We at Homefilos have spent an enormous amount of time testing portable bathtubs to determine what makes a great Japanese soaking tub – whether for yourself to use or to give as a gift to someone else. Below are the 4 key criteria that we have found which make a great portable bathtub for adults.
Key Criteria for Determining What is the Best Portable Bathtub or Ofuro Tub for You
- Size of Your Shower
- Maximizing Comfort – Consider Your Height
- Safety – for those of us who are Clumsy, Shorter or Older
- Where Is Your Shower Drain Located?
1. Size of Your Shower
The size of your shower will determine what portable bathtub is most appropriate for you. On one hand you want to maximize the size of the bathtub that you get so that you can have the most comfortable bath possible. But on the other hand, the bathtub needs to actually fit inside your shower.
What should you do?
You should measure the size of your shower stall to see what exactly will fit inside of it. Most shower stalls in the US will measure at least 30 x 30 inches (WxL) if they comply with ICC standards (Link). If your shower measures 30 x 30 in. then you will want the diameter of your portable bathtub to be as close to 30 in. as possible to get the most comfortable bathing experience possible. The Small-size Homefilos Portable Bathtub does exactly this by maximizing this usable space with a diameter of 29.5 in. If you actually have a larger shower (for example a walk-in shower), then you’re in luck because you will be able to fit a larger size bathtub in your shower which will provide an even more comfortable bathing experience, especially for taller people. We designed the large size Homefilos Portable Bathtub to be 35 in. in diameter to enable people with larger showers to take advantage of a larger bathtub.
2. Consider Your Height
While the size of the bathtub you choose will be determined to some extent by the size of your bathroom, you also need to consider how tall you are. The taller you are, the more space you will need for your legs in order to bathe comfortably. We have found that people who are under 5 ft. 10 inch in height are able to bath comfortably in our 29.5 inch wide Small-size Homefilos Portable Bathtub. When they are over 5 ft. 10 inch, they typically need a larger bathtub like our Large-size Homefilos Portable Bathtub which measures 35 in. in diameter.
TIP
A good rule of them for determining the MINIMUM size bathtub to buy is to add or subtract an inch from 29.5 (our Small-size bathtub) for every inch you are over or under 5 ft. 10 in. For example, if you are 5 ft. 7 in. then subtract 3 inches from 29.5 inches to determine that you need a bathtub which measures at least 26.5 in. in diameter. And if you are exactly 6 ft. then you would want to add 2 to 29.5, meaning you need a bathtub with a diameter of at least 31.5 in.
Note that these are general guidelines for determining the minimum bathtub size you need. If you’re a bigger person then you may want to add an extra inch or two to ensure that you can bathe comfortably. Or if you simply prefer a roomier bathtub then adjust accordingly as well.
3. Safety – for those of us who are Clumsy, Shorter or Older
You’ve probably seen this scene a hundred times in comedy movies – someone encounters a small fence blocking their way and tries to step over it. They instead trip and fall flat on their face and the audience laughs. While this is funny at the movies, this isn’t so much when its you or a loved one tripping over your bathtub and hitting the hard tiles of your shower. This is why you need to make sure your bathtub is a reasonable height. We found that anything above 2 ft. in height starts to increase the risk of tripping drastically. We purposely designed the Homefilos Portable Bathtub to be 1 ft. 10 in. for safety reasons. Even if you decide to go with a different portable bathtub, we highly recommend that you consider the height of the bathtub when buying. If you find the height of the bathtub to be too high (even if its ours), please do NOT use it because its only an accident waiting to happen.
4. Where Is Your Shower Drain Located?
The location of the drain in your shower is surprisingly very important because after you’re done with your bath you need an easy way to empty your bathtub. If its difficult to empty then what was meant to be a relaxing experience turns into a very stressful one.
Below is a table which describes the different ways of emptying a Homefilos Portable Bathtub. Whatever bathtub you decide to go with, make sure it comes with a strong water hose that you can easily attach to your bathtub. This will be a lifesaver if you ever need to empty the water out of your tub into a drain a few feet away. Or if the drain is ever underneath and covered by the bathtub you can at least run a hose under the bathtub to drain it.
In Conclusion
When we were designing the Homefilos Portable Bathtub, we analyzed what makes a great portable bathtub for customers like yourself to use. We hope that by sharing these key criteria for a great portable bathtub that you will be able to find one which best fits your needs.
Once we identified the key criteria for a great bathtub, we made sure to design the Homefilos Portable Bathtub to excel in all those areas. What we ultimately come up with was the best portable bathtub that was available on the market.
