Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Is it dangerous for customers to float in a tank? Does it damage their hair? What about the tank? Graham and Ashkahn have been down this road before and share their insights.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Today’s question is, “What do you about someone who comes in with dyed hair?“
Ashkahn: Dyed hair?
Graham: Yeah, D-Y-E-D.
Ashkahn: I mean, all hair is D-I-E-D. Sort of, you know.
Graham: So I guess there’s a few different steps there. There’s, like, what if someone calls ahead of time to schedule an appointment and asks about their dyed hair. There’s, like, what if they just show up with dyed hair and then are asking about it in your center.
Ashkahn: And then what if they dye their hair in your center.
Graham: In the float tank. But there’s also, like, if no one mentions it anywhere along there. And floats with dyed hair in your tank. And now your color’s like slightly pinkish.
Ashkahn: And we’re talking about two things too. Also, in term of their hair being damaged and your float tank water being damaged.
Graham: Right, yeah. Totally. So, for a simple question, there’s a lot there. So let’s start with your division, which is their hair versus the float tank.
Ashkahn: Okay. So, often if they’re calling, they’re calling because they’re concerned about their hair and not because they’re particularly concerned about what’s gonna happen to your float tank.
Graham: True. True. And in that sense it’s kinda like a medical concern, a little bit. My best advice when people call in asking about treated hair, or they just got a hairdo, or it’s been dyed, or anything like that, is you should consult your hair specialist and see what they say.
Ashkahn: Yeah, there’s just a lot of different ways people can get dyes or various things like that done to their hair and some are more permanent. And some are not. And I think that’s gonna affect the question. It’s hard to have kind of one blanket, “This is how your hair will respond” kind of answer. Perms and things like that too … So we usually do direct it back to, “Hey, if you’re concerned about it, you should talk to the person who did this to your hair, and see what they have to say.”
Graham: And most times that’s because they’re calling in, actually concerned because they spent hundreds of dollars on hair coloring or something like that. Like if they just had their friend dye their hair with jello in the garage or something, they’re less concerned about their own wasted time or…
Ashkahn: With jello? Is that a thing?
Graham: Yeah. Don’t worry about it.
Ashkahn: Okay. When if it rains, your hair just gets all like gelatin?
Graham: I don’t think that’s how it works. Do you think the color would come out? I don’t know. You can ask your jello specialist. Direct questions back to them. So they’re calling in because they probably had a pretty expensive hair treatment, or something like that. And they’re worried about ruining it. So that’s the point at which they’re concerned about money, which means you don’t want to be on the line for their money.
Like if they come in. They’re like, “You said it would be fine and I grew an extra leg out of my head …” Or whatever it is. You don’t want to be on the hook for that. So directing it back to their hair specialist … just kind of takes you off the financial hook, right now. Like, they’re the ones saying that it’s okay. CYA, sort of stuff.
Ashkahn: And then in terms of your float tank, what we often tell people is if, when you hop in the shower, there’s no longer … The water running out of your hair is totally clear, as in you don’t see dye coming out of it, then you’re probably gonna be fine hopping into the float tank. From our side of it. And that seems to generally be true. We don’t tend … People go in with dyed hair, even if it’s been relatively recent. And as long as they’re getting no more color coming out as they’re rinsing off, we don’t seem to have a huge impact on our float tank.
Graham: And a rough time range for that? Again, it can change so much depending on what kind of treatment you had. And even the brand of dye, and stuff like that. But somewhere in the two to four weeks range, I think, tends to be when a lot of when the color stops coming out. Either because the temporary dye is totally gone, or the permanent dye is set up enough. But again, it’s something to actually talk to a specialist about, if it was professionally done.
Ashkahn: And I guess, what happens if you do get it? In your float tank. Someone comes out and you look in your float tank and it’s pink.
Graham: Yeah, so basically just a lot of filtering … Is the only thing that we’ve found. So I guess the good news is, it doesn’t seem like you have to dump. We’ve never had to dump our float tank water.
Ashkahn: No.
Graham: Just as a result of it being tinged. Going a different color.
Ashkahn: We’ve had some towels that didn’t make it out of it.
Graham: Yeah, way more likely to have an extra towel at your personal home. As the result of this than have to drain your tank.
Ashkahn: A nice tie dye towel.
Graham: Yeah. Right, but if you get there, the worst case scenario is that you end up having to cancel several float sessions afterwards, in order to be running the filter pretty constantly. In order to get that hair dye out.
Ashkahn: But it does get it out. It will solve it and, like you said, we’ve never had to ditch the water and start fresh because of hair dye.
Graham: Yeah, and often that will be a lot of changing out filters, just to make sure that we’re not reintroducing that hair dye immediately right back in. So over the course of maybe five or six hours of running the tank, it will be changing out the cartridge filter, changing out the bag filter. A couple times during that process, to really just try to extract more and more dye from it. Put in a clean filter, try to grab more of that sort of thing.
And I guess we didn’t talk about what if they didn’t ask ahead of time, but not they already paid for a session. It’s reserved. They’re in your center. And they’re like, “Hey, I just dyed my hair a few days ago. Do you think this is gonna be a problem?”
Ashkahn: We always let people reschedule or anything like that. We’re certainly not gonna like take a float from them because they’re concerned about hopping in right away. So, that’s always an option.
Graham: Yeah, but I would say that’s almost the only option. In my mind. I guess you could charge them for a float for not asking.
Ashkahn: That’s not…
Graham: But that just feels kind of mean.
Ashkahn: You won’t do that.
Graham: Or a way to get bad feedback on Yelp, or something like that. We pretty much just say, “Okay, well sadly you do have to reschedule. This isn’t gonna work with your dyed hair in our float tank.” But covering the cost of that and just letting them come in at another time is always how we’ve handled it. And people are usually understanding. I think that if they didn’t ask beforehand, they kinda realized that’s on them. Once they get in there and they’re like, “Oh, I have bright red hair. Is this an issue?” And they’re like, “Yeah, I guess I should have asked beforehand.”
So, that’s it. That’s, I think, all we have for someone coming in with dyed hair.
Ashkahn: Alright. Excellent. If you guys have future questions or things you want us to cover, you can just go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and we’ll talk about them.
Graham: Alright, thanks everybody.
Recent Podcast Episodes
How do you Start Opening a Float Center? – DSP 285
For people just starting out, it can seem really daunting to start a float center. They may not even know where to begin.
Graham and Ashkahn tackle this idea head on. The most important thing is to do a lot of research (definitely check the resources) and to make sure you have people that you can call and refer to for support when you need it.
What to do When Floaters Interrupt Intros? – DSP 284
Ashkahn’s back and on form. He and Graham take on the question of how to handle first time floaters interrupt the pre-float intros explaining the process.
There’s a lot of information that first time floaters need, and if they aren’t paying attention, it can cause messy floats or unnecessary difficulty or confusion. The reunited duo provides some great tips while going over different customer scenarios.
When is the Best Time to Open a Float Center? – DSP 283
Graham takes the helm again without any co-captain to steer the SS Daily Solutions through the rugged storms of float industry questions.
Today he answers a question about when the best time of year to open your float center. The important thing to remember is that, whenever you choose, you should plan for even earlier, as float centers are more likely to get delayed in construction.
Tips for Choosing Contractors – DSP 282
Graham the Lone Podcaster takes the reigns on answering how to pick a contractor for float center build out.
It’s the kind of big decision that every float center owner hopes to only make once, so getting as much information ahead of time is extremely useful. Graham breaks down some useful tips and explains how to ask for a bid, specific skill sets to look for, and general advice on knowing when to walk away.
Starting your Pumps Early – DSP 281
In this episode, Graham goes solo again to answer a particularly loquacious listener who sent in a question about how to logistically handle your changeover when a floater comes out early.
It can be tempting to start your changeover as soon as possible, especially if you have a few of them to get to, but Graham lays out some helpful things to remember before flipping that switch and running your pumps before the allotted time.
Latest Blog Posts
4,937 Things to Know About Buying a Used Float Tank
You’re thinking about buying a used float tank. Whether this is for a new center, an addition to an existing operation, or a purchase for your home, this is a big decision.
We’ve compiled together some of the major questions and considerations to entertain before making a purchase. While you do have the opportunity to save some money and snag a good deal, there can be hidden costs and unknowns to weigh against those savings.
Offering Overnight Floats
Almost three years ago, we discussed the merits of running overnight floats from an employee’s perspective, focusing on the opportunities of this unique experience as well as its challenges. We’d like to take a deeper dive into this issue because, while the majority of floaters come through our tanks during “normal” business hours, overnight floats form an important part of not only Float On’s identity, but also its business structure and broader culture.
How to Talk About Floating
You step into the elevator and shuffle to the side to make room for the kind-eyed, old woman with the miniature poodle.
“Good morning,” you say with a smile.
“Good morning,” she beams back, her gaze resting briefly on your water bottle with the logo from your float center’s annual party.
After a brief pause, she asks, “What is Float-a-Palooza?”
You take a breath, smile, and launch into your literal elevator pitch.
So, what do you say?
Employee Handbook Template
Whether you are a small or large float center, you most likely have other employees working for you. Regardless of the size of your staff, for reasons of efficiency and legality, it’s essential that your organization has clear and straightforward policies and guidelines. No matter how good employee communication is, it’s always safest and cleanest to have clear parameters and expectations written down.
This is why Float Tank Solutions has created a customizable Employee Handbook Template. Free for anyone to download, it contains federally compliant language (current as of October 2016) and contains a multitude of sections, from employee benefits and compensation descriptions to job guidelines and discrimination policies.
