FAQ

Hi,
I love your website and I can’t wait to order a bath of my own one day soon.
I do have one question: I live in the UK in an area with very hard water (high calcium content from the chalk in the ground) – will this affect the care or lifespan of the Hinoki bath?
Would you recommend installation of a water softening device along with the bath?
This uses salt to remove the calcium from the water supply.
Currently, we are constantly needing to clean limescale deposits off our existing bath etc. using an acidic cleaner, which I expect would be very bad for the Hinoki. On the other hand, the limescale deposits would spoil the beauty of the timber, and I expect would be an area for bacteria and mould to grow.
Have you any advice or experience with this topic?

Thank you for your interest in our japanese bathtubs.
With reference to your kind question, also in japan there are many places with hard water.
Considering that in the onsen (japanese hot-springs) with thermal water containing all sorts of minerals wooden baths are used,　we can say that there is not too much to be worried about.

The scaling occurs if the water is left in the tub for long periods (es. using recirculation systems) so we would recommend to fill the tub only when in use (which works for most residential applications).
I am not a chemist, so forgive my lack of technical terms, but actually calcium tends to build up on metals or enamel, it does not stick to wood.

We are looking forward to working with you and remain at your disposal for any other question of problem.