Reasons You Shouldn’t Put Salt in the Bath — Learned It the Hard Way! (Fortune-Telling)
Ep.170 Reasons You Shouldn’t Put Salt in the Bath — Learned It the Hard Way! (Fortune-Telling)
•Publication date: August 6, 2025, 01:09 (JST)
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Foreword
•Fortune-telling posts seem to land well, so I tried writing one.
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Main Text
•Request: “Please explain why we shouldn’t add salt to bathwater and which salts are okay to use.
A fortune-teller told me to bathe with salt, but I’m sure there are rules. Teach me, Chappy!”
•Why you shouldn’t add ‘regular salt’ (table/culinary NaCl) to bathwater:
•Corrodes the boiler/heat-exchanger, pipes, and rubber gaskets.
•Residual brine can damage washers/clothes if you reuse bathwater for laundry.
•Can interact badly with other bath additives and irritate skin.
•May degrade coatings on FRP/acrylic tubs.
•Salts/additives that are OK (specifically made for bathing):
•Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate): no chloride; boiler-friendly; leaves skin smooth.
•Dead Sea salts / labeled bath salts: use only products explicitly marked for bathing.
•Heavy/bicarbonate tablets (not “salt” but similar effects): often boiler-safe options.
•Rule: Bath-use vs. food-use must be strictly separated. “Food-grade” ≠ “boiler-safe.”
•Most important checkpoint:
•Always confirm “boiler/recirculation OK” on the product, especially in rentals or with reheating systems.
•Recommended use (when product permits):
•Soak 15 minutes in 38–40 °C water; follow the product’s dosage.
•Avoid mixing with other additives; rinse tub after draining.
•Prefer no reheating of salted bathwater.
•Why reheating is risky:
•Circulating salty water through the heater accelerates metal corrosion and gasket decay → leaks & costly repairs.
•Safer practices:
•Don’t reheat salted baths; treat them as single-use soaks.
•Choose products labeled boiler-safe; even then, avoid daily use.
•Drain promptly and rinse the tub after bathing.
•Panda’s pick: Epsom salt + a drop of lavender oil → good for stiff shoulders/headaches/irritability and gentler on equipment.
•Prayer: “May Ameblo’s horoscope not lead Aries to accidentally destroy their bath boiler.”
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Afterword
•A truly useful essay!! I actually knew most of this, but I didn’t have time to write it myself—so I asked Chappy to explain.
•The no-reheating part was new to me!!
