A new hot tub turned into a friendship fight after one guest refused to shower, left the water filthy, and then accused the owner of overreacting.
Let’s break it down
The backstory and early dynamics
The poster had just bought a brand-new inflatable hot tub and was excited to use it for the first time.
But setting it up was not simple.
Because their water comes from a well, they had to spend an entire day adjusting the chemicals. They tested the water, added chemicals, tested again, and kept repeating the process until the water was finally safe and clean enough to use.
So this was not just a casual backyard dip.
To the poster, this was a new purchase they had worked hard to prepare.
Then came the friend.
The friend had been working for four straight days doing tough outdoor jobs. He had been clearing brush, cleaning campground bathrooms, and taking out trash.
The problem?
According to the poster, he had not showered during that entire time.
They even went out to dinner before using the hot tub, and the poster said they could smell him.
The moment things shifted
Before getting in, the poster tried to handle the issue politely.
They asked their friend if he could shower first.
The friend refused.
He said he was “not that bad.”
The poster then tried to compromise and asked if he could at least use baby wipes to clean up a little before getting in.
Again, the friend refused.
This is where the issue stopped being only about hygiene.
For the poster, it became about respect.
They had spent a full day getting the water balanced. They had asked for one basic thing before sharing their new hot tub. And their friend dismissed it like it did not matter.
Still, the friend got in.
The final confrontation
The poster had already been in the hot tub for about 10 minutes before the friend joined.
At first, the water looked fine.
But after the friend used it, the poster noticed a film on the surface of the water.
That was the breaking point.
After all the testing, chemicals, and effort, the hot tub now looked dirty on its very first use.
The poster was frustrated and told the friend they felt disrespected.
Then they set a firm rule: the friend was not allowed back in the hot tub unless he followed basic hygiene rules.
The friend did not take it well.
He said the poster was overreacting and cared about things that did not matter.
The fallout
Now the poster is wondering if they went too far.
On one hand, banning a friend from a hot tub sounds dramatic at first.
But on the other hand, the poster did not ask for anything extreme. They asked someone who had not showered after four days of dirty outdoor work to clean up before entering shared water.
That is not unreasonable.
Hot tubs are not like pools with large amounts of water. They are smaller, warmer, and can get dirty quickly when people bring sweat, dirt, body oils, deodorant, and grime into them.
The friend had a chance to shower.
Then he had a chance to at least wipe down.
He refused both.
So the ban was not really about one dirty soak. It was about refusing to respect the owner’s space, effort, and basic boundary.
What Reddit Thinks
Reddit would likely land strongly on NTA.
Most people would probably say the poster had every right to set hygiene rules for their own hot tub, especially after spending a full day balancing the water.
A few might say the poster should have stopped the friend from getting in at all after he refused to shower. But that still does not make the poster wrong for banning him afterward.
Sample reactions:
“NTA. Showering before getting in a hot tub is basic courtesy. He worked four days without showering and thought that was fine? Absolutely not.”
“NTA, but you should have held the line before he got in. Once he refused to shower, the hot tub should have been off-limits.”
“Your friend is embarrassed and acting defensive. But embarrassment does not give him the right to ruin your new hot tub water.”
A Final Thought
The real question is not whether the friend was dirty.
It is whether someone should be allowed to ignore a simple boundary just because they personally do not think it matters.
When you use someone else’s space, their rules matter.
And when the rule is “please shower before getting into my brand-new hot tub,” that seems less like overreacting and more like common sense.