Inflatable Furniture – What You Need To Know Before You Blow
Jun 12 '03
The Bottom Line It's fun, it's festive and just a little tacky - it's inflatable furniture!
Over the years we’ve gone through quite a bit of inflatable furniture, from the old school WWF chairs to the Blue’s Clue’s Thinking Chair – if it inflated chances are I spent thirty minutes of my life and countless brain cells blowing it up. Most were poorly made, popped within a few weeks or simply leaked air from seams. For a brief period of time the inflatable furniture craze was everywhere – it was never fully accepted in the eyes of retro lovers but it was popular for a few months. When choosing inflatable furniture you have to take a lot of factors into consideration including the manufacturer, price, size, maximum weight it will support, danger and hazards and warranty. Sometimes it’s better to spend a few dollars more for something that will last more than a few weeks and other times the cheaper version will fit the bill when it’s just a passing fad. Knowing what to expect, what to look for and how to avoid the rip offs isn’t easy but with a little bit of research you’ll be able to sort through the options and pick the one that will best suit your needs.
Where To Start
First off, who will be using this? If it is something strictly for the kids then you’ll have more options when it comes to the maximum weight it will support. If this is going to be something for everyone to use then look for something with double reinforced seams, one-way air valves and that has the burst level on the package. You can purchase anything from love seats to chairs, tables to footrests but resist the temptation to pick up the el cheapo deluxe models – these ones will stick to your skin, spring leaks and make some of the most disturbing noises. Once you establish who will be using the item, you then have to tackle the issue of safety, size, brand name and portability.
Safety
If you are going to use any type of inflatable furniture around a child under the age of five, there is always the possibility of suffocation to consider. A small child could easily become pinned under a sofa or love seat and not be able to climb out from under it or older children might joke around and try to pin a small child under it. Sure, this doesn’t sound like something that could happen but if there is even a remote possibility that it could happen then you have to take preventive measures against it. If you are purchasing a chair make sure that it isn’t too large for your child, this will reduce the risk of them leaning to far to one side and having it tip over. Check the base of the furniture to make sure that it is larger than the top and that if it does tip over there is room for a child to get up safety without bumping into or knocking over other items.
Never place any type of inflatable furniture or toy near a source of heat, there is a chance that it could melt and ruin it but the bigger picture is a nasty burn that could happen if a child sits on it once it is warm or heated. Unless stated on the package, no inflatable furniture or toy should be used in a pool or as a flotation device. Read all of the warnings that come with your inflatable furniture, never over inflate it and always check the seams to make sure there aren’t any frays that little fingers will want to pick at. If a patch kit comes with your furniture, place it somewhere safe and out of the reach of children. Use care when placing inflatable furniture near any type of an outlet or power strip, smaller children could get tangled in the cords and result in an accident.
Size
Just because something looks like it might fit doesn’t mean that it will. This goes hand in hand with portability. If you are purchasing something to be used for a few days then put away then the size won’t be a real issue but if you are planning on having this as part of your day to day furniture [Blue’s Clue’s Thinking Chair] then the size of an object should be taken into consideration. You will want something that is large enough for your child but no so big that moving it to clean will be a problem. You’ll also want something that won’t block doorways or exits to rooms in case there is a need to leave quickly [crying baby, pasta boiling over etc]. The up side to having inflatable furniture is that if you trip over it or walk into it – there isn’t much of a chance of getting hurt – unless you land on something that is.
Brand Name
Sometimes it doesn’t pay to purchase the brand names and sometimes it does. When purchasing toys or furniture you have to look at all the options, especially when something is going to be used outside like a trampoline. It doesn’t hurt to read about different brands at sites like Epinions – even if it isn’t the same identical model, you’ll still be able to judge how the product line stands up to use and abuse. If you hit the end of the season sales you can pick up the brand name stuff at 50% off and the no name stuff for even less than that – but you have to ask yourself if it is going to be worth it or if you will need to replace it three or four times during the summer.
Portability
Dragging furniture around can be a real pain but inflatable items make rearranging easy – providing you have the extra space for it. Since it’s lightweight some items can be stacked on top of each other but I wouldn’t suggest doing this with small kids around – they might get the wrong idea and start staking pieces and climbing on them. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. Being able to move a piece from room to room increases its overall worth but do you really want a purple blow up easy chair in your livingroom? These are all things to consider – especially if you have a child that has been asking for a certain inflatable toy or piece of furniture. Chances are they will want to drag it from room to room with them for a few weeks so you can either indulge them or put your foot down and tell them to leave it in one room. Some pieces like couches or chairs with large arms will be too bulky to move from room to room and to do so might stress out the seams if you try to force it through a doorway one too many times. This means check the size of the piece before you inflate it, this way if it is too large to be moved from room to room you’ll now to inflate it inside the room where it will be kept.
Quality
When picking out inflatable goods, you’ll want to – if possible – open the box and check out how well the piece is made. Look at the seams and see if they are double or triple layered, see if it comes with a repair kit, check the thickness of the plastic as well as the valves. If the plastic seems brittle or hard it might be a few years old and may have been exposed to hot and cold temperatures. The valves should be soft and you should be able to side the plunger in and out of the casing without having much trouble. It’s also helpful to see if the valves have a one-way stopper – this is great if you are inflating this with your mouth rather than a pump. The valve stopper will prevent the air from leaking back out if you heed to take a break. See if the piece comes with a warranty against manufacturer defects – something that you won’t be able to tell until you get it home and start inflating it. This is where purchasing it at a retail store rather than over the internet is a plus – if there is something wrong with it you can return it and exchange it for another model.
Furniture Vs. Toys
In addition to inflatable furniture, you can also purchase inflatable toys such as playhouses and huts, boxing boppers, swimming pools and crawl through tubes and cubes. These should be selected based on the childs age and weight as well as how safe the overall design is. Are there any other pieces in addition to the inflatable pieces? Are there any rough or hard pieces that a child could hit his or her head on? How easy is it to inflate and deflate? Can it be moved easily and safely once it is inflated? These are all things that you should research before you purchase a crawl through toy – regardless of price. Your utmost concern should be safety. If you are planning on purchasing toys for rehabilitation or for children with special needs, ask your health care provider for suggestions, sometimes they will have information on brands and products that you might not be familiar with. In any event, do some research and make a wise and informed decision.
The Bottom Line
Some people think that you just pick up an inflatable piece of furniture, blow it up and you are done. You have to consider who will be using it, how easy it is to keep clean and how durable it is. There are a million enemies to inflatable toys and furniture – from ballpoint pens to hot light bulbs, pointed toys to hairbrushes and combs. If possibly, purchase your items from a store that has a few display models, this way your child can sit on it and you can see how comfortable they are with it. You should always exercise extreme caution with smaller children and supervise them when they are sitting on it. This might seem like an extreme but it’s better than a trip to the emergency room.
As always … thanks for the visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
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