Salt in Your Eyes

The thing that actually goes wrong in a float suite is not claustrophobia, and it is not the dark. It is a drop of salt water in an eye, usually about four minutes in, and usually because someone pushed their hair back. It is a small, dull problem with a small, dull solution, and knowing about it in advance takes most of the sting out of it.

There is a spray bottle inside the pod

Every tank has a small bottle of fresh, clean water in it, kept within arm's reach of where you float. Spray the eye, blink it out, and the stinging settles almost immediately. That is the whole procedure. You do not need to climb out, go and find a float specialist, or write the session off.

It is common enough that we plan for it

We do not keep a bottle in every pod as a precaution against something rare. It happens often enough that leaving it to chance would be daft. Nobody at the desk is going to be surprised to hear it happened, and there is no version of this where you have done something wrong.

Where the salt comes from

There are 900 pounds of Epsom salt dissolved in about eleven inches of water, which is what holds you up without any effort on your part. It also makes the solution extremely salty — a long way saltier than the sea. Once you are still, the water is still too, so the salt almost never arrives as a splash. It arrives on your own hand. You reach up to move your hair, scratch your nose or rub your face, and your fingers are wet.

The one habit worth having

Decide before you get in that your hands stay either in the water or resting on your stomach. That single decision is most of the problem solved, because the water is not going to reach your face on its own. If you would rather have something dry within reach, the suite has towels — put one at the edge of the pod where you can find it before you close the lid, rather than hoping to locate it later with wet hands in the dark.

Take your contacts out

We recommend leaving contact lenses out for a float. Salt water and lenses are an uncomfortable combination if any water does reach your eye, and in a dark tank there is nothing you need to see. There is contact solution and a case in the bathroom, so you can take them out when you arrive and put them back in on your way out.

You do not need to bring anything for it

Each suite is already stocked: towels, a wash cloth, makeup remover, shower shoes, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and a protective ointment for small cuts. That last one is there for a related reason — a graze you had completely forgotten about will introduce itself to you in salt water. The bathrooms have contact solution, a blow dryer, combs, deodorant, lotion and hair products.

And then you carry on

The hour is still an hour. A few seconds of stinging in the fourth minute does not spend it. Flush the eye, put your hand back in the water, and the rest of the session is in front of you, along with the second shower, the vanity area and the relaxation room, where most people end up staying longer than they meant to.