We have been using Lotus Clean Basic and Lotus Clean Shock in our Softub for several weeks. So far, we are very satisfied with the products. Now we would like to try out the fragrance additives. In forums and groups, however, we read comments from time to time which say that the additives worsen the water values or "destroy" the water. Can you say something about your scent pads?
Answer:
Fragrances are usually only available as fragrance oil. However, oils do not dissolve in water and immediately form large oil bubbles. Due to the small surface area in the water, these oils then only smell very little. They also stick to the filter and the whirlpool and put a strain on the disinfection because they have to be removed from the water with the disinfectants. And finally, they can also settle in the pipes and contribute to the formation of biofilm there.
The manufacturers of fragrance additives pursue three approaches:
1) The oil is dissolved in alcohol. As a result, it initially spreads better in the water and smells slightly more. But the alcohol also destroys the scent molecules and after a certain time the scents smell more like alcohol than the original scent. As soon as the alcohol evaporates in the water, the oil remains. The oil clumps together and you have the problems listed above.
2) The oil is dissolved in salt. These are the bath salts. Here the salt dissolves and the oil clumps together, similar to alcohol. With the already known problems.
3) The oil is mixed with an emulsifier and water. The emulsifier bonds the oil permanently with the water. But because the oil is now connected with water, it must now be additionally preserved with preservatives to prevent bacteria from forming in the water-oil mixture. And: emulsifiers foam and tend to cloud the water. In order to minimise this cloudiness, only very little oil is used in the fragrance mixture. As a result, the fragrances do not smell very strong and the scent quickly fades. A further disadvantage: emulsifiers are very bad for cleaning the whirlpool. They can hardly be oxidized with disinfectants and they tend to combine body fats with the water. This can give the water a greasy consistency and deposits can form in the pipes.
Our system approaches the matter differently. It consists of a pad made of high-tech material. This pad contains 30 ml of pure fragrance oil. This is approximately three to four times the amount of fragrance oil contained in a conventional 250 ml bottle of whirlpool air.
The high-tech material in the scent pad absorbs oil, but not water. The water can flow through the pad. When the warm water flows through the fragrance pad, the volatile oil components, which also contain the aroma molecules, are dissolved from the oil. These light components of the oil with the fragrance are so fine that they are kept in the water cluster. This aromatises the water. This is also the reason why even the skin smells of the fragrance after a bath.
Because the oil does not get into the water in large drops but in tiny aroma molecules, the surface area that the aroma molecules release into the water is much larger. This means that the fragrance oil has a much higher capacity and smells longer and more intense. The heavy oil remains in the fragrance pad and therefore does not pollute the water. Even excess oil from the skin can be absorbed and retained by the scent pad. The scent pads smell long and intensive. They do not cloud the water and they only burden the disinfectants minimally. And they are also almost foam-free. The scent pads are available with natural scents (oils fresh from the field, such as citrus, lavender, eucalyptus and orange) and with artificial scents. The natural scented oils are more balanced, but not as strong. The artificial scented oils, on the other hand, are much more intense than the natural scents - but not quite as balanced as the natural scented oils.