Do have the time of your life chilling out in your hot tub. Do entertain people in the garden, along with the kids and dogs, and do have a wonderful time. But please don’t do any of these! Here are 54 things you shouldn’t do as a hot tub owner.
54 hot tubbing mistakes to avoid
Don’t…
- Just buy what you like the look of, or the biggest, the smallest, or the cheapest. Instead take your time, do the research, and buy what works for the users, occasions, and the amount of garden or indoor space
- Install it on a wobbly, soft or wonky surface. It has to be flat, solid, and strong
- Install it under trees. Greenfly, whitefly, blackfly and various other insects poop out a sticky residue that makes cleaning the cover and sides a chore
- Let the dog get in the tub. It’s super-cute but a hot tub is no place for a dog’s backside
- Leave the cover off overnight so it gets dusty, full of leaves and dead insects
- Economise by not buying a fitted hot tub cover when your tub could get damaged a lot easier without one
- Drop stones, pebbles, sticks, toys, mud, grass or anything else in it
- Forget to shower first. It’s the best way to do it because everyone gets in the water nice and clean
- Sanitize it less often than the manufacturer says you should
- Climb up the sides. Special hot tub steps with grippy bits or an actual hot tub ladder are your best bet
- Block the skimmers
- Block the suction fittings
- Jump around in a tub, empty or full
- Stick your fingers, toes or anything else in the jet holes or anywhere else they don’t belong
- Leave little kids alone in it
- Put essential oils in it
- Forget it isn’t a bath. Don’t get in when you’re sweaty or dirty, it can stop the filters working properly and damage the water’s chemical balance
- Let anyone run wild in, on, or around it
- Leave it full of water through winter so the pipework freezes
- Wee in it. Seriously, people do!
- Let wet feet make puddles of gloopy mud you could fall on
- Ignore the weather forecast
- Store an inflatable hot tub somewhere it could get stolen
- Use glass or ceramic cups, glasses and plates
- Stay in the hot tub so long you feel sick and look wrinkly
- Let children near the control panel
- Get legless and drown yourself
- Forget to turn the heat off so it steams away for days wasting energy
- Drink the water 😉
- Cram too many people into a hot tub that’s too small for them all
- Risk getting into a panic if someone needs first aid. Keep a first aid kit handy
- Splash other people when they don’t want to be splashed
- Get into an empty hot tub
- Dive or belly flop in it
- Go hot tubbing in a thunderstorm
- Get in with wounds, cuts or scrapes
- Use or leave mains powered electrical gadgets near the tub
- Go in with bare feet when you’ve got a verruca or wart. Cover it with a waterproof plaster first
- Let the area around it get dangerously slippery
- Burn yourself on a hot day. Sail shades and hot tub parasols let you stay outdoors for longer without the burn
- Forget sunshine on water can dazzle. You might want to wear shades
- Do without a shower afterwards – it’s important to wash the chemical residue off and you’ll smell better
- Assume clear water is always clean
- Forget to fit a drain so the water soaks away somewhere sensible. You don;’ty want it flowing into your flowerbeds or house
- Fall asleep in it
- Stay in if you’re too hot, or feel faint or dehydrated
- Get in if you feel ill
- Use phones and tablets in the tub
- Get in if you have a medical condition that says you shouldn’t
- Put bubble bath in the tub
- Forget to ask your home insurance company if it’s already covered and if not, whether they’ll cover it
- Use any chemicals other than those recommended by the maker
- Set it to the top temperature first time. If you go straight to the maximum you might find it’s way too hot
- Only use the built-in hot tub thermometer. Double check with a second thermometer
Now you know what not to do, you can go forth and do all the fantastic things you can do with a hot tub! We wish you a great time. If you haven’t bought your hot tub yet, take a look at our collection.
