The Serene Life Body Spa Massage is the Best jacuzzi bath mat ever. First of all, it’s so much fun! Second of all, it really does transform your bathtub into a hot tub experience without the bother of balancing chemicals like you need to do in a real hot tub.. It’s not perfect, but none of the bubble bath mats are. But let me tell you, if you know what to expect, it’s pretty dang amazing.
Though they do come cheaper, I like the bubble bath mats from Serene Life. The remote lets you turn it on from the bathtub and it comes with an aromatherapy cartridge, too. For the most part, the suction cups stick to the bottom of your bathtub so long as you don’t have a textured tub. But you also need to know the trick: Wet the tub slightly before pressing down on the suction cups. Also, run the massager while you fill up the tub. By the time you get in, the bubbles will be nice and warm.
You could install whirlpool jets in a standard bathtub to truly transform it into a hot tub. That would cost about $600-$800, depending on how many jets you get. Plus you’d pay about $400 for labor. But for $80-$150, you can get a jacuzzi bath mat. I like that it’s a temporary add-on to my bathtub and doesn’t involve me getting involved in a big construction project.
You can really use this massage mat in two ways: 1) As a bubble bath mat to create incredible bubbles in your bath; and 2) As a body spa massage to help you unwind and relax. Unlike the portable jacuzzi bath spa by SereneLife, this model comes with the heater and plugs into the wall.
Set Up Your Jacuzzi Bath Mat
To set this up, you basically fix the jacuzzi bath mat to the bottom of your tub by pressing on the suction cups. Then you attach an air hose between the mat and a control unit. The control unit plugs into your wall and comes with an 8-foot-long cord. I will say that the direction booklet that comes with the unit could have been written a bit more clearly. It took me about 15 minutes to figure out the setup, and then another 10 minutes to figure out how to use the remote. The remote doesn’t always work from the tub, because you have to aim it at the control unit and it depends how you position the control unit.
Muscle Relaxation
I tend to get sore from working out pretty easily. When I use this mat right after a hard yoga class or time at the gym, I don’t get as sore after. I think it’s because the heated water and the really strong bubble basically give me a body massage. Also, unlike a portable jet spa that you can use to create bubbles targeted at one body part, this mat runs the full length of my standard-sized bathtub. As a result, all of me gets a vigorous massage. There are two levels of power, and even on the lower setting, the bubbles are pretty vigorous.
There’s an aromatherapy cartridge that comes with the unit, too. You add a few drops of essential oil onto the cartridge, and the cartridge slides into the air tube. I’ve always got so many other scents going in my bath from my lavender bath scrub and my rosemary mint bubble bath, so it’s hard for me to tell if that cartridge is putting out a lot of scent, too.
Heater
At first when you turn on the unit, the bubbles that come through the mat are cold. With other jacuzzi bath mats, you’d just have to live with that. But the Serene Life Bubble Bath Massager has a built-in heater. If you run the unit a few minutes before you get into the tub, the bubbles will be the same temperature as your warm water.
Bubbles
If you add a capful of bubble bath oil under the running tap, you’ll get an absolutely crazy amount of bubbles.
According to the direction booklet that comes with the Serene Life Body Spa Massage:
“Hundreds of pinholes on the bath mad produce millions of air bubbles every second.”
Though I feel like I should always be more grown-up and skip the soap bubbles, sometimes I’m in the mood for fun. Believe me, the type of bath you get with this spa bath mat is totally hilarious and funny. I’d only use one capful of bubble bath at a time to be sure you don’t overrun the bathroom with bubbles.
While we’re on the topic of bubbles, I love the Deep Steep Rosemary Mint Bubble Bath, because it smells amazing and when used with your jacuzzi bath mat, you’ll get to experience the most bubbly bubble baths of your life. It doesn’t contain bad stuff like sulfates or parabens, and has tons of good stuff like aloe, argan oil, and shea butter. I have sensitive skin and it feels great for me.
Noise
Before I got the SereneLife Body Spa Massage, I knew that it wouldn’t be silent. Normally, I like it quiet and I was prepared to use a waterproof Bluetooth headset to listen to music and drown out the sound. But the sound is less loud than I was expecting, and you also hear the noise of lots and lots of bubbles like you would hear in a Jacuzzi. I actually find it soothing, so I don’t even listen to music while I’m using my spa bath mat.
Suction Cups
As I mentioned above, sometimes a few of the suction cups will come up due to the power of the water coming down from the bathtub faucet. Once I’m done filling the tub, I basically press the ones that come up a little bit. Then I’m good to go. I have seen reviews where people say the cups won’t stick. The directions say to put a tiny bit of water on the bottom of the tub before you lay down the mat and press the suction cups. This will help them to adhere. And any sort of texture on your bathtub (like from a non-slip mat that you removed ages ago) will make it harder for the suction cups to grip.
The product comes with extra adhesive plates that form a ring around each suction cup. If you need to replace the adhesive plates, you’ve got them on hand.
Storing Your Spa Bath Mat
It’s a good idea to think about where you will store your bath mat. Both the control unit and the mat take up a bit of space, so I hang the mat over the towel rack to dry. Once it’s dry, I’ll put it in a bag along with the control unit and the air hose. The back of one of my bathroom cabinets is a good place for the bag. I don’t want to put it in another room beside the bathroom, either, because I want to make sure that I use it. It’s one of those things you could forget about if it’s not in a place where you’ll see it.