Using a cold plunge tub: placement, filling, keeping the water clean and maintenance

Short answer: the Ice Tub Mini (1 person, Ø 102 x H 111 cm, 350 litres, 75 kg empty) is filled with a garden hose, covered with the insulating cover, and drained via the ball valve. The water stays clean longest with three habits: showering before plunging, keeping the cover on when not in use, and changing the water regularly; at a volume of 350 litres this is faster and cheaper than dosing chemicals. Below you will find placement, filling and draining, water management, shell maintenance and winter rules. How to build up the plunging itself is covered in building up cold plunging.

The tub in brief

The Ice Tub Mini has an insulated fibreglass shell with a wooden surround, a ball valve for filling and draining, and an insulating cover. Filled, the tub weighs just over 400 kilograms, and with a bather over 500. It is designed without active cooling: the insulation and cover keep cold tap water cold.

Placement

• Surface: level and load-bearing; tiles, concrete slabs or a concrete slab. Decking only if it can bear 500 kilograms over a small area.
• Location: a few steps from the sauna or hot tub, with a tile or deck panel next to it to avoid muddy feet. Shade keeps the water cooler in summer.
• Drainage: the ball valve sits at the bottom; make sure you can reach it with a hose and that 350 litres has somewhere to go (a border, a drain, a street gully).
• Getting in: a small step makes entering calmer; entering while exhaling is half the technique.

Filling and draining

1. Filling: close the ball valve, insert the garden hose, fill to around 10 to 15 cm below the rim; a bather displaces 60 to 80 litres.
2. Cover on as soon as the tub is filled.
3. Draining: attach a hose to the ball valve, open the valve, drain the water in a controlled way. Water without chemicals can simply go into the garden.
4. After draining: remove the cover, rinse, let dry or refill immediately.

Keeping the water clean

Small volumes of cold water stay clear longer than warm bath water, but not automatically. Choose one of two regimes:

Regime 1: changing the water (simplest). No chemicals, but discipline:

• shower before every plunge, especially straight after the sauna: sweat is the biggest contaminant;
• keep the cover on when not in use: keeps out leaves, insects, dust and solar heating;
• skim off floating debris daily;
• change the water every 1 to 2 weeks with daily use, every 3 to 4 weeks with occasional use, and immediately at any odour, cloudy water or a film on the surface.

Regime 2: keeping the water longer with mild disinfection.

• keep the pH at 7.2 to 7.6; see setting the water balance;
• use a mild spa disinfectant according to the dosage for 350 litres, never more;
• change the water every 4 to 6 weeks, and clean the shell at every water change.

What you should never do: soap, bath oil or ordinary fragrances in the tub, and heavy chlorine doses in small volumes of water.

Shell maintenance

No abrasive cleaners, no pressure washer on the shell or the wood.

Winter

• You can keep using it all year round: remove any layer of ice before getting in and keep sessions shorter with water near freezing.
• If you will not use the tub for a longer period during frost, drain it completely via the ball valve and leave the valve open; a filled shell that freezes over can be damaged.
• Keep the cover on, even on an empty tub, against rain and snow.

Safety

• Never plunge alone as a beginner; have someone nearby.
• Keep your head above water; do not dive into cold water.
• If you have heart conditions, high blood pressure, are pregnant, or take medication that affects blood pressure, consult a doctor first.
• Never after alcohol.
• Children only under supervision and briefly.