Make a Splash This Summer: The Ultimate Parent’s Guide to Water Slide Rentals in Michigan

1- Watchdog Series 2 Blower Siren: This blower siren was designed in 2018 to detect air loss caused by power loss to the blower, child mischief, or even a major rip/tear in the bounce house or other inflatable rental, sounding a loud alarm to make sure attendants are immediately aware. ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials) requires these for any inflatable with a slide platform over 8’ tall, given the tip-over risk associated with the unexpected deflation of an inflatable slide unit, but we offer them - free of charge - with all of our inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and other larger inflatable rentals.

2- Non-Slip Safety Mats: ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials) and SIOTO (Safe Inflatable Operators Training Organization) recommend that, even on grass setups, all bounce house and inflatable rental entrances/exits have 2” foam non-slip safety mats extending 4’ in each direction, as slips/trips/falls are most common here. The surfaces of these mats should be non-slip, especially in the case of water slides. All of our bounce house and other inflatable rentals include these safety mats - free of charge!

3- Sufficient Ground Anchoring: ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials) has written highly technical guidelines for manufacturers regarding the anchoring of inflatables, and almost all manufacturers now abide by these. However, some party rental setup crews take shortcuts here, by skipping some critical anchor points to save a few minutes. ALL anchor points on EVERY inflatable should be secured using at least 18” steel stakes – do not accept shortcuts!

4- Safe Entrances / Exits: Many older inflatables have unsafe entrance ramps, or none at all. Always look for bounce house and other inflatable rentals with entrance ramps, and ensure that these ramps have safety rails or, better yet, tunnel entrances like the one shown in the picture. Even with entrance/exit ramps that feature tunnels or safety rails, always ensure that 2" foam non-slip safety mats are placed to cover 4' in every direction of each entrance/exit - we include these - free of charge - with all of our ride-in/ride-on inflatable rentals.

5- Finger-Safe Mesh Windows: To better supervise your little jumpers, it's important that your bounce house rental has sufficient meshed window walls. More importantly, the mesh utilized in these window walls (and in other areas such as covered slide platforms) should be finger-safe; that is, small enough to not allow little fingers to get caught/tangled in the mesh, which could result in broken fingers or sprains.

6- Covered Roofs with Egress Ports: Bounce house rentals (and other inflatable rentals with bounce areas) without covered roofs can be tempting for little ones to climb up and out of – almost all new designs now have covered roofs. Also, ensure that the roof has an egress port (emergency exit) in the unlikely event the unit unexpectedly deflates and a secondary exit is required.

7- Covered Slide Platforms: ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) has issued guidelines requiring that all slide platforms be covered, and for good reason! Many older designs had open slide platforms where kids could fall (or more adventurous kids would attempt to jump) from the slide platform. The simple fix of having a covered slide platform is now the industry norm – all of our inflatable slide rentals feature enclosed slide platforms!

8a- Soft and Contained Slide Landing Area: Inflatable slides should have a soft, 18-24” deep inflatable slide landing area base, surrounded by inflatable containment walls, to ensure a soft landing for participants and keep them from sliding off the end of the slide and onto the ground.

8b- Inflatatable Water Slide Landing Areas: Our newer (safer) water slide designs keep water accumulation in the splash landing area to a maximum of 4" deep, instead utilizing an inflated base as a cushion (to reduce the potential for a drowning risk). Some states have already started to crack down on deep landing pools, such as Ohio.