just from the salt in the tools, like in their tool room?
Graham: Yeah, it seems like a long way for-
Ashkahn: This is-
Graham: … salt air to travel.
Ashkahn: So, like, this doesn’t really happen to us. Like, I don’t notice in our float rooms, like, salt building up on the ceilings or in the HVAC vents or-
Graham: No, except from people doing the Herbal Essences kind of hair flip when they get out of a float tank. We really don’t find salt just kind of coating things, as though it had been aerated or anything like that.
Ashkahn: Yeah, it’s not like a powder or salt or, yeah. Even on the ceilings of the float tanks, there’s not like a fine dusting of salt or anything.
Graham: Yeah.
Ashkahn: But I guess it is like, it can be very humid, too, in there.
Graham: Yeah, I mean. So I see, you know, when I’ve heard of people that experience rust problems or issues with HVAC vents and things like that, it almost always in talking to them and working through things, ends up being more related to the moisture in the air than actually having salts in the air that’s getting in there. And if the HVAC installers didn’t prepare for the sheer volume of humidity that your float tanks can crank out, then yeah, you can totally hit problems in those vents and in the system as a whole.
Ashkahn: That’s good. I would ask these people that question. Like, are you-
Graham: Are you sure it’s salt or could it be-
Ashkahn: Are you actually seeing salt. ‘Cause if it’s salt, you’d see salt building up on things.
Graham: They see the salt residue everywhere is a direct quote from the question.
Ashkahn: Salt residue everywhere, that’s so strange.
Graham: I mean, so, I can think of a couple things. And from our consulting, I’ve probably heard of things like this a couple times. But, I mean, much more I hear people who are surprised that they don’t see salt getting everywhere.
Ashkahn: Right.
Graham: You know, they expect it to be like the ocean.
Ashkahn: Right.
Graham: Where the ocean is so turbulent, and it’s just kicking up all of these waves and this water.
Ashkahn: Some mist, a sea mist.
Graham: If you drive a car anywhere near the ocean, you just know your car has to be coated or it’s going to rust out from the bottom, and every metal part is going … So, I think people picture that with a float tank center, and are surprised when they open to find that’s actually not the case, which again in Float On, for us, it certainly has not been. So, the couple things I can think of are, if you have something, even like a pinhole leak in your filtration system, there’s a chance that you can be kind of spraying a really fine salt spray around. It’s almost like installer error or something going wrong with the pump system.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Like, I feel like even without any noticeable leaks, I’ve never seen a filtration system that doesn’t just kind of end up getting kind of salty.
Graham: Sure. And most of the time it’s from leaks, but sometimes there is kind of like a fine …
Ashkahn: Like a fine, fine mist of-
Graham: And I guess the most I’ve seen for a fine dust, is a couple of our tanks have …
Ashkahn: Right.
Graham: There is something about their filtration system… but only around the pump area leave this kind of residue. So, I wonder what could go wrong that would just sort of do that same vaporization.
Ashkahn: Get it everywhere?
Graham: Or really spread that to your work. All the way to where your tools are?
Ashkahn: Well, it’s so … Here’s the thing though. I feel like we have had the rusting issue, like our door hinges have … we’ve had to replace those with stainless steel door hinges.
Graham: Right, and yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Ashkahn: So, that’s … but there was no coating of salt on those things like there was or is in our pump areas, and under the pump boxes. So, it leads me to believe what you were saying, that it’s a moisture thing, not a salt thing, right?
Graham: Or that some … whenever you’re in a float room, there’s a chance again, someone’s just shaking out like a dog and getting salt everywhere. They put their salty hands on the-
Ashkahn: Or this is the door hinges of our front door I’m talking about.
Graham: Oh, I see. I thought you meant of the float room doors.
Ashkahn: So, that’s beyond like Herbal Essence range. We’re talking like lobby, front door door hinges, we needed to replace those things, too.
Graham: I was trying to picture situations where people go and shake off specifically near door hinges. I think I’ll concede this point. I think you win this one, yeah.
Ashkahn: But it is, you know, at times unbelievably humid in our lobby.
Graham: Oh yeah, I mean, even with three different dehumidifiers in our lobby, it still gets up to 60%, 70% humidity during those transitions.
Ashkahn: And again, what I see when I saw those door hinges was not what I see when I lift up a pump cover and see like a fine coating of salt on some of the equipment.
Graham: Yeah, so we don’t know. We’re not sure what’s going on with your fine powder, but it is not a common phenomenon.
Ashkahn: No.
Graham: There may very well be other float centers out there. If you have this, definitely write in and let us know if you have theories about it or what tanks you’re using or what your setup is. But again, having talked to a lot of people that don’t have this problem, I would say it’s more the exception than something that you really need to be aware of going into this.
Ashkahn: Definitely.
Graham: So, thanks for the question, keeping us on our toes.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: And yeah, if you have more questions you want to try to stump us with, go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast
Recent Podcast Episodes
Book Recommendations for Float Center Retail – DSP 145
Lots of float centers sell different books, usually about floating. Float On even publishes a few of them (through our Coincidence Control publishing company).
Graham and Ashkahn give their recommendations for books to sell and provide a list of the ones we have available at Float On. They also discuss how well they sell as well as the tertiary benefit to having them around as resources for your floaters on coffee tables and as conversation starters.
What to Look for when Buying a Used Float Tank – DSP 144
So… float tanks are expensive. Buying used is an option, though. What does that look like and what should you know before thinking about delving into the market of used tanks? There’s a lot to it, how the tank has aged, if there are any components that have failed, and what the filtration system is like are all good things to keep in mind.
Graham and Ashkahn go over this, as well as where to look for tanks and some tips and tricks from the trade.
How to Run a Float Center out of Your Home – DSP 143
Starting up a float center out of your home isn’t nearly as daunting as it may sound at first and is a great way to get your foot in the door. Graham and Ashkahn break down the logistics of this time honored tradition in the industry.
What to look for in a lease – DSP 142
Picking a location is stressful and time consuming, but it can still be one of the most fun parts of starting a float center.
Graham and Ashkahn examine what to look for in a new center and how to go about the search. Along with all this, they explain some of the nuances you want to discuss with your landlord when drafting your lease. Tune in here.
Options for offering neck pillows – DSP 141
Finding a good neck pillow for your float tanks can be a surprisingly tricky endeavor. There are endless amounts of flotation pillows designed for swimming or in the bath, but float tanks have very particular conditions and getting the wrong neck pillow can make it, and your float tank, a hassle to clean.
Graham and Ashkahn dish about their experiences with neck pillows and what’s worked for them in the past and offer up some solid recommendations, as well as provide some helpful tips on what to look for when shopping for the ideal neck pillow for your float center.
Latest Blog Posts
Location, Location, Floatation
One of the most common questions we’ve gotten has been regarding whether or not someone’s potential location would work as a float center. Every location is unique, of course, and will have its various benefits and costs based on their individual characteristics....
How to Heat Your Float Tanks
A large part of what we do here at Float Tank Solutions is field calls and emails about floatation therapy from potential float center owners, manufacturers, spas, and general floatation enthusiasts from around the globe. After seeing certain questions come up again...
Why We Gather – Float Conference
At the end of last year’s Float Conference I had a woman come up to me and say, “You know, I’ve been working so hard to get my float center up and running. And to get up each day and try to get people in my city to know and understand what floating is, without another...
A Float By Any Other Name
An Open Letter on Float Tank Terminology Since you’re on this site, you’ve likely heard one or more of these terms as a name for a certain kind of therapy: Isolation Therapy Sensory Deprivation Therapy Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST)...
