What Is an Oxygen Bath and What Does Microbubble Therapy Do?
An oxygen bath is a bath filled with water that carries extra oxygen in the form of very fine bubbles. Ella's published material does not use the phrase itself, but it describes exactly that kind of bath under the name Infusion Microbubble Therapy: one touch of a button fills the tub with billions of oxygen-rich bubbles smaller than 50 microns, and the product video notes the water carries up to 70 percent more oxygen than regular tap water. What Is Infusion Microbubble Therapy on a Walk-In Tub? covers the equipment, and this page explains what the bath is like and what it does.
What an Oxygen-Rich Microbubble Bath Does
Infusion Microbubble Therapy is a skin therapy rather than a massage. Ella's videos describe it as a warm, skin-softening bathing experience that exfoliates, invigorates and detoxifies, and Ella notes that microbubble bathing softens and moisturizes skin, exfoliates, and makes and keeps the body warm. Customers with dry or sensitive skin choose it most often.
The most visible sign that the therapy is working is the water itself. As the system runs, the bath turns from clear to completely cloudy white, because the bubbles are too small to see one by one. That milky water is the therapy working, not a water-quality problem. The bath is also quiet and non-turbulent, quite unlike a jetted or air bath, so it suits bathers who want stillness instead of a massage. Both videos on this page show the change: one press of the Micro button, a single port releasing the bubbles, and clear water turning to a soft white cloud that fills the tub.
How the System Puts Oxygen into the Water
The microbubbles are not a product poured into the bath. They are made by equipment built into the tub:
- A dedicated water pump. The system uses its own 1 HP pump, rated 7.3A on most spec sheets, separate from any hydro massage pump.
- A pressure vessel and agitator valve. The pump draws water from the tub through an intake and pressurizes it with air in the microbubble tank.
- A single port. The pressurized water is released through one port as a cloud of bubbles. On the LayDown tubs the microbubbles are delivered through one jet switched by an air switch.
Because all of the bubbles come from that one port, there is no ring of jets to aim or adjust. The cloud simply spreads through the bath until the whole tub is white.
How to Run a Microbubble Bath
- Close the door and the drains and fill the tub.
- Check that the water covers both the microbubble port and the intake. Running the pump dry damages it, so this step comes before anything else.
- Touch the Micro button once to start the system.
- Watch the water turn from clear to cloudy white as the bubbles fill the tub, then relax in the warm water.
- Touch the Micro button once again to turn the system off.
That is the whole routine. Infusion Microbubble Therapy: What It Does and Which Tubs Offer It goes further into the therapy and what to check if the system stops making bubbles.
Oxygen-Rich Microbubbles, Hydrogen Baths and the Retrofit Kit Compared
People searching for an oxygen bath often meet two related terms, the hydrogen bath and the microbubble kit for a regular bathtub. They are three different things.
| Option | What goes into the water | Published figures | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infusion Microbubble Therapy on an Ella walk-in tub | Billions of oxygen-rich bubbles from a single port | Bubbles smaller than 50 microns; up to 70 percent more oxygen than regular tap water; 1 HP pump rated 7.3A on most spec sheets | Bathers who want a quiet skin therapy built into a walk-in tub |
| H2 and Microbubbles System on the Standard60 | Molecular hydrogen as micro and nano bubbles through a single jet below seat level, paired with microbubble therapy | 1500 PPB of hydrogen by the time the tub fills to the drain overflow, rising to about 2000 PPB during an extended 15 to 20 minute bath; 1 HP, 10A pump | Bathers who want hydrogen therapy and microbubbles together |
| Infusion Microbubble Therapy Universal Installation Kit | Tiny bubbles through a single wall fitting in a conventional bathtub | 10 to 50 micron bubbles; oxygen saturation up to 70 percent above regular tap water | Adding the therapy to a standard bathtub you already have |
What the differences mean for you: if the goal is an oxygen-rich bath for your skin, Infusion Microbubble Therapy is the option to ask about. A hydrogen bath is a separate therapy with its own generator, fed from a tank of distilled water, and it is measured by hydrogen concentration instead of oxygen, as What Is H2 Hydrogen Therapy on a Walk-In Tub? explains. On the Standard60 you receive both in one package. And if you are keeping a conventional bathtub, the universal installation kit brings the same technology to it, installed by a licensed contractor with the pump, pressure tank and plumbing mounted behind or beneath the tub.
Which Ella Tubs Offer It, and What to Plan for
On a walk-in tub, microbubble therapy is built into the shell at the factory, so it is chosen at order time and cannot be added later. It is offered on the Elite, Petite, Royal, Ultra, Capri, Monaco, Front Entry, ShaK, Big4One, Transfer32, Transfer60, TransferXXL, LayDown60 and LayDown72, and on the Standard60 through its combined H2 and microbubbles system.
Two practical points are worth sharing with your electrician and your household before the first bath. First, combined packages that include microbubbles need two dedicated GFCI 20A/120V lines, so if the system trips a breaker, have an electrician confirm the circuits first. Second, let everyone who uses the tub know that the cloudy white water is expected and clears on its own once the system is off. If the pump runs but the water stays clear, reach out through ellasbubbles.com/support or (800) 480-6850 with your model and serial number, and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm whether the model you are considering is available with the therapy.
Watch: MicroBubble Therapy Infusion: Top Voted Walk-In Tub 2020 | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.
Related Guides
- Why Isn't My Microbubble System Making Bubbles?
- MicroBubble Pump Will Not Run: Dedicated 20-Amp Circuit, Air Hose, Fan Screw and Breather Cap
- Fixing a Leak at the Microbubble Tank Fitting With the Repair Kit
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Common Questions
Is an oxygen bath the same as a jetted massage bath?
Why does the water turn cloudy white during microbubble therapy?
How much extra oxygen does a microbubble bath carry?
Can microbubble therapy be added to my walk-in tub later?
Is a hydrogen bath different from an oxygen-rich microbubble bath?
About this guide. Answers in the Ella’s Bubbles Support Center are compiled from real conversations with tub owners, our technicians’ notes and the product documentation, then reviewed by our team. Tub models and options have evolved over the years, so a detail here may differ slightly from your exact tub. If something looks different on yours, send us your serial number and a specialist will confirm it for your model.
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