Written by Mike Price, OT
Specially designed for estheticians, massage therapists, and other bodywork and spa practitioners, spa tables come in a vast array of styles and formats to meet the diverse needs of these professionals. Providing a seat or surface for clients to receive massages, facials, pedicures, manicures, body waxing, and Pedi-spa treatments, spa tables are also often utilized for reflexology, aromatherapy, Reiki, and other natural therapies, including physical and occupational therapy.
Also referred to as massage tables, a spa massage table, a pedicure chair, or spa treatment tables, spa tables have come a long way in recent years, with a plethora of innovative design configurations and helpful aspects to optimize both practitioner and client comfort. Everyone is sure to find the perfect base to meet the unique needs of their specific practice, with most style options specifically formatted for luxurious comfort.
Although they’re often similar in design to medical treatment tables, spa tables tend to prioritize comfort and attractive style to fit in with the relaxation and beauty of spa facilities. But they also have to stand up to the vigorous rigors of busy spas, salons, and massage therapy facilities, with heavy, repetitive, frequent use by multiple clients on a daily basis. It’s important to find spa tables that offer both beautiful forms combined with efficacious functionality and strength.
The Oakworks Clodagh Relaxation Lounge and Spa Table easily earns a spot in our review with its handcrafted elegance, advanced technology, and luxurious comfort. As part of Oakworks’ Sanctuary Collection of beautiful spa furniture from Clodagh that’s specially designed for use beyond the treatment room, this award-winning and versatile spa table creates a sophisticated, Zen-like ambiance in common areas like reception rooms and relaxation-dedicated spaces. It’s also quite ideal for home spas as well with its clean lines, rich woods, and incredible comfort.
Incorporating Clodagh’s life-enhancing minimalism mantra of cleanse, clarify, contemplate, and create, all irritants are designed out of this combination lounge/spa table while all of the essentials are included, resulting in a space of blissful serenity that’s textured, warm, and sensuous. Providing hours of sumptuous comfort, its proprietary and removable AeroCel padding and supple, upgraded UltraTouch upholstery yield a supportive, cloud-like softness that is unparalleled. This Clodagh spa massage table also features a natural wood grain finish to complement existing decor. Oakworks’ signature DuraTop construction is the strongest top in the industry, ensuring the highest safety, performance, durability, aesthetics, and comfort, even under the most demanding conditions. This therapy table also offers a higher weight capacity, accommodating up to 625 pounds.
Perfect for a wide range of spa and massage therapies and just simple relaxation or meditation, this lounge table highlights an electric-adjustable top to simplify positioning with a smooth and quiet operation that optimizes client comfort. A convenient built-in side table can hold personal items, reading materials, candles, aromatherapy diffusers, or beverages, while an optional Mini-Console can be added as well. With its unique, minimal configuration, the Mini-Console can be used to hold these items along with its utilization as a place for music or other plug-ins with its convenient internal electrical power strip.
Supporting more activities than any other Pedi-spa throne or therapy table on the market, the incredibly versatile Oakworks Clodagh Libra Spa Table takes the 4th position on our list. Ideal for facials, manicures, pedicures, and massages, this integrated table also supports multiple therapies being performed simultaneously. Its fully functional Pedi-spa tub can be ordered in either a plumbed or non-plumbed design, with two hydro-jets to accommodate a range of treatments. Easy to access by sliding the two-piece top off to the sides, this tub is also quick and simple to hide for massage functionality.
Enabling spa professionals to create the perfect positioning with its electric backrest and powered sliding seat, the Libra’s height and seat motion are completely adjustable with a full-function foot control system, ensuring professionals can keep their hands free for attending to their client. Its dual manicure armrests are also adjustable and padded to optimize client comfort, with built-in receptacles for manicure soaks. They can be conveniently moved out of the way when they’re not in use. A comfortable Boiance face rest is included, along with a quick-lock platform to provide support for prone massage. Multiple TerraTouch upholstery color options and 4-inch AeroCel padding that’s removable assure customized aesthetics and maximized comfort.
Like the Relaxation Lounge and Spa Table, the Clodagh-inspired design of the Libra presents an elegant, minimalist, feng-shui design, integrating beauty and brawn that coordinates well with any decor and has the sturdy durability to handle the rigorous demands of a high-volume spa. With its all-in-one design, this luxury spa massage table is perfect for large, lavish spas that offer many different types of body-pampering services. Its attractive satin-black powder coating finish and wooden slatted storage shelf for storage add contemporary beauty to any spa. An optional aromatherapy shelf can be added for lower armrest support.
Grabbing the third spot in our review with its power-height adjustability, zero-gravity tilt, and customizable tabletop style, size, and padding options, the Oakworks PerformaLift Spa Table delivers exceptional versatility to meet the needs of many types of practices. Its sturdy and durable dual-pedestal configuration stores whisper-quiet motors that adjust the height from 24 to 35 inches to facilitate ergonomic practitioner accessibility, while they also enable powered Trendelenburg positioning for zero gravity capability. Practitioners can keep their hands free and ensure uninterrupted treatment with the simple foot control.
Tilting up to 15 degrees in either direction, the PerformaLift optimizes client comfort, providing a wider range of positioning options. It also offers three different tabletop options in either 29-inch or 31-inch widths, including a Flat top, a Salon top with a generous articulating seat section, and a Backrest top that’s back-adjustable. Choose between 3-inch Plush or 4-inch AeroCel padding to further customize this spa table to meet the specific needs of your practice. A comprehensive selection of TerraTouch color options ensures that this attractive electric spa treatment table will blend with your decor.
Especially beneficial for clients with sinus pressure issues because it can be tilted to help alleviate that pressure no matter what type of tabletop is used, the PerformaLift spa table is a great, ergonomic choice for diverse utilization. Offering unrivaled strength, stability, and the largest adjustable height range of any Oakworks table, it provides an unrivaled solution for bodywork, massage, therapeutic manipulation, and spa and esthetic services at a great price point.
Taking the second position in our review with its incredibly low price point, the Oakworks Seychelle Spa Table provides good, basic support to meet a wide range of spa, therapy, and medical applications. Constructed from tough bamboo fibers that create a more solid and durable support surface than traditional hardwoods, this reinforced table can safely accommodate weight up to 500 pounds. Its smooth and rounded corners prevent catching on skin or clothing, ensuring safe use and access for both the practitioner and the client.
Perfect for spa professionals and clinicians who don’t require adjustable height options, this table comes in a fixed height of 31 inches to satisfy most user’s needs. It's custom-built to order with the choice of either a flat tabletop or an adjustable backrest tabletop to provide more positioning options and angles. You can also choose between a 27-inch or 30-inch width. Multi-density plush padding optimizes client comfort and is covered with soft and supple Terratouch upholstery in multiple color choices that’s easy to clean and maintain, even with the constant use of harsh antibacterial cleaners. The Seychelle is fast and simple to set up and knock-down as well, making it a better choice for portability than some of the other heavier tables in our review.
The built-in storage shelf under the tabletop offers ample storage space for towels, sheets, and other supplies and is notched to the table frame, adding stability. Add-on options help you further customize this table to meet your client’s needs and include a face rest system in black or white and a paper roll holder. Another helpful option is the universal table extender to make the table longer for your taller clients. The Seychelle is well-suited for outdoor areas that are protected from the elements, along with the versatility to meet a wide array of other spa, massage, therapy, and medical support needs. It has the lowest price point of any of the spa tables in our review.
Boasting a vast array of customizable options and powered adjustability at an affordable, mid-range price point, it’s no surprise that the highly versatile Oakworks Clodagh Gemini Spa Table is our number one choice for the best spa treatment table on the market today. As Clodagh’s flagship bed, its clean lines foster a sense of elegant simplicity, resulting in the perfect blend of form and function. This well-loved table is the choice of top spas around the world, with fully powered functionality to optimize ergonomic practitioner access and maximize client comfort.
Tabletop choices include a simple flat top or an adjustable, multi-sectional electric salon top to enable multiple positioning options. With the Gemini’s four electric motors, both configurations are conveniently height-adjustable from 25 to 37 inches to meet changing client requirements and save the practitioner’s back. The salon top style additionally adjusts in backrest angle and leg incline angle for easy access and positioning. Optional armrests are available to give this table the look and feel of a comfy recliner to further relax your clients, automatically adjusting to the backrest’s recline, ensuring level support at any position. This table safely supports a 500-pound weight capacity, accommodating most clients with ease. A wide array of wood stain options enable you to perfectly match this table to blend beautifully with existing decor as well.
Available with either 4-inch or 6-inch Aerocel padding that’s also conveniently removable or replaceable for unrivaled client comfort, the Clodagh Gemini table is upholstered with the supple and soft Terratouch fabric in your choice of color, making it easy to clean, sanitize, and maintain for years of dependable utilization and an appearance that always looks brand new. Its custom-designed cabinetry provides ample storage and comes complete with four electrical outlets inside, adding beneficial functionality that makes incorporating a hot towel cabi an actual, convenient reality without having to purchase a separate storage unit. Attractive shelving on each end provides space for peaceful and soothing decorations and for placing at-hand supplies.
How to set up a spa table is always dependent upon the design. Some spa tables are configured like simple portable massage tables and fold down into a connected two-piece format that’s easy to open up, pull out the legs, and stand upright on the floor. Others are more complicated and may include Pedi-spa tubs and will need to be attached to the plumbing. Every quality spa table comes with directions about how to set up your table for safe and efficient operation, while you can also often find video tutorials online.
How long your spa table continues to be safely functional is dependent on several factors. If you use it in a super busy spa or therapy environment that sees multiple clients every day, your table will tend to wear out faster than if it’s used in a slower, smaller practice. How your table is built and the quality of its construction will determine how well that table holds up in the long run, with cheaper-made tables wearing out quickly and higher quality tables lasting for years. Keeping your table clean, addressing any maintenance issues as they happen, and using a table with the appropriate weight capacity for the clients you see will help in making your table serviceable for a much longer time.
To determine the best size spa table for your needs, it’s important to review your current clientele, what kinds of services you offer, and the size of your treatment room. Make sure you choose a table that will accommodate your largest, heaviest, and tallest clients, which may mean a bariatric option and/or table length extenders. The industry standards are typically 30-inches wide and 72-inches long, but these sizes can vary, especially with tables that offer several widths and/or length options.
To ensure the best care of your spa table’s upholstery, be sure to read and follow the specific manufacturer’s instructions for spot cleaning, washing, and sanitation. It’s crucial to know what kinds of cleaners and disinfectants are compatible for use with your particular upholstery, and whether it’s safe to machine wash and/or dry. Some cleaning agents are harsher than others and can break down the upholstery much more quickly. Be sure to choose fabrics that can retain their shape and hold up to strong cleansers, especially if your table is used in a public facility where repetitive cleaning is absolutely necessary for sanitation and infection-control protocols.
When you’re looking for the best spa table to meet the demands of your practice, the most important design elements to consider include:
Construction material - Choices of the construction material used to make spa tables include hardwood, steel, and aluminum. Wood construction is generally the most pleasing to the eye, which is an important design element to consider when you want to make your spa look elegant and relaxing. While older steel designs can tend to creak during a massage, the newer aluminum designs are typically lightweight but very durable, often crafted with a sleek, modern aesthetic that helps them to fit in with stylish salon environments.
Padding - Typically offered in a range of thickness and firmness densities, different types of padding are suitable for meeting your clients’ various support needs. Look for padding that’s breathable to optimize client comfort, choosing the multi-density foam size most appropriate to suit the needs of your clients. Some padding options are removable and replaceable, enabling customized support to meet the changing and variable needs of your clients.
Upholstery - Upholstery options on spa tables are generally designed to be easy to clean and maintain. Because these tables are used for public utilization and are used by multiple clients every day, the upholstery has to be able to stand up to repeated cleaning and sanitation protocols and still retain its function and beauty. Selecting upholstery that’s soft, supple, and won’t create shear and friction on the client’s skin is another design feature to consider.
Size - It’s crucial to determine the dimensions of the table you’ll need, considering width, length, and height, along with ensuring its weight capacity can safely accommodate your clientele. Larger clients will require a wider table, while taller folks will appreciate a longer table. But if you’re a smaller-than-average practitioner, a narrower table might work better so you can reach over clients more comfortably.
Height is another factor that’s important to get right, as this provides more ergonomic positioning and access to the client for the professional as well as determining how easy it is for the client to get on and off the table. The best table options are those that adjust in height either manually or with electric power, enabling just the right height for attending to every client’s unique needs.
Armrests - Some spa table designs come with standard or optional armrests, which are ideal for certain kinds of procedures and treatments like manicures and other specialized salon services, optimizing client comfort with a place to rest their arms. They’re usually removable or flip out of the way when they’re not in use.
Recesses - Breast and prenatal cut-out recesses can make prone therapies like full-body massage much more comfortable for women and during pregnancy, minimizing compression on the belly, breasts, shoulders, and chest.
Electric adjustability - Spa tables that provide electric adjustability for height, backrest recline, and other tabletop components are usually preferred over static tables because they do so much of the work for you, helping to save your energy and strength and extend your career. Powered positioning negates the need for straining and non-ergonomic movements on the part of the practitioner, helping you access your clients and position them as needed without using your own physical exertion.
All of the tables in our spa table review are made by the esteemed Oakworks company and support at least a 500-pound weight capacity. Specializing in superior quality medical, massage, and spa table design since 1977, this USA-based manufacturer ensures that every product they make is built to the highest standards to ensure safety and reliability in the field. Known as the ultimate benchmark of professional table design, Oakworks tables have been considered the table of choice by most professionals for decades.
Carefully selected to ensure they withstand the test of time, the materials utilized to build their products are also eco-friendly and do not contain PVC, chemicals, or dyes that are harmful to the environment. All of their products undergo many hours of a rigorous testing process by the company’s own quality assurance team to ensure reliability and safety, as well as testing from other outside sources, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
The award-winning spa tables, treatment tables, and massage tables from Oakworks create the perfect combination of comfort, durability, and aesthetic appeal. While the Oakworks tables in this review all deliver diverse design components to meet a wide range of requirements, here are some of their more common elements to know about:
TerraTouch upholstery - This exclusive, proprietary material highlights 100-percent polyurethane-faced fabric with a durable cloth backing, resulting in the perfect combination of soft suppleness and wearability. Totally PVC-free, this earth-friendly fabric is remarkably strong, retaining its shape and offering exceptional resistance against tears and abrasions. The TerraTouch fabric is easy to clean and maintain and can be placed in the washer for more intensive sanitation.
Its high oil and cold endurance make it well-suited for therapies involving oils and lotions, while it also holds up well with strong, antibacterial cleaners and sanitizers, even hospital-grade disinfection. Tested for cytotoxicity, sensitization, and skin irritation, the TerraTouch upholstery fabric has also passed ISO 10993 Biological Evolution of Medical Devices standards for authorized use in medical environments. It comes in 21 different color options to ensure the perfect match with your facility’s decor.
UltraTouch upholstery - Even softer than TerraTouch, the upgraded UltraTouch fabric provides ultra-luxurious comfort. Also environmentally conscious, this material is made with premium polyurethane and is easy to clean and maintain, retaining its shape better than any other upgraded upholstery available today. The UltraTouch upholstery comes in multiple color options to blend beautifully with your decor.
Plush padding - The Plush padding option from Oakworks creates a good balance between comfort and longevity along with softness and support. This traditional 3-inch multi-layered, multi-density cushioning system is comfortable for the client, with a padded firmness that’s conducive for bodywork, physical rehab, massage, and many other therapeutic applications.
Aerocel padding - Oakworks’ new technology in padding options now offers 4 inches of resilient support combined with a softness that conforms to the body’s curves. Its proprietary Aerocel padding uses high-density polyurethane foams to ensure longevity and maximize client comfort. This padding won’t bottom out and retains its shape to deliver dependable, optimal comfort for years to come, relaxing and nurturing your clients during treatments or therapy. Upgraded Aerocel padding comes in a 6-inch density and is available on certain tables.
Wood finishes - Available in a wide range of colors to match your existing decor and meet personal preferences, stains and lacquers enable the natural grain of the wood to show through and create more appealing depth that adds to the ambiance of the environment.
Oakworks also offers a diverse variety of add-on options, such as face rests and bolsters or pillows to upgrade your practice. You can find more upholstery and padding information here.
Spa treatment tables come in an assortment of different shapes, sizes, and styles and are used by a wide range of practitioners, including estheticians, massage therapists, and healthcare professionals. We researched the best spa table options available on the market today, comparing their functionality, performance, beneficial components, adjustability, and price point, along with actual real-life feedback from the table users themselves, in order to give you the points of reference you need to make an informed decision of what table is best to suit your specific and unique clientele needs.
The Oakworks Clodagh Relaxation Lounge and Spa Table made our review with its luxurious comfort, elegant design, and electric-adjustable tabletop. Boasting a 625-pound weight capacity, this ultra-comfy and stylish table comes standard with Aerocel padding and TerraTouch upholstery. Another Clodagh-inspired table, the Oakworks Clodagh Libra Spa Table also made our review with its unrivaled, luxurious comfort, electric-adjustable height, backrest, and seat motion, and built-in Pedi spa, making it a great, versatile choice for high-end spas that offer a variety of services.
We selected the Oakworks PerformaLift Spa Table as one of the best power-height adjustable options for practitioner ergonomics, while it also optimizes client comfort with its tilting functionality for zero gravity positioning. Crafted with bamboo that’s even stronger than hardwood, the Oakworks Seychelle Spa Table was selected for its incredibly low price point. It never sacrifices quality and performance for that lower cost, though, and can be customized with its choice of two different widths in a flat top or backrest top.
While all of these selections would potentially be the best choice for various reasons, we chose the beautiful and contemporary Oakworks Clodagh Gemini Spa Tables as our number one spa table winner. It’s so incredibly versatile with its customizing options of a flat top or electric salon top, padding choices, and wood stain variety, ensuring you can personalize it to meet your specific needs. Power-adjustable in height, backrest angle, and leg incline, the Gemini is super easy to use, and offers beautiful cabinetry for storage that also has an internal electrical outlet for convenience.
To support you in better helping your clients, learn more about tools for the job of living at Rehabmart, and find more assistive and enlightening information about spa therapies, massage therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and more with our educational resource blog, Caregiver University. You can also peruse our complete treatment table catalog, and find out more about the best massage tables as well.
Co-Founder of Rehabmart and an Occupational Therapist since 1993. Mike has spent his professional career working in multiple areas of Occupational Therapy, including pediatrics, geriatrics, hand therapy, ergonomics and inpatient / outpatient rehabilitation. Mike enjoys writing articles that help people solve complex therapeutic problems and make better product choices.
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