Common Massage Recliner Myths

Myth 1: “<Insert Country> manufactures the best massage recliner”

No country produces the all around “best” recliner. Some manufacturers in Taiwan do a great job, others are substantially sub-par. The same holds true for Japan, Mexico, China and anywhere else a recliner you may purchase is manufactured. Instead of searching for the “best” ranked chair, what a consumer should look out for is a quality company that imports the chair to the United States. Be aware a common trend with many distributors of massage recliners in the United States is a lack of staying power. Promised warranties are frivolous and often void if the company one is dealing with ceases to exist shortly after a purchase. This is the company you will be dealing with, most likely exclusively, so a solid warranty and attentive customer service will contribute greatly to the quality of your massage.

Myth 2: “<Insert Brand Name> makes the best massage recliner”

Many companies online claim to offer the best massage recliner and can be misleading. In reality, there is not just one “best” chair for everyone, each individual has different needs and requirements in a massage chair. Instead, there is a massage recliner that is best for an individual. We encourage you to research and decide which features different massage recliners offer and what will work best for your situation.

Myth 3: “100% leather is the best quality of massage recliner to buy”

Currently there are many different types of qualities of both leather and vinyl available for recliners on the market. Due to the heating features of the most popular chairs, leather is not suitable for outfitting on a recliner intended for daily, repetitive use. The top manufacturers use vinyl on their recliners. Leather is prone to cracking and drying out when heat is involved. Leather also lacks the elasticity that synthetic material provides. Recliners made with vinyl as opposed to leather are not “cheap” or “trashy” looking.

            Furthermore, massage recliners that are advertised as leather are sometimes made with barely 30% leather, in order to cut costs by mixing and matching materials together. After a short time, these massage recliners will develop uneven wear patterns as the leather fades and cracks. Most recliners fitted with leather are poorly made products. The leather is used as a gimmick to charge hundreds of dollars over the actual value of the recliner.

Myth 4: “Arm massage is effective”

Some newer massage recliners offer an arm massage component as part of their design. The quality of arm massage technology that is currently available on the market is severely lacking, thus producing a very ineffective therapy on the arm. In reality these features, like arm “claws”, achieve the same sensation as if a nurse were taking your blood pressure. The “arm massage” found in such a massage recliner is powered exclusively by air bags. Massage-Recliners.com maintains that air powered massage is severely inferior to the massage received when mechanical components power the movement. Air makes recliners unnecessarily noisy and the hoses dry out over time, easily cracking and ruining a $3000-$6000 chair. As the technology is currently developed, arm massage does not necessitate the addition of it as a feature in highly effective massage recliners.