It’s Never Too Early to Prepare Kids for Pool Safety
Aqua Leisure SofTouch Deluxe Fabric Arm Floats
These arm floats are really cute when you look at them and almost remind me of team colors. They both come in very bright color of yellow and blue. Although I figured my daughter would want something a little more girlish looking, it was the fabric material that sold me on these floats. Unlike most arm floats, Aqua Leisure SofTouch Deluxe Fabric Arm Floats are made of a soft fabric on the outside (giving them a very soft feel). They are also made if vinyl and poly vinyl chloride. I thought this would make it a bit easier to get the floats on and off my kiddo’s arm, and they just seemed like they would feel comfortable.
To inflate the floats, just find the air plugs and simply blow the floaties up until they are firm.There are two different air plugs on each float. It is not a good idea to over inflate the floats, and they may not fit onto arms. Even worse, they may pop. Once inflated, just push the air plugs back into place. Once inflated, slide the floaties on the arms of the little swimmer, and the floaties are ready to be used.
Hmmmm…
Well, these floats are not quite what I expected. When we first started using, they seemed to do their job as they were supposed to. I was happy that my kid took to the floats well and jumped right in. She enjoyed them a lot more than have a round float around her waist and getting in her way. She had a lot more freedom to move around and the floats held her up well. That’s where the advantages end.
We spent a few hours at the pool the first day we used the floats. I wouldn’t think that is even close to long enough to have the floats start peeling. However, the next day when I was putting the floats back on my daughter, I noticed the fabric had chipped off not one but both the floaties. I could understand this happening after months of usage, but only after a day ? The floats were still holding the air well though/ so we slipped them on and went back to the pool. Once again, the air held well and she had a wonderful time. This time we stayed at the pool for about and hour and a half. After we left the pool, I didn’t see any more fabric peeling. We put the floaties up and they were not used for a few days.
The next time we decided to go for a swim, I took the floaties off the shelf and noticed one of them had drastically reduced in size compared the other one. This was odd to me because there was no obvious leaks or holes the last time I checked. In fact, there wasn’t even any harsh water play when we used the floaties the last two times. It was not completely deflated but it did not even have close to as much air as it should have had. I put it under water to check for any holes (if there is a little bubbling spot on the float, that usually means there is a little hole somewhere).There weren’t any holes that I could see. After checking again thoroughly, I blew the float back up and we went swimming. Again, the floats did what they were supposed to in the pool. It irked me that only after three days of use, these floats had peeled off fabric and lost air. However, they seemed to be doing o.k. in the pool.
A few days later when it was pool time again, I walked in to see one floatie completely void of air and the other one close to it. How could this possibly be? I had checked over and over for holes and didn’t find even one. I always made sure that the plug ins were pushed in safely so that there would be minimum air loss. As I looked closely at the floats, I could see even more fabric had peeled off the floats. It seemed like these floats had been used used for months upon months instead of three days! I still however, went ahead and inflated them again. Once again, they held up well in the pool. A few days later, I was greeted again with two deflated arm floats. As we went swimming (after inflating again , and I still could not find any holes), I noticed this time that after about thirty minutes one of the floats was losing air in the water (sigh). After less than a week of usage, I couldn’t believe that these floaties were already giving out. What was even more frustrating is that I could not find the culprit. I checked meticulously for leaks and holes and found none. It could be that they were just so small that they were impossible to find. I also made sure all four air plug were secured tightly. And besides the fact that the floats wouldn’t hold air, there wasn’t anything at all I could do about the fabric fading. If the floats faded within the first hours of usage, who knows what could happen at any time with these floats. I didn’t/don’t trust these floaties and they were then promptly removed and not used anymore.
Final Recommendation
No, no, and then no again. I do not recommend these floaties to anyone. Others may have had a better experience with these floats. Maybe we just happened to buy a faulty pair (which I doubt because my sister in law had the same problem with these floaties). Either way, going on our experience I could not recommend these floaties in any way. What’s funny is that my husband happened to pick up those .79 cent pair of floaties just to use until we found a more stable pair. The cheaper floaties have to yet to deflate and have worked a million times better than Aqua Leisure’s SofTouch Deluxe Fabric Arm Floats .
A Few Extras
These floats are recommended for the age range of three to seven years old. As always, adults, please keep a close eye on children while using these water products. These are not life saving devices and should definitely not be used as such.
