Helpful Tips
Documents
There are a number of documents you may wish to create to help you run and promote your centre, such as a brochure, client record forms, gift vouchers, etc. We have samples of various documents that we would be happy to send you.
Towels
You will need to consider whether you will offer a towel to each floater or whether you will tell them to bring their own. Most of our clients offer towels, which, of course, gives the additional task of washing them. There are three ways to handle this:
You can use an exterior laundry service that will pick up your used towels and drop off clean, folded towels for approximately £1 per towel.
You can wash them yourself. If you choose this option, you can either wash them yourself in an exterior launderette or,
You can buy for your centre a heavy duty, large load washer and dryer. If you wash at your centre, the machines will have to be put into a well sound-proofed room so that you can run them during the day while people are floating.
We would advise that you not try to take the towels home to do them in an ordinary machine. Our clients who have tried this option soon find themselves completely overwhelmed by the quantity of towels to be handled.
You will also have to decide whether you want (or need) to use foot mats between the float pool and the shower. The advantage of foot mats is that all you need to do between two floaters is pick up the foot mat and set down a clean one. It is our experience that floaters appreciate having a foot mat to stand on, to avoid getting their socks wet!
You can also consider a shoes-off policy. You can provide elasticised washable or disposable slippers or flip-flops and require your customers to change into them before floating. This immediately reduces noise in your centre, eliminates black marks on your floors and also sets a relaxed tone. The customers enter a pre-relaxed state as soon as they take off their shoes!
Furniture in the float room
You will not need to put much furniture in the float room. Most of our clients limit the contents of the room to a chair or bench, a shelf to put one's glasses, jewellery, etc., a trash bin and hook or two to hang one's clothes. Choose these furnishings carefully. Wooden furnishings are the best as any metallic products will rust, unless they are made of marine grade stainless steel. Our Cabins and Floataround have the technical packs attached to them which can be also used as a bench.
Cure
We are very interested in the therapeutic effects and many uses of float pools. We are not yet allowed to claim floating is a “cure” and you must avoid using this word. However, the research work which is going on by Dr. Justin Feinstein at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, Oklahoma will hopefully prove that floating does cure extreme stress, anxiety, PTSD, and other serious mental illnesses.
In the meantime, we can assure you that we have seen many examples of pain relief, reduction of swelling, accelerated healing and elimination of joint stiffness, even during the first float. It is heart-warming to see that people who have been suffering chronically find relief as well as relaxation in a float pool.
We urge you to keep a client’s comment book in reception from the beginning, and to make it available to all customers. This will allow your floaters to share their stories and read about the benefits others have found in floating.