Tub Talk With The Hot Tub Lady
Welcome to Tub Talk with The Hot Tub Lady, your ultimate relaxation destination for all things hot tub and spa-related! Dive into our weekly live podcast where host and industry expert Jacque, The Hot Tub Lady, shares her wealth of knowledge, tips, and tricks to help you create the perfect oasis in your own backyard. Tub Talk has got you covered, from maintenance advice and product reviews to interviews with leading experts and inspiring stories from hot tub enthusiasts. So grab your favorite drink, slip into your swimsuit, and let's get bubbly as we explore the soothing world of hot tubs together.
Tub Talk With The Hot Tub Lady
Innovative Hacks for a Perfectly Maintained Hot Tub
Is your hot tub a health hazard waiting to happen? Join us for an insightful conversation with Matt Givinesi from Swim University, where we break down everything you need to know about pool and hot tub care. Matt shares his expert advice on simplifying hot tub maintenance and the crucial importance of proper sanitation. We discuss the alarming health risks of an improperly maintained hot tub, making this episode a must-listen for every hot tub owner. Matt also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Swim University's mission to educate homeowners through their extensive library of articles and videos.
Struggling with water chemistry? We've got you covered. In today's episode, we delve into the intricacies of pH and alkalinity, offering practical analogies to make these concepts easier to understand. Think of alkalinity as the bodyguard that keeps your pH levels in check. We emphasize the importance of balancing alkalinity before tweaking your pH and debunk the myth of achieving a "perfect" pH level. Whether you're a chlorine devotee or curious about saltwater systems, our discussion will arm you with the knowledge to make informed decisions about your hot tub's care.
Maintenance doesn't have to be a chore. We share actionable strategies to keep your hot tub in top shape, from weekly maintenance plans to handy filter rotation systems. Discover creative hacks for managing foam and cooling down your hot tub without messing up your water chemistry. Plus, we're excited to announce the launch of a new pool water testing app that promises to make maintenance fun and interactive. Don't miss this episode packed with valuable tips and expert advice from Matt Givinesi!
Looking for answers to your hot tub questions? Look no further than Hot Tub Clarity! Our easy-to-understand guide is available now on Amazon. Simply search for Hot Tub Clarity Book and get your copy today. Plus, while you're there, check out our log books to keep your hot tub maintenance on track. Trust us, you won't regret it!
Hey Hot Tubbers, welcome to the podcast Tub Talk with the Hot Tub Lady. I am your host, jackie Johnson, and welcome to the podcast today. Today I have a very special guest. Those of you who watch on YouTube or Instagram or Facebook or anywhere else. We have Matt from Swim University, and I didn't even attempt the last name so that's perfectly fine.
Speaker 2:I try not to either.
Speaker 1:So, matt, welcome. And why don't you, let's start off. Why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself, your website, the business that you have built?
Speaker 2:So sure. So yeah, my name is Matt Givinesi Doesn't matter, but that's it and I run a company called SwimUniversitycom and I've started it in 2006. And our main primary goal is to teach homeowners how to take care of their pool and hot tub.
Speaker 1:Anything that I've ever seen you put out and anything that you've ever done is right in line with what I agree with. So we were talking, we've had a lot of the same training over the years and it just makes a difference, and so I trust what you have to say. So Matt is a good place for you guys to go if you are learning or if you are new to the hot tub world. Matt has a ton of really great information on your website. Let's talk about that for a second Universitycom, correct Yep? And let's just tell us a little bit about it. What would people find if they went there?
Speaker 2:Boy. So it's filled with pool care articles how to get rid of algae, how to clear up a cloudy pool, and super fast. There's an entire section of just pool care, saltwater care, all that kind of stuff, winterization, chemistry. We don't do product reviews, but we do recommend products through our best of lists and what we think is the best out there and then on our. But we do recommend products through our best of lists and what we think is the best out there and then on our. And we also have a hot tub category. We have a hot tub side, so we teach hot tub care.
Speaker 2:So I wonder you where we have a whole section of our website dedicated to hot tub care? Same thing water chemistry, mostly articles, every article. Probably, I would say at this point, every article has a video. So we have a YouTube channel as well where we publish every single Saturday a new video about pool care or hot tub care, mostly pool care these days. And man, we also have we're on all the social media networks. We're like, just like you were, on Instagram, we're on TikTok, we're on, we're on LinkedIn and then we link.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you ever think that you'd be posting content on LinkedIn?
Speaker 2:No, I never had a Nextel on my belt, so I felt like it was always for those people and I just no, I don't know, I didn't think they were ever going to do short form video. And they are doing short form, vertical video now. So of course we're going to be there and then, yeah, and then we have a podcast as well. So, yeah, and then we have a podcast as well. So it's just like a pool and spa education media network.
Speaker 1:And you do it incredibly well, thank you. If you are ever looking for good advice, you can definitely go to Swim University. They have some really good stuff and his content is fantastic. And you're, of course, I follow you on everything, so you're always. Every morning, I get to see your smiling face one way or the other. There's on Facebook, instagram or something, but it's great and you have. I have never disagreed with anything that you've had to say. So wonderful, that's really good. So tell me what's. Obviously, this podcast is just about hot tubs, and we do a lot. I have a lot, I work with swimming pools quite a bit but we talk about hot tubs a lot. What would you have to tell the people listening out there? What do you think is the most important thing about owning a hot tub? What do they need to do to take care of their hot tub?
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a big question. But what I try to do is not overcomplicate things, and I think the pool and hot tub industry loves to do that. They love to overcomplicate things, they love to make products that feel more complicated than they are. And something in hot tubs I just say like, when in doubt, just drain it out. I don't know, I just made that up. It's like hey, it's a small enough body of water, as opposed to a pool, where if you're running into an issue, you better be safe than sorry.
Speaker 2:But for me, I guess the most important thing is just making sure that the hot tub is sanitized. I've seen so many issues where people and I'm not a doctor, believe it or not, I didn't go to medical school, I don't even play one on the internet the amount of problems that even when I worked in the store and now on the internet they have rashes. They come back with these problems and it's just that your hot tub's not sanitized, it's unsafe to be in, and the biggest difference, too, between a pool and a hot tub is that in a hot tub it's hot, it's hot water, and hot water breeds bacteria. So it's much easier. And the thing I tell people and this usually sends the message.
Speaker 2:It gets the message across, which is a hot tub, and I know it's not the same, but imagine you filled your bathtub in your home and every single person in your family used the same water and you never drained it. You just kept using it and using it for three to four months. Would you want to do that Hot human soup? It's not a good thing to be in and, of course, with a hot tub, the body of water is much bigger. We use chemicals to sanitize it, but a lot of people there's a filter built in, so a lot of people just end up neglecting it and then just get in because it's fun. But then it's like that.
Speaker 1:It's funny that you mentioned that because I have a newer customer at this new location I'm working at and I've tested in the last three months I bet I've tested his water at least 60 times One of the one of those guys that wants to know every single day what's going on. But he's got teenage children and they, he's got track team and he's got volleyball team and all these kids are coming over using the hot tub and so it's 18 kids jumping in and out of the hot tub and he can't see the drain when they're done. And then his wife will come in in the evening and it's he's like keep putting chlorine in and I'm like you've got way more going on here than just than just what's happening here and sometimes the water, like you said, when, when in doubt, drain it out and yeah, what a what a what a specific circumstance, and that's the thing is that every tub is different.
Speaker 2:They're different sizes, they have different filtration mechanisms, they have different usage, different bather loads, and I think, yeah, that's the thing is like it helps to come into a place and get a specific plan for your specific usage and your specific hot tub. And, like, my question is how often do you tell people to test, like you don't recommend them doing it every like coming into the store every day, although that would be great, but not at all, that is yeah that's too much. What's what do you? What's your ideal like or what's your minimum?
Speaker 1:I actually tell people that they should test their water at least once a week and maybe bring it in once a month the people who try to become mad scientists and I'll say I'll give them a specific dosage. I'll say, put in two teaspoons of pH decreaser and they'll go home. They'll put in that two teaspoons of pH decreaser. Then they'll test it and want to know why I didn't fix it and you got to give it 24 hours to work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's got to mix in, it's got to dissolve an entire bottle of test strips, an entire bottle of pH up or pH down, just trying to fix something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and a lot of times with certain chemicals, if you add like over adding it. But this is really with all chemicals if you over add it and you are because you're trying to do something fast, you end up just screwing it up and just spending and wasting more money than you would have normally Correct.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Cause I, we have a pond and it's not the same. It's good, it doesn't have a traditional filter, it's the same size as a hot tub, it's not as hot but it's. It's a much more balanced ecosystem and it's. You can't, I can't just go and add a ton of like algaecide or a ton of well, can't add chlorine at all, cause it would kill all the, it would kill the wildlife. But yeah, there's like little things and I it's like just there's a patience to it a little bit Right, cause it has to work, it has to give it, you have to give it time, and I know the frustration of yeah, but I don't want it. I call them backyard chemists. Okay, it's probably a more realistic goal of it, although, yeah, I mean it to mean don't be that, because backyard chemist does sound cool, it sounds like a band, but I don't mean it to be cool.
Speaker 1:That would actually be a good name for a band we might have to. Yeah, I do know a couple band people that are looking for some names, so I might have to.
Speaker 2:I always thought chlorine was a good band name, you know what, so you can have that one.
Speaker 1:Okay, chlorine, that's actually I never, even thought about it. But why would you not use chlorine as your band name? That's good, I like it. So back to you were saying people just don't have their water sanitized enough. That is, I would say, probably the number one concern that I have about people using their hot tubs.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I've been in the industry forever and I'm sure I've seen a lot of the same things that you have. I've been to a lot of homes and seen water and some of the stuff that I've seen people soaking in a hot tub is just absolutely insane, whereas swimming pool A. It takes a lot more to mess a pool up. Yep, but people are so specific about their swimming pool they need that water to be crystal clear at all times, but they don't care that their hot tub water is foamy or green or or just bad, and that just we.
Speaker 1:Yes, you need to test it before you get in if that's going to be the type of water you want to soak in yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:Imagine all the people that just go into hotel hot tubs with not a care in the world. I'm like to me, I'm like, oh, I know too much, though that's another problem, yeah.
Speaker 1:Hotel hot tubs. There's definitely a lot going on in a hotel hot tub. I definitely have a if I can smell it and know what's going on. So that's where. I'm at in the world, if I can smell it. Yeah, if you can smell chlorine, that's not a good thing.
Speaker 2:That's not a good thing, and I used to take little sips. I'm like, oh, the pH is off, you can tell, you tell by taste, little acidic. Yeah, I'm a home brewer, so that's my hobby, and so yeah it's all. Water chemistry is like the most important thing in beer, and so it just happens to also be the thing that I do for a living. So it's like water chemistry is just surrounding my life.
Speaker 1:Once you figure it out, though, it's a piece of cake, yeah.
Speaker 2:And again, even the brewing industry loves to overcomplicate water chemistry and it's very intimidating for a lot of new brewers, but it's not, and I wonder if it's because I'm in the industry and it was like I took to it very easily. But yeah, you should see the density of just the brewing water books that are and you could do that. One of the things that we tried to answer on the website was getting through the forums and just the saturated knowledge that's out there where people and again these are the backyard chemists where they just overcomplicate this, where people and again these are the backyard chemists where they just overcomplicate this and it does make it intimidating and it does make it scary which is our channel on YouTube. One of the first videos that I did was just the idea of taking the scary out of it, because it can be intimidating when you start throwing stuff out there, even pH, and I know you said what's the most important thing, and I would say that when I talk to customers they don't.
Speaker 2:It's not sanitation, that's not their main concern, it's they have trouble balancing that and I'm like, but that's the easy part, I don't. But yeah, if you don't understand the relationship between alkalinity and pH, or just even what pH is, which I didn't take chemistry in high school, but again, I know what it is. It's just that it can be like this weird, science-y, scary concept and it doesn't really have to be. And I wonder, when you explain pH to people, what's the best way that you found to help them understand that? Because when I say, oh, if your water is acidic, if it's low in pH, they generally understand acid, right, correct?
Speaker 1:They do understand acid.
Speaker 2:But basic is really hard to understand because the word is like oh so my hot tub is just basic. That sounds fine, honestly.
Speaker 1:It's not a fine, honestly. Yeah, it's not a scary word. It's not a scary word. I have a tendency to say if we where it's basic or it's high in ph, that it's scale forming and it's going to cause a lot of scale and it's really hard on your equipment, it's really hard on you. That's typically how I describe if you've got high ph. And then I always end up bringing it back to alkalinity, because if you have high pH or acidic pH, where's your alkalinity at? Because if your alkalinity is not in line, the rest of it doesn't matter, so it's the buffer for everything else. And that's where that has helped me is that you got to start with alkalinity, get that in line and then, once that's in line, let's get your pH where it needs to be.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, I there's. One of the things that I've sort of prided myself on over the years is trying to look at water chemistry, cause I think it is it's difficult for people to understand and trying to relate that in in things in their world. That makes sense. And when you say scale, the thing that I always try to point to even though it could be that, but it's probably not is like when you look at your shower head and you see the white deposits on your shower head, that's what we're talking about, chalky I'm trying to think of. It's like swimming in baking soda. That's not going to feel good, no matter what.
Speaker 2:And it's yeah, it's incredibly harsh to the most basic thing. This is another thing I usually try to use because it doesn't register. But so with acid you can say like battery acid and people like inherently know what that feels like. It's bad. Drain cleaner is the opposite, which is which feels just like acid, but it's not, so it's. I hate that analogy because it feels bad on both ends, but I thought like people would probably think I just assumed drain cleaner was an acid because it breaks down, but no, it's like the reverse has a similar effect.
Speaker 1:But I do think people associate drain cleaner with acid and not as correct as a basic at least my take on it. And yeah, I mean when you start trying to explain the pH level in all of that and in my book. That was a really hard thing for me to tackle in something that people could understand. I know you have a book out there and how did you handle?
Speaker 2:that it's the biggest chapter in the book and yeah, it's really it's. It all starts with alkalinity. Everything starts with alkalinity for us and understanding it. And it's hard because in so, ph is a little easier for people to grasp, because there is pH up and there's pH down. Right, the chemicals are like well-labeled, correct For alkalinity. There's alkalinity increaser but there is no alkalinity decreaser. There is, it's just not in our industry, that no one's made that chemical.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, okay, how do I lower alkalinity? I'm like, okay, now that's where things start to get confusing, because it's okay, okay, you're, basically all you have to do is add acid, which is pH down, but then that's also going to bring down. So they have a relationship and I think everyone tries to get that as perfect as possible. And it's the other thing you have to remember too is it's there's a problem with perfect Cause. You're cause you. As soon as you get into the hot tub, it's going to change. As soon as you add any other chemicals, it's going to change If you had. So everything affects pH and alkalinity, but for us it's that's, and we've gotten a lot of criticism over the year, but I think, since we've we're trained in the same thing. I. We've been telling people you can keep your alkalinity, there's a, it's got a large range and we used to tell people a hunt between a hundred and 150 parts per million. That was like a and that's a large range. We now are like, okay, you can go as low as 80, but as high as 150. And that broad range is taking the hit Whenever something is introduced in your hot tub.
Speaker 2:Let's say your pH is perfect. It's at 7.5, which is not technically perfect. Perfect is seven, right, our tiers are seven, and it goes as low as zero all the way to 14. And there is no. That's the other confusing part of it is that pH is measured on its own scale. It's not measured in parts per million, it's measured in just the pH scale from zero to 14. So seven is perfect. We in the hot tub industry we keep it upwards of 7.2 to as high as 7.8. So there is a pretty large range, but we say 7.5 is perfect.
Speaker 2:Everyone, I feel like, wants to keep it there and it's it's not. It's never going to be there, it's just it's going to move. It's going to do this. But if you have alcohol, if you didn't have alkalinity, it's going to wildly fluctuate. It's going to drop to six, all the way to 18. That's going to go all over the scale. But if you have alkalinity and you jump into the hot tub, it's the alkalinity. You have that large range. That's what's taking the hit, that's the we call it. Ph is bodyguard and it's taking the hit before the pH does. So it doesn't move your pH as much. It doesn't. It's not as many damage points to your pH.
Speaker 1:That is a great analogy. That is probably the best way I've ever heard that described.
Speaker 2:That's how we explain it in the book.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is really good way. I've ever heard that described. That's how we explain in the book. Yeah, that is really good and that's. I'm gonna start selling that now and I'll push people towards it.
Speaker 2:So what's it? What is the name of the book?
Speaker 1:Oh, this was the pool care handbook pool care handbook and they get that on your website.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then we have actually the first book I ever wrote was called the hot tub handbook and it's now on its third edition, I think, because I wrote that back in 2012. Okay, it started out as a 55-page fully illustrated book and now it's a 155-page fully illustrated book, but it's only available digitally. It's not available in physical form, like the pool care one is.
Speaker 1:I will tell you, most of my books are bought digitally. I think You're doing the right thing there. Who does your illustrations? I just have to know.
Speaker 2:Me.
Speaker 1:You do them yourself. Huh, I'm pretty impressed.
Speaker 2:I designed this entire book. My wife wrote it and I designed it.
Speaker 1:That is fantastic.
Speaker 2:So I wrote the yeah, this is the second edition of the book. The first edition was only digital and I wrote and edited and designed it and then for the second round, my wife has a background, so she works with us, and my wife has a background in curriculum design. So she was, she was much better at organizing the content than I was, and so, yeah, and I've been through the book and it's very well organized and it's easy.
Speaker 1:I love how you have the chapters, the pages on the chapters and anybody who's looking for how to take care of a swimming pool that is. It's a great book.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's the best thing we've ever made, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, it's gotta, it's gotta be doing well for you. At least, I sure hope it is, because it is we. Actually I've got some new hires coming in for the swimming pool season this year and for the water lab area, and I think I'm just going to make them read it.
Speaker 2:That's what a lot of people. They buy our books to train staff, yep, and a lot of them will also buy our courses to train staff. It's not technically meant for pool and hot tub companies.
Speaker 1:No, but you have to train the staff, just like you would train a customer, and you need your staff to talk to a customer like the way that they need to be need to be trained. So you want them to learn that way, and a lot of times, especially when people first get into the industry, they don't own the product, and the fastest way to learn it is for you to actually own the product and have to go through the stuff. But if you don't and this is a good way to do it and if anybody's looking for more knowledge, your courses are fantastic.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got the swimming pool course years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been years ago. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's been around which, but that's a good thing and it's very well organized and it does. It's does a really good job. We've got Kayla just jumped on and I can't read what she says. This is what is your favorite? Sanitizer for a hot tub and for?
Speaker 2:Is that a question to me?
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:Okay, personally I like chlorine for both, because I understand it. Bromine I recognize that it is. If I had an indoor hot tub or an indoor pool, I would probably be using bromine just to reduce the chlorine smell. But personally, when it comes to hot tubs, I'm a big fan of the mineral systems, so I like keeping my either bromine it works better with chlorine, so I like keeping my chlorine at a half a part per million as opposed to three, and just using a mineral cartridge that I would replace every time I drain and clean. That's what I like.
Speaker 2:Personally is that system, whether it's built in, great if it was built into the hot tub. There's companies like the one we sold the first one I think that ever came out in the market was the Nature 2. Right, which, from my understanding, is a split between silver and copper as your minerals, and I believe they have a patent on that, so you can't add silver to another product. So I think all of that and I could be speaking out of turn here, but from my understanding all of the other mineral products are copper-based.
Speaker 1:I believe so. And I believe that is true with Addies as well.
Speaker 2:Yep Addies is copper-based. They specifically say you can only use it with chlorine. There's only one product that I found that, actually only one mineral product that I found that you can use with bromine, or at least they claim you can use a bromine which is leisure. Time makes one.
Speaker 1:I have not worked with that one yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, just it's purple, that's all I know. Yeah, so I I just discovered it, so I haven't even I haven't tested it out yet. But yeah, that's the one Cause I get that question a lot of. I want to use minerals, but I don't want to use chlorine, and so I'm like, oh, that's the only one I found that says on the package that you can do that, but and yeah, you would keep your bromine relatively low. But yeah, outdoor pool, outdoor hot tub, I'm using chlorine with minerals.
Speaker 1:I'm a chlorine girl I've, so everybody knows I'm a Caldera Hot Springs salesperson and we did do bromine for a while with the Addys. When Addys first came out it was a bromine cartridge and a mineral cartridge, and I think three years or so. We had to do that and I'm not going to lie, I hated it the entire time.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm just not a fan of bromine. I just don't like the product. I don't like how much more I have to pay attention to my pH and alkalinity.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I don't like the smell. That's my own personal thing. Now I have a ton of customers who really love bromine and I think if you're looking for really easy bromine tablets is one of the easiest way to take care of your hot tub. It does require some. You need to pay attention on your side.
Speaker 2:You need to pay attention to that pH and alkalinity, and that's a big deal. I'm, of course, salt is my number one. I'm a I was going to ask you about. I have a lot to ask you in this category because I get mixed. I get a lot just from the comments on social. I get a lot of hate for salt and it's mostly from the industry.
Speaker 1:Correct A hundred percent it's, it's mostly from the industry. Correct A hundred percent.
Speaker 2:It's going to be from the industry.
Speaker 1:So and I'm going to I'm not going to lie when they put that first saltwater hot tub in my backyard, I kicked and scream all the way through it, because I've been through saltwater on swimming pools a lot and what my experience was with swimming salt and swimming pools is that people would get too comfortable, they would forget about it and just go on autopilot, and then July 4th would happen. And then all of a sudden we got a chlorine demand and it's costing thousands and thousands of dollars, and so I didn't want anything to do with the salt system on my hot tub. And they pretty much said you're taking it, this is, I don't care. You're putting a new hot tub in your backyard and you're taking your salt system.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you'll like it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that was seven years ago, and I will tell you that when I got it one, the water feels amazing. You only have to change it once a year. I'm going to be honest that I actually changed mine twice a year, just because it's just easier sometimes. There is a learning curve. You do have to figure out the learning piece of that. One of the biggest things is your hardness has to be below 75 part per million or lower. If it's not, you're beating your head up against the wall. So you have that going on. And then you got to figure out, especially on the Watkins product, who's the ones that I'm the most familiar with.
Speaker 1:If the salt level gets too high, the salt system will shut down and people misread the salt. They didn't do a very good job when they first came out with it. There's a dial on there that tells you they call it salt, but what it's actually measuring is the connectivity in the salt cell and how much salt in the water. So it's measuring two things. So it's telling you that the salt cell is bad, but it looks like you need more salt in your hot tub, and so people were adding more salts instead of replacing their salt cells the first time around they didn't put enough coating on those salt cells and they were burning out way too quickly. They have fixed that problem since and it has been absolutely amazing. And now they've got I don't know if you've heard about it, but the freshwater iq. It actually melts into the to the hot tub now and it'll actually test the water for you and tell you exactly what you need to add.
Speaker 1:So far, so good. I've only got three or four of them out there and I'm getting a new one myself, but I've what I've had in the showroom and the few that I have out there. They've done incredibly well and I'm really happy with that and I think it's going to change the industry, and I've tested every monitor that's out there And'm sure you have to whether it's eye care, suture or whatever yeah they're finn, remember finn finn yes, I do remember finn.
Speaker 1:Finn actually did a lot of things right and people were I think finn was the best one it honestly it was and I don't know, and then hayward buried it they, yes, they did and didn't come out with something, something to replace it, which?
Speaker 2:no, I no, I don't know, I don't know why. I mean we uh, the other one we had before that was I think nameco did one, that was I don't think that's right, I don't.
Speaker 1:Oh, game, it was game uh, I wasn't familiar with that one oh, it was.
Speaker 2:It had it took 4d batteries. It was not the best. It was not the best. I don't think they make it anymore. But yeah, finn was a finn. I had high hopes. It looked the nicest.
Speaker 1:It was small footprint, yeah yeah and it did well, but in. So my experience with all of those and any of those that I have tested and work with, is that they lose connection quite a bit.
Speaker 1:So yeah, they lose connection with the wi wifi or they lose connection with their Bluetooth. It is really super cool that it's on your phone and you can see it on your phone and you know exactly what's going on with the Caldera and the hot Springs. New thing that they're doing there is no app yet, and so it is just all on the hot tub itself. It's just all on the hot tub, but there's no. You're not losing that connection. You know what, though?
Speaker 2:That's better. Who wants all those notifications all day?
Speaker 1:Exactly who. If I'm an hour and a half away from my hot tub, I don't need to know that my pH is right, I need to add two teaspoons.
Speaker 2:It's just adding more anxiety to your life. You don't think you need it it.
Speaker 1:It really is. It's one more ding. One more ding that I just don't need. So I'm super excited for it, and at first I was upset that you couldn't control it from your phone. But the more I think about it, because when are you going to do it? You're going to be looking at the hot tub anyway when you need to know how much chlorine it needs to add or how much more salt it needs to have.
Speaker 1:So I think it's going to be a game changer for the industry. I'm super excited for it. It is. It does only work with their salt systems. So there is that.
Speaker 2:And you don't. You didn't see any issues with corrosion with using salt, all those years.
Speaker 1:Never Not one yeah. Now, with that being said, I have tried to put salt on hot tubs that were not salt related.
Speaker 2:So after market salt water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, weren't were not salt related so after market salt water. Yeah, the yeah weren't made. They didn't have a circulation pump. That's huge. Don't ever put a salt on a tub that doesn't have a circulation pump. You got to have that moving all the time. Um, I do take that back. There were some was some issues with speakers yeah that was an issue and there were some jets there for a little bit that were having some crows in it. Just the collars, just the beauty collars.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was the issue a while back too and I don't know if they've. I'm sure they've fixed this problem since. But products like Soft Swim and Bakwa Spa and all those like peroxide or berguinine based sanitizers, which I do not recommend, but they were corroding a lot of the hot tub parts, and then hot tub companies, manufacturers were like please don't use this. I don't know if that's changed because I'm not in on the hot tub selling side of things, but I'm sure it has.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so if it other than the Watkins saltwater ready tubs even. Watkins will say if it's not saltwater ready, do not put salt on it and don't use it.
Speaker 2:So you wouldn't recommend people put aftermarket saltwater systems in their hot tub if they don't have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I haven't seen it work yet. I've tried it a couple of times. We've done it a few times on used tubs, because anytime I post a hot tub on Marketplace, the first question every single time is it salt? Is it salt?
Speaker 2:It's so crazy. We're seeing it too, just from the amount of people that have questions about salt, or the amount of people who think it's. The other interesting part about salt, which is people think it's special and it is, but it is just chlorine, it is just hypochlorous acid, so it's, it's just the same stuff.
Speaker 1:It is just chlorine. The water is softer. I yeah Cause yeah, you have to make it softer if it yeah.
Speaker 2:So I mean imposter water. So, nice and soft.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the so the water has to be softer, and you can't just make your chlorine water that soft, because then again you're now you're corroding the hot and you can't just make your chlorine water that soft, because then again you're now you're corroding the hot you're eating, right, you've got the salt in there to offset that and so that works really well. But and then you don't have to add as much chlorine. But if it gets away from you, you can still you got to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, still chlorine hot tub it's still chlorine hot tub and I am shocked with the amount of people who come in to the showroom when I'm on the sales floor who think that a saltwater hot tub is like an Epsom salt bath, that you're going to get health benefits from it. And yeah, the water is softer, but it's not an Epsom salt bath.
Speaker 2:It's not magnesium.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's not going to do what, and I just hate breaking people's heart when you have to tell them that it's not what you think it is. It's amazing and I absolutely love it and I think everybody should have a saltwater hot tub. But there are definitely a lot of misconceptions out there what saltwater is.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Why is the industry so upset about it? Certain parts, obviously.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because they don't have the technology to do it, and some of the stuff that Watkins has done is patented.
Speaker 2:Oh, I see.
Speaker 1:They're expensive, it's expensive to build a saltwater hot tub. It is. They have to do some things and they don't want to do it. They don't want to add the extra equipment and the extra stuff to make it and they don't want to warranty it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes sense. Yep, it does make sense.
Speaker 1:If my experience in the whole industry and I've sold them all is nobody, really none of the manufacturers really want to warranty anything.
Speaker 2:They will Sure, they do.
Speaker 1:But if they can figure out how to not warranty it, that would solve everything. And unfortunately somebody along the way, at the very beginning, put these massive warranties out and now that's the only way people will buy hot tubs.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and now.
Speaker 1:that's the only way people will buy hot tubs, so and? But I do think that's how the dealer base is staying in business, Cause, just like everything else, everything's moving to the web and the sooner they, as soon as they start cutting those warranties down to nothing then it's going to keep pushing it that way.
Speaker 2:And yeah, people still wet test right.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, definitely they still wet test, they still. It's not like it was, though. I remember 15 years ago everybody wet test and now you get three or four in a month maybe, but it was like a party in our showroom.
Speaker 2:There's always people in there. It was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, party in our showroom. There's always people in there. It was, yeah, and we have a room where we can shut the door and that type of thing, but people don't do it as much as they used to, but I do offer it to every single person I'm talking to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but All right, kayla's on here and she says I haven't read this, kayla, so I hope this is good. I have seen ads for a hotel saying that they're sailing pools. Do you think saltwater is growing that quickly that it already needs a new spin on the business, or to be able to capitalize over one, over another?
Speaker 2:You mean like just using the word saline instead of salt?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I think people really like salt. I think like regular, like regular non-industry people love it. But it's a selling point? I think yes, for sure. If you like I know not hotels, but gymnasiums that have pools will put it in their marketing language hey, we have a saltwater pool, so it's healthy, so people use it because they have. People just think Epsom salt.
Speaker 1:And I think that's. I think that's. People hear the word saltwater and they assume that it's just good for you.
Speaker 2:And yeah, it's ocean saltwater. Yeah, we just did a video on this which is like the ocean is 35 000 parts per million of salt, right, which is insane. And then I guess the question we get to is if I'm worried about switching to salt because I'm worried it's going to taste like salt and I'm like it's not. Of course it does, but it's not.
Speaker 1:It's what's it doesn't do like when you go in the ocean and you get salt in your hair and it's just. Yeah, it's just ick, you have to take a shower after being in the ocean versus being in a saltwater pool. Those are only 3,000 parts per million. Right, that's like nothing. You can taste the salt in that, but you almost have to try yeah.
Speaker 2:The ocean is 10 times more, so it's insane.
Speaker 1:And then on the saltwater hot tubs, it's only 1750 parts per million.
Speaker 2:Right, so it's even half a pool.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So you can't even I don't think you can taste it in a hot tub, but I'm just not one to drink hot tub water. No.
Speaker 2:Just a little sip. I want to know what the pH is. Just a little sip.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying I've never done it, because everybody brings their water bottles or water samples in water bottles or if. I'm out running the route and I pick up a bunch of water samples. They're always in my drink holder and I always end up having a sip myself. But that's interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What other advice would you give a hot tub owner?
Speaker 2:That's a good question, I think, just I think having a plan honestly it's just so. This is really hard for people to do and I understand that, but I would take a course. It's really hard to read a blog post or read it, or watch this one video and think you're going to get all the information. I think it's important to do get your book or get a course where it's laid out in a very specific, it's laid out in order of what to do, and then sit down and write out your weekly plan, write what it is you're going to do and pick a day.
Speaker 2:I like picking Sundays of every Sunday night or every Sunday afternoon. Maybe you haven't, maybe in this case, a little notification on your calendar is helpful to be like hey, it's time to do your hot tub maintenance steps, which it's like test the water at, adjust any chemicals that need to be adjusted, make sure that, let the filter run with the cover off, make sure you turn the air. There's like, whatever it is, put that Cause again, it's going to be different for everybody, but put that into some sort of checklist where every day, every week, is just at minimum, once a week you just perform those maintenance tasks and I feel like for a lot of home care stuff.
Speaker 2:If you just had that little cheat sheet or had a little thing that popped up on your phone, it's hey, it's Sunday, it's time to do your hot tub maintenance. Or it's time to do your pool maintenance. Or like I have two ponds, it's time to do your pool maintenance. Or like I have two ponds, it's time to do pond maintenance. It's like all of these things and it's just, but it's not just enough to be like okay, it's time to go do maintenance, and you go out there and wing it. You should go out there and have a checklist of things to do and you do it every time.
Speaker 2:And the more consistent and consistency is the key here the more consistent you are, everything is just going to. Everything just gets easier. Problems are not as severe and again, that goes for pretty much everything in your home, like your water heater, your dryer, vents, literally everything. So I feel like, just like any other people I know people don't do this with their cars, but their cars tell them like, hey, every 3 000 miles or 6 000 miles, you need to get your oil changed. It's okay, as long as you had that consistency, I think that, honestly would save so much money and so much aggravation and time.
Speaker 1:I agree a hundred percent. When I'm talking to people, I always I try to equate it to it's like mowing your lawn. You have to mow your lawn every single week. If you don't mow your lawn, you've got it just gets harder, it's hard, it's harder and it costs more money and it's more of an effort and so much involved. And so if you once a week would I know nobody's going to do this but once a week clean your filter, check your water level test everything.
Speaker 1:If you just do those three things on a weekly, you'd be amazed how much your hot tub is going to stay crystal clear until it's time to change it.
Speaker 2:You know what I think too. This is something that I do for just things in my home. But I have this little. It's like an open basket, it's made by Craftsman, it's just a toolkit. It was like $14. And it's got a handle and I keep all of my supplies in there, Like my.
Speaker 2:I have a little pocket for everything and it's this is the bag that I take out to the hot tub and it's this has everything I need in it and I do the things that I need to do, and then I put everything back in the bag and then I go put it back in the garage and it's that's like just having something as simple as that. A $14 organizational, like caboodle, if you will. If that's an old school reference, it's like, yep, people of a certain age will get that reference, and yeah, it's that. I think that is just a little handy thing to have and a little tip to be like and it makes it a little fun because you, like, you're going out there, you got your, you got everything you need. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's fantastic advice. I do agree with that, so I like that a lot. What? How tell me about? Cause I do have a lot of people that listen that are inflatable hot tub owners, and I'm sure you get a ton of questions about inflatable hot tubs. We both know it's the fastest growing category in the industry. What's your advice there?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a. That's a really hard one because it doesn't operate the industry. What's your advice there? Oh, that's a really hard one because it doesn't operate the same. It has a lot of the same components, but I so I treat it the way that I would treat an Intex pool and I know Intex is a specific brand of pool, but it's the. You could call it a stock tank pool. It's a very similar. Uh, quick set is another brand.
Speaker 2:Blow up pool, not a kiddie pool, that's just a plastic bucket of water, but something that has at least a filter system for those. It's. It's. Those are the easiest to me to take care of because it is simply draining and refilling. I don't, you're not. Obviously you want to keep your filter clean at all times, but you're not doing the plumbing stuff like, you're not doing any purges, you're not like it. It the I don't even know what's the heater element, those things are just like. It's just. I guess it's the same as a hot tub heater, it's just not as intricate and it's not as advanced. But yeah, you, you really don't have to. I think one, the, because a lot of them are. I'm trying to think how many gallons is like the average one like 300 gallons, maybe 250. Those are super small.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 250 is probably.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it's just like a pool, like everyone tries to use pool chemicals for those and it's just way too much. So everything is just cut in half. So make sure you bring your teaspoons for your chemistry. So the chemistry is all the same, but again it's. They're so easy to drain and refill that I think it's just. It doesn't have to be as complicated as owning a like a true portable hot tub.
Speaker 1:Don't, and even with portable hot tub owners, it is like you said at the very beginning of the podcast when in doubt, drain it out. It's. It's such a small amount of water and if you get a big pump you can drain those in 15 minutes and back up and running. The best advice I could give an inflatable pool customer is buy lots of filters, you're good.
Speaker 2:Inflatable hot tub. You mean yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Inflatable hot tub. You're going to replace those filters, just replace them.
Speaker 2:And they're usually poor quality filters. Right, we're not talking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 10 square feet versus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good, that's a good advice. Yeah, I just yeah, that's it Like for us. We always tell people to keep, just always keep a backup, like a perfectly brand new backup on hand, Especially when you're cleaning one. You can just swap out with a clean one and then just keep constantly swap out until one starts to fray and then replace it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that was probably something I learned from you years ago. I'm glad I get to actually talk to you, because I don't know if you realize how much you've impacted my life, and I'm sure you. I did not know A lot of other people in the industry's life but I'm pretty sure I got the advice from you years and years ago is to have a second set of filters. I actually have three sets of filters, so I have one set of filters in the hot tub.
Speaker 1:I have one set of filters I just leave soaking in the filter cleaner. I'll actually leave it for a month I don't know if I got that from you, but that's what I do and I have a third set in the garage dried ready to go, and I just rotate those all once a month and I usually get three to four years out of those filters if I do it that way.
Speaker 2:And you don't have an issue with keeping it in the solution for that long.
Speaker 1:No, I'll leave it, usually about a month because I'm just lazy. The reality is I'm just lazy and that's what I do, and they clean out real good and I make sure that my solution is mixed correctly If you overdose the solution then it gets acidic and then you start having issues with the filters falling apart.
Speaker 2:Do you keep a lid on it?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Like a lid on the bucket. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if it's really hot then it'll get moldy and that's gross. But oh, really Okay, yeah, so if it gets to be in that a hundred degree heat that we get in.
Speaker 1:South Dakota. Sometimes then we'll do it, but or I'll just drain it and go that way. I'll usually use that solution for two to three months and it works pretty good. And then the advice I got the other day, not too long ago, which you would think after 20, some years in this industry. But letting them dry and not, I was always told that help keep the suds down. But if you actually let them dry it tightens up that weave. If you think about a pair of jeans in a dryer dry that those jeans are tighter than they were when you took them off. So it's that same thing as those weaves get tighter on that filter and then it filters a little better. Cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, where did you hear that from?
Speaker 1:I think I heard that from Alyssa from BioGuard the trainer there.
Speaker 2:But then as soon as they get wet, wouldn't they just expand again? Probably, but it's not nothing, it definitely makes sense.
Speaker 1:And it definitely does cut down on the suds if you didn't get them rinsed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It definitely helps out on that quite a bit.
Speaker 2:but yeah, interesting, let's test that out. Out on that quite a bit, but yeah, interesting, let's test that out.
Speaker 1:So it's, yeah, it was. And then again it just in where I live and you know I'm in South Dakota, you, there's no place that you can't clean them in the winter you can't get the hose out and clean your filter. This winter was fantastic. It wasn't an issue, but a lot of winters. You just you can't do it. And of course, as that's the number one service call in the winter is a dirty filter, because it shuts the tub down and yeah, she got like an indoor utility sink.
Speaker 1:Not everybody has. It's a challenge, best hack that you've ever learned for a hot tub that you're just not going to find in most places.
Speaker 2:Yours.
Speaker 1:Oh, which one was that?
Speaker 2:The shop vac one.
Speaker 1:My husband just did that this afternoon again.
Speaker 2:I bought that shop. So I have that shop vac and I bought it for the reason I bought it was for home brewing. I was like cleaning up grain out of my grain, out of my mash tun, and then I saw your hack and I'm like I didn't never thought to use it for that. Yeah, I've used it. I've used it for. I used it for draining out the foot wells, but I never just thought about just sucking the foam off the top.
Speaker 1:Cause, if you think about it, cause foam is a sign of an issue, some way shape or form, yeah, and when we shock something, you're oxidizing that out and you're getting it to foam up and show up on top of the tub.
Speaker 2:And if you physically remove that.
Speaker 1:That's one less thing the chemicals have to work on.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it was. It's literally the fastest way to get rid of foam.
Speaker 1:It works pretty well. So that, or if a leaf blower actually works faster, even if you take a leaf blower to it and just blow the foam off. If you're outside if you're outside, yes, yeah, that's.
Speaker 2:I use leaf blowers for the cover, like for, specifically, pool covers, like blowing off snow even and cause we get really light snow in Colorado. So it's, you can use a leaf blower to actually get rid of snow. But yeah, okay, yeah, If you're outside, that makes sense. You can just blow it off one one fell swoop.
Speaker 1:Yes, so just the foam, not the water. You just get it off.
Speaker 2:Just the foam, that would cool down your hot tub too, wouldn't it, if you were looking to cool down your hot tub?
Speaker 1:It would Do you have a good cool down tip, because I get a lot. I have a ton of family in Arizona.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I don't. I've watched other videos where I've seen tips from people in Texas that have done it and I'm like, yeah, there's ways, but I don't, it's just. It's like the easiest way or the most, the one that's like the most, oh duh, is just adding bags of ice into the hot tub, but honestly, it doesn't really cool it down that much.
Speaker 1:It doesn't and it's, and then you're jacking with your water chemistry when you do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think if you maybe did anything if there was anything I could that would that makes a little bit more sense. To me is to get a bigger. Not the chunky ice you buy for like parties, but getting one solid block of ice. I don't know like you could. I guess like fill, contain oh, this is something you could do as well.
Speaker 2:Filling what? Like? Just getting water jugs, like plastic water jugs, and just freezing them solid. So you have to empty a little bit of water out because it'll expand, but just freezing them and putting them in the hot tub. That won't affect your water chemistry and it's. And it adds a solid block of ice which has more surface area and it will dissolve slower. So it because as soon as you add all that like loose ice, because of all of the surface area, it's just going to melt and dilute into your water, whereas if you think about it, I'm just thinking like in terms of a cocktail. If you have one giant cube, that cube lasts forever, as opposed to ice that's all broken up and so, as the water is constantly being heated, you have something that's stopping it from getting overheated. Is this larger block? So I that makes the most sense to me is to just do yeah, plastic water jugs, empty a little bit of water out, freeze them completely and just let them float until they're water again.
Speaker 1:So I I did try that one time. It takes probably four, four gallons to yeah, I would imagine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was going to say five, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did. I did one gallon one time and that was a joke. That was a complete waste of my time.
Speaker 2:And obviously turn off the heat too, turn it down to 80 at least.
Speaker 1:And then the tennis ball hack is the only other thing that I've kind of found. If you just put a tennis ball underneath the control panel just to vent it, that seems to help a little bit and turn the heat off, obviously. But yes sorry, sometimes, when it's hot, they're. They're not swimming pools, they are hot tubs they're not.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're hot tubs, except swim spas. They're all hot. They're also hot tubs they, yes, they are.
Speaker 1:And then now the big cold plunge thing. Have you gotten it? Yeah how's how? How are you handling the questions on that?
Speaker 2:Not getting them.
Speaker 1:You're not getting any cold plunge.
Speaker 2:I guess we don't have enough tech bros in our audience to facilitate those questions. We've gotten this many questions about cold plunges.
Speaker 1:Really, I'm shocked to hear that.
Speaker 2:And when I say this, many for the audio listeners, it's a big fat zero, big fat zero. Yeah, I've gotten no questions about it.
Speaker 1:I've actually gotten quite a few just how to take care of them, and it's a bigger challenge than you think. You would think, oh, just treat it like you treat a hot tub or a swimming pool the water it doesn't quite know it's my best advice is to drain them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I would tell people. Or you have to treat oh man, yeah, I would just tell people to drain it. But if I were to really think about it, I would probably treat it like a giant glass of bottled water. Or you have to treat it like a swimming pool, like the tiniest of, like a stock tank pool, essentially, yeah.
Speaker 1:But because it's so cold, it like, yeah, it's just going to cause issues. So my take on it was I thought, oh, we could just pre-dissolve the chemical, because you definitely can't put the powdered chemical in there. But I've had a lot of problems with calcium dropping out of solution when I start doing that. So that would make sense, yeah so I don't, I haven't figured out exactly what it's not that much water, right?
Speaker 2:they're like they're only one person big right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're 120, 180 gallons and yeah, and honestly the best, and they'll last quite a while because the water is so cold, nothing grows.
Speaker 2:So nothing can grow in it. So, something can grow in it, but yeah you're not going to get algae or anything with that, yeah correct.
Speaker 1:We have wrapped up an hour already, believe it or not. I knew this would go really simple and really easy. One more time for all the listeners and everybody out there. Where can we find you at?
Speaker 2:You can go to swimuniversitycom. That's our main hub. We also have a YouTube channel. If you search Swim University, we're there. We publish every single Saturday. We're on Instagram, we're on TikTok, we're on X or Twitter, whatever. We're on LinkedIn, we're on Facebook all the social media networks, social media channels and we publish three times a week. We publish Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And yeah, on our website you can sign up for our email list. We publish about two newsletters a week, sometimes three, depending on what the season is. And yeah, we got the book, we got the courses. Yeah, we got an app coming out. So it's exciting.
Speaker 1:Oh, an app. Can you tell me anything about the app, or is it just? You got an app coming out.
Speaker 2:We have an app coming out. It's just for pools for now, so it's basically just to help people test their water.
Speaker 1:Fantastic, it's needed.
Speaker 2:It's needed. Yeah, there are others, but we're doing it our way, so it should be fun.
Speaker 1:I'm excited. You'll have to let me know when it's.
Speaker 2:I will. I definitely need a beta testers.
Speaker 1:So I would love to be on the list, for sure. So awesome. That is super exciting, and thank you so much for joining me today. It was, it was a blast. I really did enjoy having you here and appreciate it. We will. We will talk soon. And, guys, if you're looking for some advice on how to take care of your hot tub and your swimming pool, be sure to check out Matt at Swim University and we will talk to you guys very soon.
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