A Portable Pedicure Spa & a Plumb Free Pedicure Chair, are they the same thing?

Just because you don’t have a lot of space or access to plumbing for a regular pedicure chair does not mean you can’t provide one for your customers.

Plumbing free pedicure chairs allow your spa to offer pedicures without connecting them to your plumbing to fill the basin with water. Thus, they don’t need any installation and don’t take up a lot of room! 

So what’s the difference with a portable spa?

Both a plumb free pedicure chair and a regular chair have foot spa basins with jet streams to massage clients’ feet. The difference is how the jets are created. Traditional pedicure chairs create the jets using a network of pipes and a pump. The pipes take the water from one side of the basin and shoot it out the other. There is also a drain to empty the basin after the pedicure.

To make matters even more confusing, there is also the term pipeless pedicure chairs. These are systems that use underwater fans to create the jet stream. But you still need to connect these chairs to plumbing to fill the basin with water and drain it afterward.

‘No-plumb’ chairs use a built-in propeller to move the water across the basin. There is no plumbing involved, so you have to fill the basin manually at a water source and take it to a drain afterward to empty.

Plumb Free doesn't Necessarily Mean Portable

Although some people use these terms interchangeably, this is not correct. Many of the ‘no-plumb’ chairs that are referred to as ‘portable’ are actually heavy and difficult to move around. When a manufacturer advertises a ‘no-plumb’ chair as ‘portable’ in the title of the listing, don’t take it at face value. More honest providers don’t use the term portable. They call their chairs plumb-less or no-plumbing pedicure chairs or even plumb-free chairs even if they have coasters.

Unfortunately, there is no industry standard for using these terms. Thus, you have to pay close attention to the description of the chair. Keep in mind that when they use the term portable, it does not mean the chair is easy to move around. It usually only means that the chair does not need any plumbing.

There are definitely real portable pedicure spa's on the market, and we sell 2 different brands. The Gulfstream and the Continuum Portable Pedicure Spa's. These don't come with an actual chair. But the spa bowls itself are super portable and easy to roll around in your salon or even to take with you on your visits to a nursing home for the elderly, but more on that later.

Why Use a Plumb Free Pedicure Chair?

There are many reasons why you might choose to use this type of pedicure chair. The main one is that it may not be practical to set up a plumbing system to support fixed pedi chairs. You may not be able to afford the cost. Or you may be renting the building and your landlord does not allow you to set up a plumbing system for pedicure chairs.

No plumbing chairs let you quickly set up pedicure stations at your spa or salon. You can start offering pedicures as soon as the chairs are moved into place, with no interruption to your business. And these chairs give you the option to rearrange them without having to move the plumbing around to accommodate them.

A Truly Portable Solution

You may not have your own fixed salon but instead, go to your clients’ homes to provide beauty services. Having a genuinely portable pedicure chair that you can carry around in a van and move to where it is needed can boost your business. If there is not a lot of demand for pedicures in your salon, a portable spa gives you the option to offer them if someone asks for this service.

We recommend the Continuum Pedicute, a commercial-grade pedicure chair that does not require any connectors, hoses, or pumps. It features a compact design that is easy to move around on the lockable easy glide casters. Another recommendation is Pibbs Portable Footsie Pedicure Spa Foot Tub. The lightweight chair features a removable bowl that is designed to fit under most standard faucets for easy filling with water.

Recommended No Plumbed Pedicure Chair

What if you’re looking for the best no plumbing chair? We recommend the Continuum Simplicity LE (Luxury Edition). 

The Continuum Simplicity LE chair features full function deep-tissue shiatsu massage, including kneading, rolling and tapping movements. For the convenience of the client, the chair features dual pivoting arms and fold-down manicure trays made from acetone-resistant material.

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