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Original poster

Shower style - drencher or standard head on a hose?

52 replies

JugglingChaotically · 17/09/2014 13:11

It's that simple really.
Head would have adjustable spray options and be height adjustable as on a rail.
Is that really old fashioned?
Drencher is DDs choice?
Would both be OTT?
Help??

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 17/09/2014 13:34

a drencher uses a vast amount of hot water.

How do you heat yours? Combi or Cylinder? What colour? An electric shower wouldn't cut it.

HelpMeGetOutOfHere · 17/09/2014 13:36

I hate drencher showers. Much prefer the standard shower, I never use the drencher head in our bathroom, but use the standard one, ours has both, its a combined unit. a bit like this www.wickes.co.uk/Asmara-Thermostatic-Mixer-Shower-Chrome/p/212552

shobby · 17/09/2014 13:45

Took me ages to find the shower of my dreams when redoing bathroom last year. I liked the idea of having an overhead drenched but wanted a diffuser shower head too so you can get to your nether regions properly! We ended up with a Hudson Reed 'flare' set with their Kia control set, it has a large overhead spray and a good diffuser so the best of both worlds. They have changed the head of the diffuser set now, it looks more like a 50's microphone!

www.ukbathroomstore.co.uk/hudson-reed-a3052-chrome-flare-shower-kit?gclid=Cj0KEQjw4uSgBRDZveXz9M-E1aoBEiQA2RMP6sdOaQMwhkQBzNVzSqsSj33PRWZGbldwGpjcf43NQYcaAm2d8P8HAQ

Tadla · 17/09/2014 17:07

Normal shower head - out drencher was removed as DCs needed warmer water swirled closer to them rather than overhead as they found it too cold.

nemno · 17/09/2014 17:15

I had a new bathroom fitted last year so considered this. You can't rinse down the cubicle with just an overhead drench shower. And lots of people don't want the water coming straight down. So showerhead on a rail for us but both is fine too I reckon.

thesaurusgirl · 17/09/2014 18:35

You cannot shave your legs or bikini line under a drencher, and I don't like the gynaecological positions you have to adopt to wash your bits.

Nor can you swill out the tray after your shower. Always grim getting into such a shower and finding a carpet of soap scum and someone else's pubes underfoot.

80sMum · 17/09/2014 18:54

We have both types. DH loves the drencher and uses it a lot, but I have never used it. I much prefer a standard shower head on a flexible hose, attached to a riser pole.

livingthegoodlife · 17/09/2014 20:10

we had one of those combined drencher and standard head showers at our last house. i never used the drencher - you can't soap up your hair properly without it getting washed out at the same time.

ditto the other re shaving etc!

having new shower done now and going for standard head.

Mintyy · 17/09/2014 20:13

Movable head always! So handy for so many awkward to reach spots.

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 17/09/2014 20:17

you can always replace the head on a flexible hose if you want one that's more drenchy (some of them are about 6" across?) & set the slidey thing high enough to be right overhead

ours - standard head - has just 3 settings (one of which is a pulsing massagey thing which is brilliant when your neck/shoulders are tense) but you can get them with 7 I think

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 17/09/2014 20:19

when I say standard it's actually about 4" across

Mrsladybirdface · 17/09/2014 20:39

agree with everyone else, we have one which has both but never ever use the drencher. I think I'd still get the same shower because it looks really nice.

SwedishEdith · 17/09/2014 20:41

No to the drencher type as well. Had one when we moved here - a pretty old one, tbf - and I hated not being able to clean shower cubicle and I don't wash my hair every day so hated always having to angle my head out of the way

Mmeh · 17/09/2014 20:48

We have a drencher in all our bathrooms. I don't feel as all-over clean now when I use a hose attachment head. Drenchers really do what their name implies!

That said, shaving legs is tricky under a drencher (but I have a bath for that twice a week) and washing the cubicle is a pain. However one of the cubicles is in close proximity to the hose attached shower head on the bath, and we live in a hard waster area anyway so have to scrub our shower trays and clean glass with glass cleaner anyway.

Just realised how boring I sound in this post... Grin

Original poster
JugglingChaotically · 17/09/2014 21:07

Thanks all.
Sounds like consensus is std shower/rail or if drencher have the normal shower too.
We are doing lots of work at the moment - DD v keen for drencher though!
Shower is 80cm by 80cm so tiny. Saw one with drencher and mini shower. Smelly spray head with hook thing but no rail. Was wondering about that as takes up less space. It covers most concerns but not the one of how to lather shampoo while being drenched Smile!
Piglet John, boiler being replaced as v old. Not sure what new one is but with water tank and mega flow so mains pressure.
Though mains pressure in our area not great.
Anyone had a little mini shower? I've only seen them in books!
Tks

OP posts:
Sandthorn · 17/09/2014 21:11

Standard head for me. I always take it off and direct it away from me for the few seconds it takes the temperature to equilibrate. Also like to be able to direct the spray for washing my undercarriage. And definitely want to be able to sluice around the cubicle.

AnnOnymity · 17/09/2014 21:11

Drencher!

We recently moved to a house with a combined Drencher and standard and never use the standard now. So refreshing and exhilarating.

Sandthorn · 17/09/2014 21:12

Sorry, that last bit sounded a bit wrong, somehow. Confused

zipzap · 17/09/2014 21:22

We have a fixed shower heads in our showers rather than being on a riser and although you can angle them they are a dead loss. I reckon they were put in on the cheap by the builder who just put them at the right height to clean a 6ft tall bloke and sod everybody else. So I'd definitely go with a decent shower head that is on a riser so you can move it up and down to the right height but also that you can take out and hold in your hand so you can swoosh around the cubicle afterwards etc.

In a previous flat we had a shower head that you could twist by the holes and it would change the type of flow from a few very intense powerful jets to a medium number of holes with decent flow to a lot of jets with a fine flow, which was nice as you could decide how strong you wanted the jets to be.

I was at a hotel a couple of weeks ago and the bathroom had a nice enough shower cubicle - but the riser had been set so it was to high so you couldn't get the head down low enough to shower the dc, it was kind of looped through so you couldn't take it off properly and it had really strong fine jets that felt like you were being stabbed by needles which the dc hated. I didn't particularly enjoy it whereas if it had had the ability to twist the nozzle like my old shower had it would probably have had some bigger holes where the effect wasn't quite so painful! It also had a dial on it that meant that you switched it on from 0 (which was off) through 1 (which was freezing) to 9 (which was boiling). Which meant that in order to control the temperature the shower was always fully on - if you wanted a softer shower the only option for that was between 0 and 1 - which meant it was freezing and therefore defeated the object of having a nice gentle warm shower (important when you have dc to wash or a sore arm etc!). So I'd also try to get a control where you can control both the volume of water and the temperature of the water separately!

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 17/09/2014 21:28

So I'd also try to get a control where you can control both the volume of water and the temperature of the water separately!

Oh yes, ours has 2 controls - one for temp & one for flow. we have v good mains pressure though (combi boiler), it might be trickier if you haven't

r2d2ismyidealman · 17/09/2014 21:32

I had a Drencher put in my last house and we loved it. I didn't suffer any of the difficulties people are mentioning here such as shaving, keeping hair dry, washing intimate areas. I can't have one in my new house without redoing the bathroom as the current shower space is too small.

Original poster
JugglingChaotically · 17/09/2014 22:38

R2d2 - how small is too small. One of ours is small 80cm by 80cm?

OP posts:
TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 17/09/2014 22:45

ours is 80x80 & it's fine

actually I've just been in & measured it & the internal measurements are approx 84 x 89 - I was sure the tray was officially 80x80 though so I'm Confused The tray was fitted into a 3-sided enclosure built for it, with a sliding door across the front with extension pieces both sides (kind & helpful plumber)

anyway it's plenty big enough for me & I'm 6' & close to 15 stone!

VenusRising · 17/09/2014 22:50

Drencher are fine if you're tall and have short hair, and wash fast. Also I'd say drenchers are best if you have a wet room.

For me, being shorter than my over 6' DH, and having more hair, I like the moveable head- he likes the drencher. He takes about 2 minutes in the shower as a result. He also splashes a lot more than me, and ends up with a wet floor.
I take a bit longer as I turn off water to shampoo/ lather up and then rinse.
I prefer the moveable head for rinsing off my bits- for eg, I always get uncomfortable / itchy after using the drenchers in the gym, because I just can't rinse off the lather underbeneathsies.

Drenchers also use a lot of water.... Not great if you're on a meter.

msmorgan · 17/09/2014 23:19

I had a drencher with no separate shower head used over a bath in my last house and it was fine.

In this house we have a combined drencher with separate shower head in a walk in shower, runs off the combi and I only ever use the small head for cleaning the shower or giving dd's a quick wash down.

DH is 6'3, I'm 5'3 we both use the main drencher head all the time and I have no problems with hair washing or shaving. I get annoyed when we're on holiday and the showers don't have a drencher as I have to adjust the shower head height after DH uses it.

Re drenchers using lots of water, we're metered and pay approx £40 per month, that's the shower used once/twice a day, the bath every day plus the usual dishwasher, washing machine, garden hose etc.