I’m Sophie, and I lead the Kent Hydrolife team, welcome to my blog! All my colleagues will definitely agree I’m a major geek, teachers pet and I am so enthused by anything to do with hot tubs! In my
opinion, I can never have enough knowledge as there are always new things to learn. So, I want to take this time to feed back all the amazing facts I have learnt over the past year and a half with Hydrolife.
Ever wondered what are hot tubs made from, what magic lies behind that hot tub cabinet, and how all those hot bubbles appear and give you that unbeatable massage? Well, you’re in the right place! Many of us focus so much on what can be seen on the outside of a hot tub, that we really do just forget to ask those more basic questions like ‘what are hot tubs made of?’.
Let’s take an imaginary step back in time to 1920, this is where it all began! As you may already know this is back when the Jacuzzi Brothers immigrated to the US determined to change the world with their inventions. They started with the aviation industry, and this led to the creation of the agricultural pump. In 1940’s Candido Jacuzzi then redesigned this pump to the J300™ hydromassage pump we know and love today! With any brands it’s always great to have a strong heritage with an exciting back story, this makes it easy to understand “what is a Jacuzzi” and how hot tubs started to be made many years ago.
Before we can get into the details of how a hot tub is actually made, what even is a hot tub? Many people think that a Jacuzzi® and a hot tub are the same thing, but Jacuzzi® is in fact a brand. As highlighted above with a snippet of the Jacuzzi Brothers story, Jacuzzi® is the original inventors of the hot tub! The true definition of a hot tub is simply a large tub or small pool full of water used for hydrotherapy, relaxation and pleasure. So not all hot tubs are a Jacuzzi®, there are many brands out there nowadays who are trying to compete with ‘The Originals’ but who can ever compete with such an innovative brand as Jacuzzi®!
In terms of how a generic hot tub is made, this differs significantly between a quality product, and of course those cheaper brands you can buy online (that’s probably made in China). There are several reasons why here at Hydrolife we choose to only sell the Jacuzzi® brand models, and in this blog, I will cover just a few top reasons why.
So back to our original question, what are hot tubs made of?
Did you know that a Jacuzzi® hot tub has a wooden structure? Wood and water, unexpected combination, right? But there are so many reasons why a wooden structure is better to have than a steel one – which is the type of structure you will find in those cheaper brands. The top reason being flexibility. As we all know wood needs to breathe, so this type of structure adds fantastic flexibility to your hot tub, and gives it that bit of movement the model needs. As all Jacuzzi® hot tubs have a whopping 6mm acrylic shell, this is double the thickness of most other brands out there. This thick shell gives the Jacuzzi® models ideal structure, which is why they offer such great warranties for the Shell as they are so confident with the sturdiness and they know the model will last 10/15+ years to come!
What are cheaper hot tubs made of, cheaper hot tubs which are not a Jacuzzi® brand normally use a steel structure on their hot tubs, as they don’t have the thick acrylic shell a Jacuzzi® has, so they need this heavy built structure to add sturdiness to the models. Also, pair that up with a 1-3mm acrylic shell… no where near the quality of a Jacuzzi®! Most Jacuzzi® models then also have a plastic base which the hot tub sits on, retaining the heat in the cabinet and giving the model extra structure.
You do get other types of hot tubs, from the portable models with a vinyl-liner, and of course not forgetting the inflatable PVC hot tubs… most popular brand being the LazySpa®. So, there is always a type of hot tub to suit any need or situation and budget, just always make sure to ask these back to basic questions when searching for a hot tub. “What is your hot tubs made of” It is always better to know what is ‘behind the scenes’ of what you are purchasing from the start, so there are no surprises later!
I hope you enjoyed this blog but also found it as interesting to read as I found it to write! Have you heard of any other hot tubs made in a different way? It would be great to hear from you if so, you can never have too much hot tub knowledge!
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