What is a mobility tub and who is it designed for?

A mobility tub is a walk-in bathtub built for someone who cannot safely climb over the wall of a conventional tub or lower themselves to its floor. An Ella walk-in tub is a mobility tub in exactly this sense: you step over a low threshold, sit on a chair-height molded seat, close and lock a sealed door, and stay seated while the tub fills and drains, with grab bars, a textured floor and a hand shower within reach. It is designed for seniors, for people with limited mobility, for bathers who need a caregiver and, in the Transfer family, for wheelchair users, and How Do I Choose the Right Walk-In Tub for Mobility Issues? shows how to narrow the lineup once you know who will be bathing.

What Makes a Tub a Mobility Tub

The term describes a set of design choices rather than one model. Each of them removes a movement that is hard for a person with limited mobility.

• A low step-in threshold. Published drawings and figures from the team put the Monaco at 3 5/8 inches, the Mobile at about 3 3/4 inches, the Transfer family and the Capri around 3 1/2 to 4 inches, the Big4One and ShaK around 5 inches, the Ultra about 6 inches and the Elite about 6 1/2 inches. Recessing the drain below the subfloor can bring a model down to about 3 to 3 1/2 inches, but the apron or end panel is then trimmed, and cutting those parts voids warranty coverage on the altered panels.
• A chair-height seat. Seat height is about 17 inches on many models, including the Ultra, most outward-door tubs and the Transfer family, about 15 inches on the stainless-door family, the Mobile and the Escape, and about 16 inches on the Front Entry. The bather sits down rather than lowering to the floor of a tub.
• A seat wide enough for the person. The seat must be wider than the bather's seated hip measurement, and Ella seat widths run from 19 inches on the Petite and Transfer26 to 29 inches on the TransferXXL.
• Grab bars and a hand shower. Most models carry grab bars on the deck, the wall or both, and the 5 foot hand shower means washing does not require reaching or standing.
• A door that seals and locks. The bather is enclosed by a latched door for the whole bath, and on outward-swing models the caregiver locks the handle from outside.
• A textured floor. The product videos point out the textured floor for footing inside the tub.

The first video shows these features on the S-Class low entry tubs: the 30 by 52 inch tub sized for the average bather and the slightly larger 30 by 60 inch tub with more legroom, both with a 21 inch wide seat, wall and deck grab bars, a built-in towel rack and a textured floor. It also explains the 3 inch threshold height offered as an alternative to 6 inches, which requires subfloor access to the drains.

Who a Mobility Tub Is Designed for

Ella describes these tubs as built for seniors and people with limited mobility, and the lineup is arranged around how each person moves.

• Someone who walks but finds the step-over dangerous. The low threshold and the seat are the whole point. An inward-swing door suits this bather well, because the door closes past the knees and needs no floor space in front of the tub.
• Someone who bathes with a caregiver. An outward-swing door opens away from the bather, which eases entry, and the caregiver locks the handle from outside. Ella's guidance is never to leave a bather who needs help alone in the tub. Bathing Someone With Limited Mobility in a Walk-In Tub: Features That Help and Habits That Keep It Safe covers the caregiver's side in full.
• A wheelchair user. The Transfer family's outward L-shape door opens 172 degrees and leaves no sidewall beside the seat, so a wheelchair user can slide straight across. Its opening clears a toilet up to about 21 inches tall, and it needs about 36.5 inches of clearance in front.
• A bather who wants therapy as well as safety. The tubs carry three-speed air massage with auto purge, hydro massage with an in-line heater and an intensity control dial, and options such as a heated seat and backrest, so a mobility tub is also a therapy tub.

How the Door Follows the Bather and the Bathroom

Doors are not interchangeable, so the door style is chosen by choosing the tub. Inward-swing doors on the Standard, Zen, Flow, Ultra and the stainless steel family close past the bather's knees; the bather stands inside the tub for a moment while the door shuts, so some room inside the tub is needed but none in front of it. Outward U-shape doors on the Capri, Monaco, Front Entry, Mobile, Lounger, ShaK, Big4One, Tub4Two and Big4Two swing 165 degrees with no knee clearance needed inside, and they need about 21 inches of clear floor in front. If the clear floor in front of the door side is under 21 inches, an inward-swing model is the safer fit. The Royal, Elite, Petite, Deluxe, Ultimate, Ultra, Companion, Escape and LayDown are inward only, and the Monaco is the Royal's outward counterpart at the same size. The second video walks through the outward swing U-shaped door tubs, including the Lounger, Front Entry and Mobile, and shows the 3 latch gear and shaft locking mechanism that gives the door its leak-proof seal.

Two more checks settle the choice. The door and seat are on one side of the tub and the drains are on the other, so the door side has to suit the plumbing, and a licensed contractor's fit check confirms the size and door side before anything is ordered.

What Bathing in a Mobility Tub Is Like

Because the door seals, the bather is inside while the tub fills and drains. The order never changes: step in, sit, close and lock the door, close the drain or drains, fill until the water is above the jets, run the therapies, turn them off, open the drains, wait until the tub is completely empty, then open the door and step out. Fill time is typically 7 to 15 minutes, and an average dual-drain tub empties in about 80 seconds under ideal conditions. How to Take a Bath in Your Walk-In Tub: The Sequence From Stepping In to Stepping Out gives every step.

The rules Ella prints alongside that sequence are what keep those minutes safe. Never enter a tub that already has water in it. Do not fill above the center of the drain handle. Set the temperature carefully, since Ella's manuals warn that water above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit may be harmful. Warm the seat first if the tub has the heated seat, keep the room warm, and never let anyone lean on the door. On tubs with independent foot massage, a footwell-only soak, filled to just below the seat and just above the calf jets, gives a shorter, shallower bath for someone who tires quickly. Are walk-in tubs safe for seniors and people with limited mobility? weighs those cautions against the design.

Watch: Easy Step-In Walk-In Tub with Outward Swing Door for Seniors & Mobility Needs | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How Do You Transfer From a Wheelchair Into an Ella Walk-In Tub?
• Wheelchair Transfer Tubs Compared: Transfer26, Transfer30, Transfer32, Transfer60, and TransferXXL

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