Footbath / spa with heat?

[Cherry]

Hi everyone,

I want to add foot soaks to my service menu (as an add-on; I make bath salts and plan on using them with it), but I am having trouble finding an affordable electric tub that will keep the water warm. My price range is around $40 and the reason I need the heat is because the water from the sink in my office space won't run hot for even a full minute, so it's impossible to collect enough hot water to fill the tub. (I have a tiny 2Qt. crock pot for stones and it couldn't even get the few stones covered before it went cold!)

I don't need any fancy extras, I just want something that will keep the water warm for around 10 minutes while the client's feet soak. Most of the reviews I read say that there actually is no heat element in the ones that advertise "with Heat" and they in fact can not even maintain the temperature when starting with very hot water. Many claimed the water was "ice cold" after just a few minutes! t017

Would I be better off just utilizing the crock pot to heat water and adding it to the tepid water? Though that would mean that I wouldn't be able to use the crock pot for the stones during the same session...

I've never used one of these myself, so I would really appreciate feedback or ideas from those who have used them or currently use them now.

Thank you!!! t006

 

[howardlee1977]

Footbath / spa with heat?

Have you considered using a portable single burner (similar to this) and a teapot instead of just utilizing the crock pot to heat water and adding it to the tepid water?

I'd think you would need a good thermometer to guage the water temp, but it's a thought.

 

[Panic25]

Footbath / spa with heat?

I was going to suggest what pueppi did! Even simpler might be an electric tea kettle. OR an electric skillet will heat water faster than the crock pot, and could also be used for stones, or hot water to soak towels in, herbal wraps, etc. When I first started and had no towel warmer I would keep water heated in the skillet and place my oil bottles in there to warm the oil, dip dry towels in and wring out for foot wipes, and it would humidify the room! I find the electric skillet to be quite a versatile tool, especially if you're trying to be thrifty. I also used it for hot stone massages, and then i would use the crock pot for warming the oil and dipping the towels.

Also, I have read that you can add hot stones to a foot bath when it starts to cool down, if were ever interested in doing a longer foot soak.

But yeah, the footbaths I have purchased from walmart or target do not have working heaters, even if they claim to. And you can just heat water to boiling and then add cold water until you reach the desired temp.

 

[Doc]

Footbath / spa with heat?

Thank you both for your suggestions! I plan on replacing my tiny crock pot with a larger one so I may be able to keep a couple extra stones in it just for the foot bath if needed and still be able to use stones in the same session. I have considered a hot plate or electric kettle, but as things are I have no extra counter space/outlets for another plug in device.

Thanks again for the ideas!

 

[Cap.n1Eye]

Footbath / spa with heat?

Even simpler might be an electric tea kettle.

Brilliant!

 

[Des]

Footbath / spa with heat?

Updating with what I ended up doing for my "foot bath".

I decided to go simple and make it special.

I bought a white deep dishpan from wally world for a few bucks and picked up some regular sized clear marbles along with some smaller blue ones for a total of around $10 at a craft store. I ended up with just enough to completely cover the bottom of the dishpan.

To manage the temperature I did buy an electric kettle. I found some room on my bookshelf to store it and will just sit it on my little folding table during the soak. It has a separate base so I can easily add more hot water to the pan if needed.

I have a plastic strainer to keep the marbles in for cleaning them, and so far the only downfall has been the noise they make when I poor them out. :

I have yet to use this on a client, but my BF and I have each had a go and it feels divine on the bottom of our feet! t050 I can't wait to get some other people's feedback!