Natures Massage Stones

[Hayden K.]

Those sure are some beautiful rocks!

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

Natures Massage Stones

I'm always on the look out for more stones from different suppliers - I sometimes sell sets, usually I have to change them a bit to configure them how I like to sell them so I generally just pull sets apart and put my version of sets together with some other stones. These ones looked great from the photos ccMarie posted, so I ordered a set from Natures Massage Stones http://www.naturesmassagestones.com - what a mistake! I missed the bit about asking for large stones. The set was ridiculously small, really disappointing. Even more disappointing, when I emailed them to say how disappointed I was, they never bothered to reply, so service is good before they send stones, service is non-existent if you have a problem with what they send you. I gave them a month to reply, still no answer, so I emailed again, it's been another month, still no reply.....

The stones were covered with some strange oil, smelt OK when they turned up, but within a few days started to smell bad. I washed them and they still smelt of rancid oil. The one good thing to come out of it was I figured out the best way to remove rotten oil from stones - in the past (with stones I had purchased) if they were really bad, I put them in the dishwasher, but I found soaking them over night in Vanish Oxi Action Multi Fabric Stain Remover with Colour Protect (http://www.vanish.co.uk) got all the rotten smelling oil out. There must be a US equivalent product, just not sure what it is, but Vanish worked. I had also asked Natures Massage Stones what the oil was, but again they never bothered to reply. I don't understand why people send oiled stones, particularly using some cheap oil that goes rancid. The stones might need to be oiled, but you should do it yourself so you know what has been put on them. I think half of them oil them to keep the dust down.

I found all the extra face/trigger point stones to be a complete waste of stones, too small to hold the heat well, too big to be toe stones - all the 'bonus' stones were just fillers, it's very common in stone sets, tiny little stones that aren't small enough to be toe stones, but really too small to be of any use for anything else because they don't hold the heat well because they just don't have the mass behind them to hold the heat. All the small stones in the set were thin, except for ONE small stone that was virtually a ball, wouldn't have minded it if it was a pair of almost ball shaped stones, but just one single one?

The only excuse I can give them was that it was an overseas shipment and they were using a 20lb fixed shipping box - as it was, my 58 stone set was only 17lbs, they could've easily got it up to 20lbs, particularly if they left out all the bonus thank-you-for-ordering-from-us-stones - I would much rather have had decent sized stones. The best stone sets I have come across are the AML Stone Source ones http://www.amlstonesource.com - their 54 stone set weighs 34lbs to give you an idea of the difference in size. Weight is VERY important with stones, you want nice weighty stones so gravity does the work of getting the stone into the muscle, not you pushing. If you use little stones, you still need to use almost as much effort to get the same pressure from the stones as you do using your hands. Weighty stones, you don't need to apply as much pressure, the weight of the stone does the applying of pressure for you.


I also went and checked the URL archive for Natures Massage Stones http://www.naturesmassagestones.com to see the pricing history - so much for the $100 bargain - they were priced around $89 for years, put it up to $189 for a short time, THEN brought them back down to the special price of $89 again.


My recommendation would be avoid Natures Massage Stones http://www.naturesmassagestones.com

Also avoid TIR Massage Stones http://www.tirmassagestone.com THEIR 66 stone sets weighed in at a massive 13lbs, but they didn't send any 'bonus' stones.

The Healing Stone Massage sets http://www.healingstonemassage.com look good, at least they have photos of the stones on a massage table, you get an idea of the size. I should've been suspicious of Natures Massage Stones with no scale on their website but ccMarie's photos were so good!

The question about 'hand made' basalt stones - these are mainly coming out of China and India - they've basically figured out a way to use the offcuts from basalt/granite benches, curve the edges, smooth them out, put them in a box and, hey presto, hand carved massage stones. They're usually pretty thin - making them light weight and not holding the heat as well. I have seen some that are about 1" thick, hold heat well, I even have a pair I use for a very specific technique, but they aren't good for getting into all of the muscles. 'hand made' stones are great for working over clothing with no oil if they are very smooth, but add oil and smooth, they are difficult to handle. (The granite ones in particular are usually glass smooth like a granite kitchen bench) It's also really tempting in the beginning to think nice regular man made shapes are the easiest to work with because you can pair them up easily - unfortunately bodies aren't made that way, you need a variety of shapes to work on different bits of the body.

I've emailed the link to this post to Natures Massage Stones. I'm sure THAT will get a response, here or my inbox.

 

[ermy]

Natures Massage Stones

Great thread!

Thanks for the pics ccMarie... that took some time to compile!

And thanks for the follow up, melb... I always enjoy your thoroughness. Hopefully they WILL respond now!

t006

 

[Probie]

Natures Massage Stones

melb,

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, especially because I am so happy with my set.

Honestly, I would not have thought to inquire about the size of the stones before purchasing, had it not been for the responses I got from others questioning it.

I found that the oil used on the stones washed off easily before the first use with some hot soapy water (Dr. Bronner's) and a washcloth. That's what I use to clean them after a session, however, I do periodically throw the set in the dishwasher.

The thing that really gets to me is the poor customer service. To tell the truth, I never even looked for (or asked about) their return policy.

While I would grade the quality of MY set of stones an A, with the F you give their customer service, I doubt I will order any more stones from them.

Hope this all gets worked out for you, and please let us know what (if anything) comes of it.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Natures Massage Stones

With the return international shipping, when I emailed them I explained I wasn't going to return them, that would've cost almost as much as they'd send back if they gave me a full refund. Maybe because I said I wasn't returning them they decided there was no need to say anything. I would've actually thought that would be a good reason to reply with at least a 'sorry you were disappointed. If you let us know with your next order we will make them big stones', knowing full well I would be unlikely to risk ordering again. I did not ask for anything except the info for what kind of oil they used, and state how disappointed I was with the size but I would not be returning the stones.

I had my dishwasher break down once after washing some rancid oily stones (ordered from somewhere else) even though the stones felt smooth, the dishwasher must've loosened up some grit that was held on by the oil that I didn't notice but my dishwasher didn't like. Since them I've not been suggesting a dishwasher, but this was the first time I had to think about it. I did give them a good wash with liquid soap and then hot water which is usually enough but it wasn't (possibly because of the additional time involved with an international shipment, the oil was well soaked in and well on its way to rancid, even the box they came in had lots of oil soaked into it - I suspect if it had taken much longer to arrive it may have weakened the box with all the oil). I was contemplating risking the dishwasher again, but thought I'd try the Vanish, and it worked wonders

Still no response from them.