Setting Up Your Ice Bath: Lid, Pump, Drain and Storage

What the kit contains and what each part is for

The supplier's box contains the round, black, foldable tub with its six support tubes, an insulated lid, a thermal dust cover, a cushion to fill with water, a manual air pump, a drain hose, a 1/2 inch drain valve, two repair patches, two seals, a zipped carry bag in 210D nylon and an instruction leaflet. The tub measures 85 cm across and 75 cm high on the outside, 79 cm by 68 cm inside, for 330 litres and 3.8 kg empty. Its wall has three layers: PVC on the inside, aluminium-lined pearl foam in the middle, PVC-coated nylon on the outside.

Beyond the tub itself, each part has a job. The thermal dust cover goes over the insulated lid between sessions and helps keep leaves and dust out of the water. The water cushion, filled once it sits on the bottom, lets you sit upright with your back straight. The two repair patches deal with a small puncture later on, and the two seals are there for upkeep: keep them with the patches in the carry bag. No thermometer comes in the box: plan one of your own to read the water temperature.

Setting up the tub step by step

Assembly is a one-person job with no tools, but everything is decided before you fill it: once full, the tub holds about 330 kg of water, plus the weight of the person, and it can no longer be moved. Choose a floor that is level, stable and able to bear that load. On a balcony or an upper floor, ask the building's managing agent or your landlord what load is allowed. Think about draining too: place the tub near a drain, in a shower or outdoors.

Take out the parts and keep them within reach. The 20 mm support tubes slide into the vertical sleeves in the wall: check that each one is in place along its full height before filling. Only the top ring is inflated, with the manual pump supplied: it forms the rim of the tub and acts as a neck rest. The tub itself unfolds; it is not inflated.

• Clear a level, clean and stable spot, free of stones and sharp objects.
• Unfold the tub there, with the opening facing up.
• Slide the six support tubes into their sleeves.
• Fit the valve on the side drain hose and check that the bottom plug is firmly closed.
• Inflate the top ring with the hand pump.
• Fill the cushion with water and place it on the bottom: you sit on it, back straight, knees bent.
• Fill the tub, then close the lid.

The 24-hour leak test on delivery

Leaks are the fault most often mentioned in public reviews of this type of tub, at the bottom or around the support tubes. The right time to spot them is the day it arrives, before your first real session. Set the tub up in its final spot, or outdoors on dry ground, then fill it with water as you would for a bath, so that the bottom, the wall and the tube sleeves are all under load. Close the lid and wait 24 hours without touching it.

The next day, look at the floor around and under the tub, feel the lower wall and run your hand along each tube sleeve. A damp patch, a drop at the foot of a tube or a water level that has clearly gone down all point to a leak. If you find one on delivery, email us photos of the spot and the water level: the shop offers an exchange.

Repairing a small puncture with the patches

Two repair patches come in the box. They suit a small puncture in the wall or the ring; for more serious damage found on delivery, ask for an exchange instead. Start by finding the leak: on a full tub, it is often where the floor stays damp, and on the ring, it is the area that goes soft. Then empty the tub below the level of the hole, or completely if the puncture is in the bottom, before preparing the repair.

The repair takes three steps: dry the area thoroughly, clean it to remove dust and marks, then apply the patch, pressing firmly from the centre outwards. No drying time is given: leave the tub empty for a while, then fill it partly again and check that the spot no longer seeps before going back to your ice baths.

Draining the tub without flooding the room

The tub has two drains. The side hose, fitted with its valve, directs the water to a drain, a lawn or a gully, and the valve stops the flow at any time. The bottom plug is removed above a floor drain: it suits a tub set up in a shower, on a patio with a drainage grate or outdoors. Before opening anything, check where the water will go: a badly placed drain is what floods a room.

Never tip the tub over while it is full to empty it: the support tubes can slip when it is tilted, and the water then rushes out all at once. Let the water run out completely through the side hose or the bottom plug. If some water is left at the bottom, remove it with a bucket or a sponge, then leave the tub open so it starts to dry.

Cleaning, drying and storing the tub

The supplier's text advises changing the water every 10 to 15 days. Between baths, keep the lid closed: it keeps leaves and dust out of the water, and in summer, together with shade, it helps the water stay cool, without matching a tub with a chiller. Keeping the lid closed when not in use is also a safety rule: the tub is not for children, it must be emptied when nobody is watching it, and a child must never be left near it without an adult. In winter, do not let the water freeze in the tub.

To store it, empty the tub, rinse it and let everything air-dry: never fold a damp tub. Remove the tubes, deflate the ring, fold the wall and put everything in the 75 x 44 cm zipped bag. The Ice Bath Tub shop sells this tub as a complete kit (the contents of the box: the tub and its 6 tubes, lid, dust cover, pump, cushion, drain, repair patches and carry bag), delivered free from stock held in your region.