Your Environment
Floating is also referred to as REST, or Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy. So it makes sense that environmental control is a critical part of an effective float. The difference between a good float and an extraordinary float is environmental control. While it’s impossible to remove all external stimuli, your float suite has been engineered to keep these environmental distractions to a minimum. It should be quiet, dark, and comfortable, with a minimum of sensory distractions. The door to your float suite is locked behind you at the start of your float session, so that you can be sure that you are in a safe, private place. Your suite is made up of a small changing room, shower area and a float room. Not everyone is comfortable floating in total darkness and quiet, so the float room has optional features to allow you to choose light and music. You can also plug in your smart phone and listen to your own playlist if you’d like. Your float room has a glass door and 7 foot ceilings to help them be more inviting to people who have issues with claustrophobia.
Impeccably Clean
The water for your shower has been treated to remove most of the minerals and other dissolved solids. The water in the float rooms is additionally filtered through a reverse osmosis system, ensuring that not much but pure H2O is used as a base. Then, about 1000 pounds of USP grade epsom salts are dissolved into it. This is what makes you float. There is so much salt dissolved in this solution that it is 30% denser than normal water. That’s more dense than the Dead Sea, and so dense that a bowling ball will float. So will you, without any effort.
Are You a Germaphobe?
That’s half a ton of USP grade epsom salt dissolved in about 200 gallons of pure water. That much salt is the primary reason why the solution isn’t drained and recreated between sessions. I personally take the cleanliness of your float suite and the float solution very seriously. It is my primary concern, even above the quality of your experience. I float in these rooms on average every other day, and to be frank, I don’t want to float in someone’s dirty water, and I won’t allow this to happen to you. The float solution is maintained much like a public pool or spa, only I do a lot more. First, the concentration of magnesium sulfate makes it difficult for anything to survive, but just that alone isn’t enough. The solution is turned over (all water in the room is circulated through filter and sanitation stations) at least 8 times after your float session. It takes me an hour to clean up after your float, and I leave another hour in between cleaning to further circulate the float solution and to prepare the float suite for the next appointment. That far and above exceeds the Float Tank Association standards. The float solution is passed through a 5 micron cartridge filter, and is sanitized with ozone, UV and 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide before and after every float session. The hydrogen peroxide levels are maintained at a minimum of 100ppm at all times, and the solution is shocked to higher levels every night. All of these methods of sanitation are all natural. Ozone breaks down to oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide breaks down to water. There are no harsh residual chemicals or poisonous gas, like there are if you use chlorine or bromine. There is no such thing as germ-free, but this setup and these procedures result in water and surfaces that are clean and safe. I get the float solution lab tested frequently. If there is a problem, I will shut down the room, drain it, clean it, refill it, recreate the solution and get it lab tested again. I’m not done. Over the course of the next few months I’ll be doing more to ensure the spa is impeccably clean. This may seem excessive, but I will not compromise on cleanliness.
Don’t Take My Word for It
Here’s a great video from a previous float conference. Dr. Roy Vore is a microbiologist and expert in recreational water illness. He has spent his career studying how people get sick in pools and spas, and has recently turned his eye towards float therapy. Be warned that he talks about some pretty nasty stuff.
