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A tidy basement corner with a black upright cold plunge tub, a gray water chiller connected by two hoses, a step stool with a handrail and a robe on a hook
Cold Plunge Drive Medical

Drive Medical Bariatric Heavy-Duty Step Stool with Handrail, Silver Vein

One wide rubber-topped step with a rail to hold, for a tall tub wall on a hard floor.

Best for upright barrel tubs with a wall of about 30 inbare concrete floorsanyone who wants a handhold that is not the tub

The awkward part of an upright cold tub is the wall: about 30 in of soft-sided tub with nothing firm to hold. This step stool from Drive Medical, a maker of mobility aids, puts a ribbed rubber platform of about 14 × 10 in (36 × 25 cm) beside the tub and a steel handrail 34 in (86 cm) high next to it. The frame is welded steel on rubber feet, with a listed capacity of 500 lb (227 kg), and it arrives assembled.

It is one step, no more than 10 in (25 cm) high, so it shortens the climb rather than removing it, and the rail is on one side only. The listing describes a household stool, not a spa step – what recommends it here is the rail, the rubber and the footprint.

Tip: Stand it snug against the tub with all four feet flat on the floor, and check that it does not rock before you trust it with wet feet.

Photos & price on AmazonAffiliate link

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