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Choosing Shower Heads

I'm a big fan of handheld showerheads mounted on an adjustable track. An important component of an adjustable showerhead system is the hose, particularly if there is a volume-adjustment valve on the showerhead. I've seen hoses blow out because of the water pressure or wear out because the quality just wasn't good enough and the hose kept on twisting and kinking. It's worth the extra money to buy a hose that can take the added water pressure and physical abuse.

Both handheld and fixed showerheads can suffer from lime buildup, which can clog jets and reduce the volume of water flowing through the system (or deflect it all over the place). Grohe's SpeedClean system is an attempt to minimize this problem, with a flexible conical-shaped silimer spraynozzle design. Any lime that does accumulate does so at the tip of the nozzle, and wiping the nozzle clean bends the resilient surface and flakes the lime away.

Showerheads with different types of (and sometimes adjustable) spray patterns are available for fixed showerheads, for handheld showerheads, and for wallmounted body sprays. Again, quality counts: There are a number of inexpensive hardware-store massage showerheads available with a lot of plastic parts, but the more expensive solid-brass units will perform better for a longer time. Different manufacturers call the spray patterns by different n. mes, such as a soft or hard jet spray, an air-mixed "champagne" spray, or a pulsator spray.