After a stressful day nothing is more relaxing than having a long soak in the bath. However a typical bath is not ergonomically designed to support your head and neck in comfort. Introducing the bath pillow.
A bath pillow will allow you to lie back in comfort and relax, without fear of a stiff neck. It will help you to soothe away those tiring aches and pains, allowing you to enjoy a refreshing soak.
Rubber Foam Pillows
They can fit inside the bath to support the whole of the upper body, or fit on top of the bath rim or to a wall, to support just the neck or head. Most bath pillows have rubber suction cups to hold the pillow in place.
Bath pillows come in an endless variety of different shapes and sizes, depending on which part of the body you want to support, upper body, neck or head. These include square, round, cylindrical, jellybean, roll, heart, or animal shaped etc.
They are available with a variety of different fillings. They can come ready filled with either foam, memory foam, beads, or jelly. Alternatively they can be of the inflatable type for you to fill with air, cold water or hot water. Most bath pillows have water proof covers and are treated to resist odours, bacteria, mildew, and mould.
Foam filled ones provide softness and support. Memory foam filled ones are pressure and heat sensitive, they mould to your exact body shape and are less prone to going flat. Bead filled ones also mould to the shape of your head or neck. Jelly ones can be chilled in the fridge before use, giving a cool refreshing and invigorating feeling.
Bath pillows that require filling with air or water allow inflation to your preferred level of firmness, and can also be deflated for storage or transport. Filling one with cold water will result in a cool refreshing and invigorating feeling, and is the perfect treat for a hot Summer night or to ease sore neck muscles. Filling one with hot water will gently relax your muscles and soothe your neck and upper back.
Some are covered in a soft fabric, while others are covered in a soft PVC or vinyl and sometimes have the option of a fabric cover which can be removed and washed. A fabric cover offers greater slip and stick resistance than PVC or vinyl.
They are available with a variety of different features such as scented, massaging, musical, or ones that play soothing natural sounds. Scented ones can be filled with lavender or can allow the addition of aromatherapy oils.
Massaging bath pillows have a built-in mechanism. The vibrations created by the massaging mechanism gently soothe and relax your neck and head, and can help with neck problems and migraines. Some have a choice of speed settings, while others have raised nodes to deliver an even deeper and more invigorating massage. Some bath pillows are designed with separate massage zones for the lower and upper back, and have two separate motors.
Some play music, others can play soothing natural sounds such as Ocean Surf, Rain, Rain Forest, and Woodlands, to help with relaxation.
Choosing a bath pillow is a matter of personal choice, but the following tips may make choosing one easier.
Check the quality of inflatable pillows, especially around seams and suction cup joints, as cracks and leaks can develop, which can leak air or water resulting in deflation of the bath pillow.
Check that inflatable pillows are easy to fill with air or water. Check that the filling opening is easy to close once the pillow is full, otherwise you can end up losing either your water or air filling.
Check the quality and size of the suction cups, as water filled bath pillows can be quite heavy when full, and the suction cups need to be strong enough to hold this weight. Weak suction cups could also cause air filled bath pillows to move due to body weight.
Check that the bath pillow is resistant to mildew, mould and bacteria, or your bathing experience will not be as good as you want it to be.
Check to see if the outer fabric dries easy, so it is not still wet from the previous use.
Check the loudness of any vibrating mechanism in the bath pillow, so that other people in the house are not disturbed.