Which Ella tub lets me sink deep enough to wash my hair?

If you want to lie back with the water over you, the Ella LayDown in the 32 inch by 72 inch size is the tub to look at: it is 15 inches deep against about 11 inches in a conventional bathtub, and it is long enough for someone six feet tall to be completely immersed. Ella's seated walk-in tubs are built for an upright soak, so in those tubs hair is washed from the seat with the pull-out hand shower that comes with every Ella factory faucet, on a 5 foot retractable hose that reaches comfortably without standing. Either way, the hair that comes loose in a jetted bath collects on the suction cover explained in What Is the Pump Inlet Cover on a Walk-In Tub?, so plan on the monthly wipe that keeps the jets strong.

How Soaking Depth Is Measured on a Seated Ella Tub

Soaking depth on an Ella walk-in tub is the distance from the top of the seat to the center of the overflow drains. The overflow sets the highest working water line and the seat sets where your body starts, so that one measurement tells you how much water can sit on a seated bather. The Ella Standard, shown in the video on this page, has a soaking depth of 15 inches, with 43 inches of interior length, a 22 inch wide seat and a seat length of 18 inches. The video walks through the measurement, the seat figures and the five-piece FastFill faucet with its extendable multi-function hand shower, and it also shows the 7 inch extension panel that lets the Standard fit neatly into a 60 inch tub alcove.

A conventional bathtub gives you about 11 inches of water, so a 15 inch soaking depth is a real step up. It is still a seated figure, though. How far up your body the water reaches depends on your own height and seated proportions, and two bathers in the same tub will sit at different heights in the water. That is why Ella's team suggests a live video chat before you choose: an associate can show you the tubs and help match the size and style to you, which a depth figure on its own cannot do.

The LayDown72 Is the Tub for Full Immersion

Ella's lay-down tub in the 32 inch by 72 inch size is designed for bathing stretched out rather than sitting up. It is 15 inches deep, compared with about 11 inches in a conventional bathtub, and it is long enough for someone six feet tall to be completely immersed. For a bather who wants to lean back, let the water cover their hair and rinse it out in the bath, this is the Ella tub built for that.

The LayDown72 is also faucet-ready, with optional Ella deck-mount faucet packages, so it can carry the Ella hand shower for rinsing at the end of a soak. Its smaller sibling, the LayDown60 at 30 inches by 60 inches, is different on exactly that point. The LayDown60 has no faucet option at all and is never sold with a factory faucet, so it does not come with the Ella hand shower. It is fed by a pre-existing or new wall-mounted faucet that you supply, and whether you have a hand shower depends on the faucet you choose for the wall.

Before you decide on depth alone, measure the room. A 72 inch tub is longer than the 60 inch alcove the Standard is designed to fit with its extension panel, so confirm the length and the 32 inch width of the space, and ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 to check the door side and drain side against your bathroom.

Washing Your Hair from the Seat with the Hand Shower

In any seated Ella tub with an Ella faucet, the hand shower is the hair-washing tool. Each factory faucet includes a handheld shower wand on a 5 foot retractable hose. One push of the diverter button, or one turn of the diverter handle depending on your faucet style, sends the water to the wand, and the hose reaches comfortably from the seat so you can wet, lather and rinse without standing up in a wet tub. On the Ella Standard this is the extendable multi-function hand shower that ships with the five-piece FastFill faucet set.

A simple routine works well:

1. Step in over the low threshold, sit, and close and lock the door before you start the water.
2. Fill to the level you want for your soak, checking the temperature as the tub fills.
3. Switch the diverter to the wand, wet your hair, shampoo, and rinse while seated.
4. Switch the diverter back to the spout and rest the wand in its base on the deck.

Shampoo and regular soaps are fine for everyday use in an Ella tub, and the one habit that matters is rinsing thoroughly so no residue is left in the jets, as Can I use Epsom salts, bath bombs, bubble bath, or oils in my walk-in tub? explains. If you like to lean your head back while you rinse, the Ella head pillow holds to the tub or the wall behind it with suction cups and is covered in marine vinyl that sheds water; How do I clean and dry the Ella bath pillow to prevent mildew? covers how to keep it fresh.

Which Tub Fits the Way You Want to Bathe

What the table means: the two Ella tubs that print a 15 inch soaking depth in these sources reach that depth in different ways. The Standard gives it to a seated bather, so hair washing is a hand shower job, while the LayDown72 gives it to a bather lying at full length, so the water itself can reach your hair. The LayDown60 offers the lay-down position in a 60 inch footprint but leaves the faucet, and therefore the hand shower, to you.

What Loose Hair Means for a Jetted Tub

Washing your hair in the bath puts hair in the water, and in a hydro massage tub every drop that feeds the jets is drawn through the pump inlet cover first. Hair collects on that cover, less water reaches the pump, and the jets lose strength, which is why a weak jet is often a maintenance question rather than a pump fault. Once a month, clear hair and debris from the cover and wipe it with a non-abrasive towel and an approved cleaner such as Dawn dish detergent, in the same session as the monthly vinegar flush. To keep hair out of the drains as well, the team suggests a silicone pop-up drain protector from a hardware store.

Watch: The Ella Standard: Perfect for a Comfortable Deep Soak with Hydrotherapy | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• The LayDown Walk-In Tubs: 30x60 vs 32x72 Sizes, Faucet Options, and Features
• How do I measure the soaking depth of a walk-in tub?
• How Do I Use the Hand Shower in My Ella Walk-In Tub?

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