Skin Care Tips For Hot Tub Users
The hot, bubbling water of your spa is the most relaxing thing in the world, but if you’re part of the Sensitive Skin Club, it can cause skin dryness. Here are a few helpful tips to ensure your skin stays soft, supple, and irritation-free, even with frequent hot tub usage.
Choose Your Liquids Wisely
While it can be tempting to pour yourself a glass of wine to enjoy while relaxing in your spa, people with sensitive, dry skin should avoid doing this. The combination of alcohol and chemically-treated water can have a negative impact on your skin, resulting in dry patches.
Additionally, alcohol acts as a diuretic and causes your kidneys to work harder, which results in more trips to the bathroom and thus, less time spent relaxing. Instead of reaching for a refreshing beer, drink a few glasses of ice water. While enjoying your hot tub, it’s important to drink adequate amounts of water to stay hydrated and protect your skin.
Invest in a Spa-Safe Moisturizer
Utilizing a spa-safe moisturizer is an important step in helping your skin retain its moisture during a hot tub session. You should look for ones that are oil-free and don’t contain harmful chemicals that could clog your filter. A great option is available from inSPAration Spa and Bath.
It’s a non-foaming, non-bubbling formulation that doesn’t impact the water’s pH. Its emollients guard your skin against the drying effects of chemicals and hard water deposits. Simply lather your skin in this lotion, or any similar spa-safe product, prior to hopping in and you’ll help to minimize skin dryness and irritation.
A Lukewarm Shower Will Make All the Difference
The chemicals used to keep your hot tub clean protect you from harmful contaminants like bacteria, but they can also make your skin feel dry after repeated exposure. If you’re looking for a way to combat this, try taking a lukewarm shower after each soak and gently patting yourself mostly dry with a towel.
When your skin is still a little damp, coat your skin with a moisturizer like Curel’s Hydra Therapy, Jergens Wet Skin Body Moisturizer with Shea Butter Oil, or Nivea Cocoa Butter In-Shower Body Lotion. This will help your skin retain hydration properties for a longer period of time.
Keep Your Water Chemistry Balanced
Skin irritation after a soak is often a sign that your water chemistry is off, not a reaction to properly balanced chemicals. Water that’s too high in chlorine or has a pH outside the recommended 7.4 to 7.6 range will dry out your skin and cause itching or redness far faster than balanced water ever would.
Testing your water at least twice a week and adjusting as needed protects both the people in the tub and the tub itself. And if you still notice irritation even with balanced water, bromine is worth considering as an alternative sanitizer. It tends to be gentler on sensitive skin while keeping your water just as safe.
Hot Tub Rash
Hot tub rash is a skin condition caused by bacteria that survive in poorly maintained water. It usually shows up as red, bumpy, or itchy patches within 12 to 48 hours of a soak, and it’s most common when pH or sanitizer levels dip too low.
The good news is that it’s almost entirely preventable. Keeping your sanitizer in the correct range and shocking your water regularly stops the bacteria responsible from ever taking hold. If a rash does appear and doesn’t clear up within a few days, it’s a good idea to check in with your doctor. The condition is treatable and rarely serious.
The Right Size Makes Maintenance Easier
Getting the size right is part of the skin care equation, too. A hot tub that’s too small for the number of regular users means the water chemistry shifts faster, calling for more frequent adjustments and raising the odds of an imbalance between treatments.
Our hot tub sizes guide walks through the full range of options, from compact 2-person models to larger 7- and 8-person configurations, so you can match your tub to how you actually plan to use it.
The Right Brand Helps, Too
The brand and model you choose also affect how easy it is to maintain the kind of balanced water that’s gentlest on skin. Hot Spring® Spas, for example, include the FreshWater® Salt System as standard on Highlife® Collection models, generating chlorine from salt at a consistently lower, more stable level than manual dosing can.
If you’re still weighing your options, our guide to the best hot tub brands breaks down what sets each one apart, from water care systems to insulation and long-term reliability.
Give Us a Holler
Are you interested in learning more about how to protect your skin during hot tub soaks? Contact us today and we’d be happy to provide you with additional information regarding gentle water care products to utilize, spa-safe products, and more.
