Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
You have to change out your float tank water eventually. Is it a good idea to give your float tank a vinegar cleanse when you do? is that effective? Is it too much work for the results? Are there better solutions to keep your tank clean and fresh?
Graham and Ashkahn discuss while providing assurances like “either you’re not crazy or we’re all crazy”, so that’s nice.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: All right. Hello everybody.
Ashkahn: Hey, everyone. This is Ashkahn.
Graham: Graham over here, and we got a question for you today.
Ashkahn: Nice, that’s good.
Graham: Just like every day, yeah.
Ashkahn: I’m impressed every time.
Graham: Which is, and I always say that. I should say we have an answer for you today, because really the questions are for us.
Ashkahn: We got both, we got both.
Graham: The question is, “we have a crazy idea of draining float tanks and then running 200 gallons of water mixed with vinegar for an amount of time. Do you think there would be some decent cleaning?”
Ashkahn: All right, so assumptions-
Graham: Decent. Let’s define decent.
Ashkahn: Let’s make some assumptions first. I’m assuming they’re talking about doing this at the point they’re draining their float tank, once-
Graham: Anyway, right? Not like they’re just draining it and they’re-
Ashkahn: They’re not doing this every night. Yeah. Dump the water, throw some tap water in there and get-
Graham: 200 gallons of vinegar.
Ashkahn: 200 gallons of vinegar. That’s not what they said, but assuming you’re like, “Okay, yeah. I’m draining my float tank,” on whatever kind of periodic schedule that I’ve decided, a year or whatever it is. At that point, should I be doing this crazy scheme? And-
Graham: Sort of.
Ashkahn: Yeah, sort of. I mean, so it’s not crazy.
Graham: Well, we came up with it, so it might be crazy as well. Not the vinegar part, but the … this is something that we’ve started doing to, when we drain our float tanks is to actually kind of run a full cleaning kind of cycle through them to deal with anything that might be collecting on the inside of the pipes. Biofilm, things like that. So certainly the desire to make sure that your entire system’s kinda of flushed out, as long as you’re doing a big drain and fill, is totally sane and reasonable.
Ashkahn: Yeah. I would probably say the main thing to think about is vinegar is probably not what you want to put in there.
Graham: Yeah.
Ashkahn: It’s just really not that strong of a cleaning agent. I mean, it can clean things. It’s good at killing things. It’s not as good as many, many other things you could probably use. As long as you’re just putting tap water in there and you’re putting some cleaning agent in, and you’re gonna dump all this afterwards, you might as well use something stronger than vinegar.
Graham: Super vinegar.
Ashkahn: Yeah, it’s like you let vinegar ferment a third time, and then it becomes super vinegar.
Graham: Super vinegar. Probably bleach is just the easiest thing to be able to toss in there, which is basically just chlorine.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Bleach is just kinda concentrated chlorine, and you can just put a decently high concentration.
Graham: 200 gallons of bleach.
Ashkahn: Then you’re not gonna expose anyone to being in this liquid, right? So you’re kind of hitting it probably with a different method than maybe you’re used to using with other things that you’re typically cleaning your float tanks with, whatever. Using peroxide or ozone, or relying on the UV or whatever it is. Even if you’re using chlorine. Getting to a really high, kind of super-chlorinated dose of it for a period of time can have kind of an extra sanitation boost.
Graham: Yeah, and it just seems to be the go-to for a lot of disinfecting, too, that you see from different health departments and recommendations. Bleach is just an easily available and easy to use disinfectant as long as you’re not worried about, again, people kind of getting in the water afterwards. Which you’re not. You’re just sort of doing a flush and fill. That’s what we decided, was pretty much this exact same protocol that you’re talking about, where you’re emptying your float tank, filling it back up, running cycles through with water. Only in our case, we’re using bleach rather than vinegar.
Ashkahn: And there are calculators online if you want to be a little bit more quantitative about what you’re doing. You can find online calculators that will tell you how much bleach you’re pouring in and what level of parts per million of chlorine that turns into. So you can actually kind of shoot for a certain number or do something other than just turning a bottle of bleach over and counting for three seconds.
Graham: The old glug and chug method, huh?
Ashkahn: I don’t know about chugging, but-
Graham: I meant chugging along, not like-
Ashkahn: I see, I see. Take a quick sip. Pour some in the float tank.
Graham: Half for the tank, half for me. Yeah, don’t do that.
Ashkahn: Yeah, this periodic sort of cleaning can be good. There’s kind of a conversation in the pool and spa world more recently than ever about these things called biofilms, and that’s where certain microorganisms can build up these protective shell layers outside of them that protects them from the exposure of different sanitizers that would usually be able to kill them. One of the methods of being able to deal with stuff like that is having these kind of periodic, long-term punches of super-sanitation that you do to your system. The best kind of analogy I heard was relating it to keeping your teeth clean. You want to brush your teeth every night, but also it’s good to go to the dentist once every six months and have them do kind of like a more intense cleaning of your teeth that you’re not gonna be able to do with your toothbrush. That same kind of logic, I think, makes sense in the world of sanitation. If you have these kind of longer cycles of more intense cleaning, it’s, I think, another step or another effective way of keeping things at bay.
Graham: There’s pretty much no harm to it, either. You know, as long as you’re not adding in enough bleach that you’re worried about staining your tubs or something like that-
Ashkahn: Your filter’s not filled with ammonia, or something?
Graham: There’s not really any concern to your float tank for doing it. Other than a little extra time spent in when you’re draining it out. Doing this intermediate step before immediately refilling with salt water. That’s really the only cost of adding in what I think is a really nice precaution to other things growing in there or anything that might be hanging out in your pipes.
Ashkahn: So, you’re not crazy. I guess that’s-
Graham: Or we’re all crazy. One of the two, yeah.
Ashkahn: Yeah. We’re in it together, if that’s the case.
Graham: And if you have any more questions you want to send over to us, go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast.
Recent Podcast Episodes
What are “Good” Social Media Numbers for Float Centers? – DSP 189
Not everyone is a social media wizard, but fortunately for Social Media Week, Derek is here to answer all the questions the float industry might have, from the obvious to the obscure.
In this episode, Derek, Graham, and Ashkahn discuss what it means to have good social media engagement. The effect of things like Facebook likes, reacts to posts, and how to cultivate those.
Can you Float During a Lightning Storm? – DSP 188
Certain areas are prone to particular natural events. Some more terrifying for float centers than others. Lightning storms come to mind. Because water is conductive and the last thing you want in your float tanks are electrocuted customers.
So, is it a bad idea to float during lightning storms or does it even matter? Graham and Ashkahn weigh in with a heavy dose of skepticism and repeated calls to consult with a professional electrician before making any big decisions.
How to Choose the Perfect Float Tank – DSP 187
One of the biggest decisions you have to make for your float center is what tank to choose. This is what your business is based around. So how do you go about making this decision? A lot of newer float center owners want to know what the “Best Tank” is. The reality is that there isn’t some clear front runner in float tank quality. Every tank has it’s strengths and weaknesses. It really depends on what you’re looking for and what you want to spend.
Graham and Ashkahn share what they think are the most important things to consider when choosing your float tank.
How to get Building Plans Before you Have a Building? – DSP 186
Often times banks will want your building plans to approve your business loan, but you can’t purchase a building before the loan is approved. Sometimes health departments will want to know which tanks you’ll get before they’ll approve your business which can also hold up your bank loan. It feels like a Catch-22 and has definitely infuriated plenty of float center owners just starting out.
Graham and Ashkahn lay out the confusing battle you’ll have to take on to get your business started and the ways in which you can get approved, plus the silver linings these extra hoops can offer you.
How to Deal with Humidity in Float Rooms – DSP 185
Humidity can be a subtle, difficult, and persistent challenge for a lot of float centers. Aside from just the massive amount of humidity that a float tank can create, showers also generate a lot of humidity. This can be a challenge for your construction, your soundproofing, and your floater’s comfort.
Fortunately, everyone has to deal with this issue, so there’s a lot of tips out there. Unfortunately, there isn’t an exact science on the best humidity for float rooms as of yet. Graham and Ashkahn unmuddle this quandary a bit before muddling it back up again.
Latest Blog Posts
Empty Float Tanks and What to Do with Them
There’s a marketing mantra here at Float On that we thought might be useful to share. Especially for people at the more early stages of their float center. The mantra is simple, but it's an integral part of our marketing philosophy, and can go a long way in helping a...
60 vs 90 Minute Float Sessions
I've had the pleasure of giving tours of our HelmBot software. While some of these tours are to established centers looking to switch scheduling softwares, most of the tours have been to centers in the final stages of opening. In talking about how to set up "The Helm"...
A Resource for Buying / Selling Used Float Tanks
Save Money When Starting a Float Center Construction aside, one of the more significant costs to starting a float center are the tanks themselves. There are numerous float tank manufacturers to choose from with costs that range quite a bit. A lot of the newer float...
How To Give a Proper Walkthrough
Why Float Centers Need “Walkthroughs” First time floaters typically need some instruction before they can get in the tank. A lot of things can go wrong if a client is not well informed before they attempt to float. In many cases, the first float is the most important...
