16 - Friday, November 17, 1989 - North Shore News

‘Soft’ bathtub makes
for a comfortable soak

HOW MANY times have you
climbed out of hard-backed
bathtub and said in exasperation,
““When will they make a comfort-
able tub?”’

Contributing Writer

Well, they have. Not only is it
soft, its sloping back yields to your
shape and the water stays hotter
longer. Called the Soft Bathtub, it
has been in use in many Canadian
and American hospitals for some
years and is now making its way
into private homes.

It all started in 1971 when Scott

Bortz of Seattle just couldn’t get
comfortable in his own bathtub
after a hard day’s work. Not only
was the porcelain tub mercilessly
cold and hard, it was too small for
him and his wife to enjoy a mutual
soak.
The idea for a more forgiving
bathtub lingered in Bortz’s mind
until five years later, with a
specific product in mind, Bortz
formed his own company to bring
into production the product we'd
all been grumbling after for years
— the Soft Bathtub. He eventually
sold the rights to Vancouver
businessman Jack Anderson,
president of PRO C.1.R. Property
Improvements Ltd. Anderson put
together 2 new company called In-
ternational Cushioned Products
Inc., in conjunction with Inland
Fibre Specialists, Ltd. of Kelowna
who manufacture the special tubs.

Says Garry McMillan, president
of Pentomic Enterprises Ltd. in
North Vancouver, which sells the
tubs, ‘“‘The tubs are very popular
with new homes and apartments,
and retirement centres are also get-
ting into them very heavily.’’ They
range in price from $2,450 to
$4,590.

The soft bathtub comes in 3
sizes, with options such as
whirlpool (6-12 jets), fibre optic
water illumination, ‘‘pearlescence’’
finish and brass and chrome
finishes. Constructed with foam
cushioning inside and bonded to a
fibreglass outer shell, the tub is
more comfortable than today’s
porcelain tubs and retains heat at a
remarkable rate — after the first

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15 minutes the water loses only one
degree per hour. ‘‘You just get in
the tub and put water to the
temperature you want right away.
They’re very energy efficient,”
McMillan commented.

The tough, non-porous

‘elastomeric’ surface is durable like
porcelain, puncture resistant, yet
will stay supple for the life of the
bathtub.

FURNITURE

charming cottages, from the large two-story at

Cleaning is fairly straightfor-
ward — you simply wipe with a
wet cloth — and the cushioned
surface provides surer footing,
preventing those infamous and
sometimes dangerous slips in the
tub,

McMillan says the comment
most often heard from customers
who purchase the innovative tub
is, ‘It’s about time.’’

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