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removal of stains.

Dear friends,
We love our hinoki tub that you built and that was installed in our home about a year ago.
The tub itself is fine, but the wooden slats on top have developed mold. Is there anything we can do to get rid of it?

For the mold stains, try to use some bleach, it should become clean again. -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach

1) apply a small amount of bleach on a dump cloth and friction the mold spots. An old bath towel should be fine.

2) wipe immediately with a clean dump cloth.

3) repeat if necessary

4) rinse abundantly with the shower while wiping with a cloth to remove any bleach left.

This treatment does not harm the wood if you do it few times a year.

Also, I recommend to turn over (upside-down) the planks from time to time. This prevents the formation of mold and warping of the planks overtime.

In case you do not want to use the bleach or if it has scarce effect, the standard solution would be to use a planer. Also fine sand paper will do the job.

Let the wood dry well and use first fine paper (#240) to remove the wood skin. Finish with very fine paper (#400). Reember to follow the direction of the wood veins.

Please let me know if it worked out.

Asnaro tub for Suisse

Knotless natural Asnaro bathtub.
The sizes are: L1314mm x W884mm x H730mm (ext. dim.)
The tub is equipped with a traditional cover and bath accessories.

We kept in touch with the client for about a year …Yes, sometimes takes time to find the best solution, don`t be afraid to consult with us from the first stages of your project.

Anyway there is another note that we will not easily forget: the tub was ordered with the bottom plank edge to be treated with natural oil. Due to a misunderstanding with the carpenter, he built it with the copper apron! … woops …

Luckily we could solve the situation with a luxury detail: we removed the copper and planed the edge to completely remove the indents of the nails. Then we inlayed a base molding and treated it with natural oil. It is a lot of work but it was worth it: the base molding hides the joints of the bottom plank and its exposed face is naturally resistant to water being the wood grain parallel to the cut.

As the proverb says, Every cloud has a silver lining!

arrival on site

The shipping company phoned, and our Bathtub has arrived ! it will be delivered next week on 14th of July! French national day, but the swiss do not care…. 😉 For us, this week would be too early as there are still some work to be done in the house; they were OK to delay teh delivery, but I hope it’s no problem for the tub…?

Hello Iacopo !
Yes, on July 14th, our bathtub was delivered as planned, and on July 15th we moved in our newly renovated house (an ancient barn), and our moving people installed it in its pit ! :-))
“Unfortunately”, they had to remove the plastic cover, overwise they wouldn’t have been able to carry it (too slippy…) and set it properly in place.
I say “unfortunately”, because our tap has not been installed yet, so that we cannot take a bath! Anyway, to follow the instructions, we filled it with water from the garden, and empied it a few hours later. In addition, we’ve been using the nearby shower every night, and I suppose it brings humidity arround (?).
Otherwise, we are very happy with our Bathtub and the meantime, we simply enjoy its beauty and its good smell !!! As for the accessories, they are also very nice indeed!

arrival in norway

Dear sirs at Bartok!
The badtub was delivered to us on Monday. Following your instructions we haven’t opened yet, but the size and form is perfect for us. We are looking forward to have it installed and enjoy it.
I thank you again for your help and good service!
Best regards,
F G D

towel ladder

We received the request from a previous customer of custom bath accessories to match an asnaro tub.

We received precise information and could elaborate it to include traditional japanese construction details.
The small parts in the picture are door pulls and robe hooks.

The “towel ladder” is divided in pieces for an easy assembly on site. This allowed fit within the set sizes for postal parcels. Using EMS mail for small shipments is fast, cheap and without fuss.

asnaro tub for Belgium

Knotless natural Asnaro bathtub.
This tub is going to be used in a therapeutical facility.
The sizes are: L1200mm x W900mm x H750mm (ext. dim.) 680mm(deep)
As it is very wide, it can be used also by two people facing eachother while fitting in a compact space. It is finished with copper apron, wood dowels and -yes- it a has a very nice top frame as anticipated in our blog.

The tub is also equipped with a tub cover and a step-bench.

Here is the tub with its cover (traditional type in separated planks.) Note that the color of the planks appears different but this is accentuated by the effect of the flash.

The tub is equipped with a cut to redirect the water overflow towards an existing shower. We are also providing a matching piece of wood to close this gap while the tub is covered.

Meditation outlet tub (sold out)

* * * sorry, sold out * * *

This asnaro wood tub is compact in size but roomy enough to spend a long time in the tub without getting tired. It may be small for a couple but is perfect if you want to relax and follow the thread of your thoughts. If you have a wonderful view from your bathroom, then this tub is especially recommended…

The tub has a top frame border and copper apron and the joints are finished with wooden dowels.
Please find below a quote for a L1300mm x W750mm x H645mm (external
dimensions) 560mm(depth) knotless natural Asnaro bathtub.
1) AB grade tub (quarter sawn) : 420,000. JPY
2) Packaging: 1750x950x840 wood box: 37,000. JPY
3) Shipment: please let us know your full address so we can take a quote (ocean or air freight)

457,000- JPY

(Or contact us for payment thru wire transfer to our bank account in Japan.)
download the drawing in acrobat format: outlet090428.pdf

Payments with Pay Pal

By popular demand…
Finally….
We are now able to accept payments by Credit Card via PayPal.

Feel free to ask us for more details.

shipment of interior items

More and more often, we receive additional requests from previous customers.
Apparently japanese natural items are addictive and once people open their eyes to this new reality, they decided they want to be surrounded by a complete japanese style interior.

Of course we can produce shoji and solid doors. We can build custom furniture, supply planks for wall application (wainscoting) or floor finish.

Additionally, we know dozens of craftsmen with whom we work together on a daily bases on construction projects. For this reason, we can supply tatami-mats, fabrics, gutters, and even lighting fixtures. If you are looking for some japanese products feel free to ask us.
If we can supply what you are looking for, we will prepare a quotation. Our sales margin ranges from 15% to 20% but as it is applied on wholesale prices from trusted suppliers, so you will find the prices very reasonable.

Here above is a large shipment we coordinated for a client in Italy.
It includes custom sized tatami mats, futon, shoji doors with their rails and a beutiful rainchain in copper.

cutting the top frame

This is a very nice cut of Asnaro wood. It has a large section and could be used for carving a Buddha statue or some aulic application which require the best wood.

ofuro construction

We are building a tub for a customer in Belgium and hope he will appreciate some extra service…