Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Sometimes people wear jewelry. Sometimes people float. What happens when these things overlap? What about piercings?
Graham and Ashkahn concisely explain why it’s a good idea to take that wedding ring off before you float in this episode.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Okay.
Ashkahn: Welcome. Hey, everybody.
Graham: Hey there. I’m Graham.
Ashkahn: I’m Ashkahn.
Graham: And today’s question is, “Jewelry/piercings in a float tank?”
Ashkahn: Hm.
Graham: Concise.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: I like it.
Ashkahn: To the point.
Graham: Um. No.
Ashkahn: Period.
Graham: Thanks for the question.
Ashkahn: I mean, so, there’s a couple of factors here. One-
Graham: Jewelry can sometimes be piercings.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: So it’s not just a straight separation there.
Ashkahn: This is really just a one question thing here. Well, there’s a lot of salt in these float tanks. I don’t know if you knew that.
Graham: Have you heard?
Ashkahn: But the salt can be pretty, it’s pretty intense. It can be pretty damaging. It can eat through metals and it’s not good for some things. So, which metals will it destroy and which will it won’t? I mean I’m sure-
Graham: We could go into it. There are definitely metals that won’t really be affected by the salt.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: Especially not being in there for such a short period of time.
Ashkahn: But, are you really going to be going through that with each person and the jewelry and piercings that they have?
Graham: And sometimes their jewelry is not made out of the metals that they think it’s made out of.
Ashkahn: Yeah, like a crummy boyfriend back in the day.
Graham: That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Or just a confused person who thought they were wearing their titanium necklace when in fact they were wearing their silver necklace, you know?
Ashkahn: I just thought titanium came out of those little things you put quarters in and spin to get the egg out.
Graham: That is true. If they have just plastic jewelry, you can wear plastic jewelry.
Ashkahn: Yeah, I’m sure there’s a couple, like jade or-
Graham: That’s totally fine.
Ashkahn: But here’s the other thing. It can be uncomfortable. When you’re in the float tank, you just feel everything that’s on your body. If you have bracelets or necklaces or things like that on, it might just make for a slightly worse float experience. So it’s a combination of those two things that makes you be like, well, “what’s really the point of keeping things in?” I mean, I guess there’s piercings where you can’t-
Graham: Yeah.
Ashkahn: -just conveniently take things out of your body.
Graham: And fortunately, those ones are actually often very controlled. And in that case, you want to check with the person who did your piercing. Or, yeah, the person who’s in charge of doing your body work is who you want to check in with.
Ashkahn: And it shouldn’t have been done very recently.
Graham: Yeah, definitely. Healed up. Healed up first. I mean, I know that you soak those things in salt water but it’s a different kind of salt water. Yeah.
Ashkahn: But in general, if it’s rings or bracelets or whatever, if it’s easy to take off, earrings, take it off. Why keep it on?
Graham: And for me, it really is that risk of what if they thought they knew what material it was and it wasn’t? Or what if they’re wearing this thing in and the person running the shop was pretty sure that it would be fine and it totally wasn’t fine. Are you now responsible for replacing this person’s jewelry-
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: -and upsetting them? It just feels like another one of those things since there’s the option to remove stuff. When people have dyed hair, you have them contact their person who does their hair, their hairstylist, and see if it’s safe to go in water or soak in something like a float tank and maintain their color and style and it’s the same for piercings if it is permanent. Otherwise, it’s removable and why ever risk it? Pretty much like why-
Ashkahn: Just say no.
Graham: -take these risks.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Just like drugs. Just don’t even risk it. So, yeah, there you go. That’s it.
Graham: Yep. Jewelry and piercings are just like drugs.
So if you have your own float tank problems you want to send our way, go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast.
Ashkahn: There’s a little box in there. There’s a little box. You’ll type stuff into it.
Graham: Yep. And it sends directly to our brain. So, yeah, we had that surgery done. Take advantage of it.
Ashkahn: All right. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Graham: Bye, everyone.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Benefits of a Free Float Giveaway – DSP 315
Float On has been known throughout the years for pulling off outlandish marketing stunts with mixed success. For example, we ran a giveaway on social media back in 2014 for a full year of free floats to our lucky winner.
Derek and Ashkahn provide a follow up on the success of that campaign and talk about the primary, secondary, and tertiary benefits that came from doing such a major giveaway.
The Importance of Social Media – DSP 314
Social media seems to be the only marketing platform that anyone talks about anymore. How to do facebook ads, when to post on Instagram, how to improve Google SEO… it’s a broad topic that seems to dominate the conversation in marketing.
Ashkahn and Derek explain not only why it seems this way, but the misconception of relying too heavily on social media in marketing strategies, as well as a defense of social media as a platform.
How to not be salesy selling memberships – DSP 313
Derek and Ashkahn give the low down on pitching memberships to customers. A lot of float center owners don’t want to come off as pushy sales people after people get out of their floats.
Ashkahn sympathizes with this a lot, since that’s exactly how he felt when he first started selling memberships for Float On. He and Derek suggest a perspective shift on the idea of memberships, as lots of customers end up being appreciative of the opportunity, and don’t feel like they’re being overly pitched to.
Why is Water Treatment Important? – DSP 312
If float tank water is safe, in part because of all the salt, then why is there such a huge emphasis in the industry for water treatment? After all, there haven’t been any reports of anyone getting sick because of floating.
Ashkahn and Graham tackle this question and challenge the idea on its face, because, well, just because something hasn’t been reported doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, and given how little is known about water treatment in float tanks, it’s a good idea, as an industry, to minimize the risk of infections and illness as much as possible. Really, there’s a lot of reasons, from peace of mind, complying with health regulation standards, and even marketing, to maintain your float tank solution to as high a standard that you can.
Soundproofing Windows of Your Float Center – DSP 311
Graham and Ashkahn discuss soundproofing windows of a float center, but first they talk about which situations may even warrant soundproofing in the first place. It may be that soundproofing is better prioritized elsewhere.
If you do decide to soundproof your window, the guys give you some tips on how best to do it and what to look for when picking out which type of glaze you may want along with a few other options.
Latest Blog Posts
What? Another Product Announcement? The New and Improved About Float Tanks Guide!
We’ve learned a lot since then, so has the industry and the rest of the world. Floating is no longer considered some obscure practice. The industry has become very well established the world over and is continuing to grow. As such, the About Float Tanks Guide in particular desperately needed updating.
There has been new research, new standards in manufacturing, and as an industry, we have a much better understanding of all things float tank.
Download the latest version today!
Announcing: The 2017 Float Tank Industry Report
In 2014 we started gathering answers to a survey that would eventually become the very first State of the Float Industry Report. We've released one every year since, and this year we (once again) have the most contributions that we've ever had. In total, 193 existing...
Working with a Landlord
If you’re planning on opening up a float center, it’s likely that you’ll end up renting and, therefore, working closely with a landlord. Like any business relationship, it takes communication, discernment, and openness to make a renter-landlord relationship feel truly comfortable.
Everyone involved is taking a risk and the reality is that, when it comes to floating, it’s probably more risk than your average small business – craft shop, bar, hair salon, law office, what-have-you.
This piece also includes a free download – a compilation of support letters from float center landlords!
Employees vs. Independent Contractors. Which is better when offering additional services?
Part of what makes all of this so confusing is there isn’t a one-size-fits-all set of actions that differentiates a standard employee from an independent contractor. Your State regulators, the federal Department of Labor, and the IRS all have their own criteria for what constitutes an “independent contractor”. Here, we’ll just be using the IRS definitions as a sort of jumping off point to the issue. If the status of employees is ever challenged, the IRS determines the status on a case-by-case basis over several criteria by a panel of judges, very similar to American Idol.
Basically it comes down to who is in control of the work. How much control does the company have over the type of job being done vs. how much control does the person providing the service. This manifests in different ways, but to fit the definition of an independent contractor, a service provider really does have to be independent. Beyond just using this guide, you should always consult an HR lawyer if you feel like there’s any confusion or ambiguity.
Basically, the rules fall into three main categories…
