Bringing Clarity To Chaos In Bathtub Land

So, you are shopping for one of those newfangled bathtubs with a door in the side. Just what do you call it? It seems like every company has a different name for their tubs. For starters, some say "bathtubs" and some say "tubs". But then it gets exciting. There is a large and growing list of names you might run into, all referring to some sort of bathtub with a door in the side.

To try to bring an understanding and clarity to this chaos, here is the history of these tubs and their names.

The first tub in modern memory with a door in the side was developed in the early 1980s. It was designed to safely bathe patients in hospitals and other care facilities. It was called a "Side Access Tub".

It is called "Side Access" because of the way it was entered and exited. The tub has a raised seat on which the bather sits. Its wide door opens outward giving the user side access to the tub...especially helpful for those using wheelchairs, walkers, etc.

In the early 2000's, tubs with doors in the side appeared in the market, primarily for residential use.

"Residential" tubs differ substantially from the "Institutional" tubs. Residential tubs have narrower doors...which open into the tub and which do not allow side access to the seat. They also have low thresholds, which is why they are called "walk in tubs"". The bather walks in, closes the door, sits down and bathes.

"Walk In" tubs have been very heavily advertised on TV and in magazines using celebrity spokespeople and others. Because of this heavy advertising exposure, the term "Walk In" tub has become the generic name applied to all tubs with doors in the side.

This means that the term may be referring to the entire category, not only to the type tub that one can literally "walk into".

Although the "Walk In" tub is a safer access improvement over the common tub with no door, it does not satisfy the safe access concerns and physical needs of many households. So, a new type of tub was created that features even safer access.. It is called the "Hybrid" tub.

These tubs are called "hybrid walk in tubs" because they combine the best benefits of both Institutional and residential Walk In tubs.

"Hybrids" are accessed in a different, safer way than "Walk Ins". It's similar to the way a person gets into a car...opens the wide door outward, sits on the seat, pivots both legs in and closes the door. This is a simpler, faster, easier and much safer tub access method because the user never has to stand or move around on their feet in the tub. That is why Hybrid Tubs are called the safest access residential tubs.

Homes can have three basic types of tubs and those tubs bring with them three different levels of safe access.

By: Industrial

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Steven Franks is an independent writer and reviewer of products and technology. You can learn more about Rane institutional walk in tubs at ranetubs.com.