Acrylic, Fiberglass, and Foam Layers in an Outdoor Spa Shell
Introduction: An outdoor spa shell is not one solid piece of plastic but three bonded layers, each solving a different outdoor problem. Most people comparing outdoor hot tubs start with size, seat layout, and color, then treat the shell as simply "acrylic" and move on. That misses what actually keeps a shell looking good and holding heat. The acrylic sheet is only the outer skin. Behind it sits a fiberglass reinforcement layer that gives the shell its rigidity, and behind that, a sprayed polyurethane foam layer that slows heat loss through the wall. Knowing what each layer does makes shell comparisons far easier, because appearance, shape retention, and running cost come from three different parts of the same structure. Material Layers Inside an Outdoor Spa Shell and Why They Are Not One Solid Piece A spa shell begins as a flat acrylic sheet that is heated and vacuum-formed over a mold. That formed sheet is what you see and touch, but on its own it would flex and eventually...