Hot Tub Don'ts

Hot tubs are an amazing stable in any entertainer’s house. If you love getting people together, there is no easier way to attract people to your backyard than with owning a hot tub. Spas are relatively easy to use, but there are many bloopers out there teaching people what not to do. Before you learn these horrible experiences on your own the hard way, we will help so you don’t have to make these mistakes on your own.

The following are several “don’ts” when it comes to hot tub use:

Don’t Dive
Hot tubs are relatively shallow and this diving explanation seems like something that should not have to be posted here. The problem is when people see water, some automatically turn into an Olympic diver. Diving head first into three feet of water is never a good idea.

Don’t Fall Out of the Hot Tub
If you spend a great deal of time relaxing in the warm waters of your hot tub, you may find your muscles are loose and more relaxed than ever when you exit said spa. Make sure you go slow so that you don't fall upon exiting. Stairs can be slippery and there could be water everywhere.

Don’t Drink Too Much Alcohol
Because the hot water in a hot tub causes your red blood cells to dilate, it increases the absorption of alcohol into your blood stream and multiplies the effects of alcohol on your system. So use caution when enjoying the libations and again, watch the exit!

Don’t Get Trigger Happy on the Temperature Button
Make sure you focus on a comfortable, hot spa temperature instead of overdoing it. It can harm your health if you aren't able to handle it. Take note of the recommended hot tub settings and don’t make your tub hotter than that. US regulations limit a hot tub to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Don’t Forget To Keep It Clean
Have you ever been excited to hang out in someone’s hot tub and noticed how nasty the water looked before you got in? So you made an excuse like you had a birthday party, mother’s anniversary or work meeting to get to. Make sure to keep your water clean by keeping the sanitizer at the proper level at all times. The warm water of hot tubs can provide an ideal breeding ground for potentially harmful microorganisms if we did not initiate and maintain an effective sanitizer system to control them. Make sure you keep it clean so it is an enjoyable experience for all.

This list will help you have the most enjoyable hot tub sessions and parties in 2012, without the embarrassing mishaps that might make the top viewed YouTube videos. Check out www.SpasAndStuff.com for our latest hot tubs and accessories to make your outdoor hot tub the top place to hang out. A definite Do!

Hot Tub Daily To Help Holiday Stress

The hustle and bustle of shopping, traveling and the joy of the holidays are here, surrounding us with noise and stress at every turn. With all of the pressure of finding the perfect gift and making sure you get all your holiday baking done, there has to be a place you can enjoy and go to for relief and relaxation. Stress accumulates when you are way too busy to get everything done, or cannot find an extra minute to just relax. If the holiday stress is becoming too much to bear, we have the perfect answer for you...a hot tub of course!

Relax in a hot tub daily to help relieve stress and allow yourself to actually enjoy the holidays this year. You should make time everyday for quality time with friends and family in the hot tub, as well as help relieve stress and improve your health. Here are some creative ways to use your hot tub during these crazy holiday months:

New Years Eve Party...in the Hot Tub
The most amazing way to ring in the New Year is in a hot tub with your closest friends and family. You will be starting the New Year on the right track for health, relaxation and quality time with friends and those you love most.

Family Get-Together...in the Hot Tub
There are so many different activities pulling your family in so many different directions that you barely get to spend enough time together. Allow your family a hot tub get-together to catch up, relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Turn on the Romance...in the Hot Tub
Grab your guy or gal and head to the hot tub for some TLC. Leave a sexy note for your love and have them meet you in the hot tub. Have some romantic music on in the background and light some candles to set the mood!

Muscle & Joint Therapy...in the Hot Tub
Warm water helps soothe tired muscles and joints. A hot tub is an amazing way to reduce swelling and help soothe any sore muscles. This is a perfect option for people affected by arthritis or fibromyalgia. You can also use water as resistance to help you build up your strength.

A Man Alone in His Thoughts...in the Hot Tub
Taking a moment for yourself to think and enjoy stargazing and relaxing is one of the best things you can do for yourself during these stressful times. A moment of complete solitude in the hot tub, allowing you to get away and just relax.

Slow down and enjoy one of the creative options above to just relax and enjoy the holidays. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from www.spasandstuff.com, your factory direct hot tub source.

The Hottest Hot Tub Accessories

With the holidays right around the corner, you begin to rack your brain with ideas on what to get everyone. How about that hot tub or spa lover in your life? Does your sister and her family love spending quality time together in the spa? Does your dad relax and reap the health benefits in his hot tub? Fresh and updated spa and hot tub accessories are the perfect gift to get that person who truly enjoys their hot tub.

There are many new hot tub accessories on the market and we wanted to point out the hottest five hot tub accessories for the big upcoming holiday season:

1) Spa Cover Lifters – these are getting more and more popular as an easy way to remove the cover on your hot tub with ease. Removing and storing your hot tub cover is a breeze with some of these amazing lifts. Not only will a cover lift save your aching back, but also it will lengthen the life of your hot tub spa cover by reducing the wear and tear from dragging it on and off your spa.

2) Spa Steps – wooden steps can offer an easy way to get in and out of the hot tub with ease, while adding some style and sophistication to your spa. These steps are durable and come in a variety of woods, colors and materials. They are also available in multiple tiers depending on your preference and spa height.

3) Redwood Spa Accessories – Quality redwood hot tub and spa accessories are a must for the spa owner looking for stools, seats, tables and more. Redwood ranks highest in dimensional stability, which means it splits less, warps less, twists less and shrinks less. Redwood also holds paint better, and is virtually free of sticky pitch pockets and resins. Redwood is naturally decay resistant, which means it does not have to be treated with possibly toxic chemicals to last for years outdoors. Redwood hot tub spa accessories are unsurpassed in natural beauty, are environmentally friendly and contain no petroleum-based products. Redwood stays cool to the touch in the summer heat, provides excellent footing when wet and has centuries of proven performance in outdoor conditions. They offer a great accessory to add to any hot tub.

4) Spa Side Umbrella – these large umbrellas are perfect for a variety of environments, including warmer climates or for use during the summer, as well as colder or rainy climates to help protect you from the elements. They are beautiful, easy to use and are very space efficient. This makes a perfect gift for those with cabin hot tubs in rainy or snowy climates that use them all year long.

5) Bars, coolers and SpasAndStuff.com’s tumblers and ice bucket – these accessories are perfect for the entertaining spa owner that loves to throw social get-togethers around the hot tub. People can enjoy sitting at a bar, on bar stools, while keeping the beer cold in the cooler. These accessories are perfect to make their next social gathering a great success.

There are so many fabulous accessories available for the hot tub lover in your life. Visit SpasAndStuff.com for a variety of sizes, materials, and options to find that person the perfect addition to their spa. They won’t be disappointed!

Hot Tub Therapy in the Snow

As fall begins to take over and the warm days of summer are slowly disappearing, everyone begins to pull out their winter gear and anything that makes them think of warmer days. Your hot tub should be one of the main focuses of getting ready for winter, as it offers a supreme winter escape from the cold weather and snowy conditions. Using your hot tub in the snow is one of the greatest times to enjoy all of the amazing, warm, soothing health benefits of owning a hot tub.

Many people particularly look forward to using their hot tub or outdoor spa during the cold months. You can find snowy hot tub pictures in our customer pictures section. While this time might be one of the most enjoyable to use your hot tub, there are some things you can do to prepare it to ensure it operates properly in snowy conditions. You want to ensure your hot tub has the maximum energy efficiency, especially if you live in an area that has freezing conditions.

One of the main things you can do to protect your hot tub in the snow is to prevent the water from freezing in the piping system. This can cause major damage and is easily preventable. Most portable hot tubs and spas have a system that is designed to prevent the water from freezing in the pipes. Modern hot tubs have a freeze protection system built in. It typically functions by turning the pumps on and circulating the water if the system senses the water temperature is too cold. The circulating water should not freeze and your pipes will be protected until a service technician can repair the cause of your hot tub water not heating.

Despite the icy and cold conditions, there are ways you can help your hot tub remain energy efficient. The colder the temperatures are outside, the longer it will take to heat up the spa. At www.spasandstuff.com, we sell hot tubs that are perfect for Northern snowy climates. With high R-Value expansion foam in the hot tub cabinet, and a thick cover to hold the heat in your spa, they are very energy efficient and should not be a big cost on your energy bill.

One of the best things you can invest in is a quality insulating cover. Make sure you remove any standing snow on the cover during the day, as they are not meant to hold excessive weight. If you have ever shoveled a driveway you know that snow gets heavy! We sell the perfect tapered cover, as they are tapered for rain and snow runoff. Hot tub replacement covers can be a great investment if you live in a snowy climate. Old, heavy, water-logged covers have very little insulating value.

We suggest cleaning your spa prior to the cold, snowy months, which will help get you through until the end of winter. So take these easy steps to winter ready your hot tub and you will be enjoying one of the most exhilarating moments of being a hot tub owner—sitting in the spa while the snow falls around you.

How To Find the Right Hot Tub The First Time

It can be a daunting process to find the right hot tub once you decide to make that big leap. You want to make sure you get the right one, and don’t get a headache in the process. Here we will give you some tips on how not to get soaked when buying a hot tub, and find the right one the first time.

Tip 1 – Find a hot tub dealer that will help you with questions AFTER you buy the hot tub, not just before you get it. This is one of the most important parts of buying a hot tub, and make sure you find a dealer that you can trust. You want a company that will help you with water tips and advice, even after you set up the hot tub and begin enjoying your first soak, to make sure you will be happy for many years to come. Don’t fall for pressure at a random location, but make sure to do your homework and find someone that has a strong standing business with good referrals or reviews.

Tip 2 - Be weary of expensive add-ons and shipping costs when buying your hot tub. SpasAndStuff.com offers free shipping on all of its hot tubs, taking care of one of those costs that can add up in the hot tub buying process.

Tip 3 – Don’t buy a hot tub at a fair or carnival, where you see allegedly great deals and extremely pushy salespeople. You need to do your research before you make this big purchase, and be able to ask a knowledgeable person about hot tubs, costs and cleaning. Fairs do not offer this. Also, they are normally run by companies that move onto the next fair the next day, leaving you with a lot of questions and no one to call.

Final Tip – Don’t buy your hot tub on craigslist. Sure, you could get lucky and think it’s a great deal. The problem is the reason people are selling their hot tubs on craigslist.com is because they make be really expensive to heat or they cannot get the water clean and clear. Don’t let their lemon become your lemon.

We have many, many clients that say their hot tub was one of their best purchases, and it will offer them benefits for years to come. They are always welcome to contact us if they have nay questions, as we are here to help and ensure you are happy with your purchase. If you have any current hot tub questions, please contact us to discuss how we may be able to help.

Hot Tubs with your College Logo - Now THAT is School Pride

It started with hats and sweatshirts. Then bumper stickers, license plate frames and key chains. Now it has moved to grills, car wraps, flags you hang on your house to even hot tubs. Yes, hot tubs. College logo hot tubs are popping up all over the nation, bringing a whole new meaning to hot tub tailgating before the game. These logo spas allow die-hard fans to really show their school spirit, with new social get-togethers that involve watching the football game while sitting in a hot tub covered with your teams colors and their logo sprawled out across the side.

College football fans can be complete maniacs. Painted faces, season tickets handed down from generation to generation, and tailgating gear that makes even the party hardy college students look like beginners. Some of these guys are professionals, established with a family, but still ready to bleed their college school colors each time the football hits the turf. And boy do we have the next toy to introduce you to.

Everyone will want to hang out with you once you have one of these logo hot tubs in your backyard….or even better, if you can figure out a way to get this to the parking lot of the stadium legally.

College logo hot tubs are suddenly all the rage. With a limited number of only the die-hard college sports team getting the honor of one of these, hot tubs with college logos and names belong in every die-hard sports fan’s backyard, basement or limo headed to the next football game. These LogoTubz are portable, making them easy to move and set up a many different locations. When drained, they only weigh about 120 pounds. They are easy to install, easy to maintain and energy efficient. Sounds like the next best birthday or Christmas present for the sports fan in your life.

Head over to SpasAndStuff.com for the best deal on your LogoTub portable hot tub, and let us know if you want to see a hot tub with your team’s logo on one next!!

Cooling Down in Hot Tubs

The hot weather has arrived around the country, and many hot tub owners discontinue use of their spa during the summer months. SpasAndStuff.com thinks they are missing out on an amazing opportunity to enjoy your hot tub even when it is over 100 degrees outside. Hot tubs can be the best place to cool off during the hot summer months.

Hot tub owners can do a few things to keep the water cooler in the summer months. Start by turning the temperature down below 85 degrees. Your heater won't even cycle on. You can also remove the cover, turn on the jets on low, with the air flow open, and the hot tub should cool down a bit, at least to the level of ambient air temperature. To maintain the colder water, keep your hot tub covered on hot days so the sun doesn’t directly heat the the spa water. If possible, you may uncover your spa during the night to take advantage of the cooling effect of the cooler night air.

When it’s all said and done, you have a miniature soaking pool that is easier to maintain, and is the perfect size for a refreshing soak if you don’t have the space for a large, costly in-ground pool.

Another great benefit of cooling down your hot tub is the cost savings. Since you are setting your spa temperature very low, your spa heater will probably not cycle on at all, significantly reducing the monthly cost of electricity to run your hot tub. So as soon as the temperatures rise, run out to your hot tub and great ready for "summer mode." A cool hot tub, some ice cold lemonade and your closest friends and family sound like the perfect summer investment to me.

Just another reason to jump on the bandwagon and buy one of the great hot tubs from SpasAndStuff.com! With the numerous uses for a spa, you are truly running out of excuses, aren’t you? Let’s enjoy a refreshed, invigorating experience, while staying cool during the dog days of summer.