The Ultimate Showerhead Post
It’s not too often you can stump Google these days. Search for any product, current or past, and you almost always get a slew of results telling you all sorts of things about it. Specifically, what it is, where to buy it, or what product has now replaced it in the product line. This usually even works on nostalgic products purchased decades ago.
Recently, however, I searched for a type of showerhead I’ve used since my college days and couldn’t find a single useful reference anywhere on Google. It’s the simplest and most powerful of showerheads I’ve ever used and it’s called “The Skimpy” (pictured to the right). It shoots a concentrated, forceful mist in a controlled stream unmatched by any other showerhead I’ve tried. The last time I purchased one was at a local hardware store maybe five years ago. It was about $8. The only reference on Google was an image of the showerhead in an obscure “product photos” section of the Interbath website. Subsequent searches on Interbath turn up no mention of The Skimpy.
So, I have a few options here. I can move the old Skimpy to my new place and use a different showerhead in the second bathroom. Or I can scour the interwebs for a place that somehow might still have Skimpies. OR… I can write a blog post soliciting opinions far and wide on what the best showerhead in the world is.
So that’s what I’m doing. Number three.
If you have any useful information on what you believe to be the most excellent showerhead you’ve ever used, post it in the comments along with a brief explanation as to why it’s so great. With any luck, after a few weeks, we’ll have the world’s most complete resource on superlative showerheads.
Well, it certainly isn’t the one in my apartment. If they gave an award for showerhead most likely to shoot 50+% of its water to the right and thus spray the operator in the face whilst trying to adjust the temperature knobs, mine would win hands down. It’s simply unbeatable. I could shower outside of the stall.
I don’t have a showerhead suggestion, but no matter what take your favorite showerhead(s) with you when you move. Either transfer one (them) from the new place or buy whatever is cheapest at the nearest hardware store to replace what you’re taking. You just can’t leave an open pipe. ;-)
I think it’s kinda funny that if you look at all the places where you can buy Interbath products, none of them sell anything. Or atleast I couldn’t find anything.
As far as what do I recommend, anything close to this. I’m over 6′ tall, so most standard shower heads hit me right in the back of the head instead of the top of the head like they’re supposed to. I had one of those watersaver heads for a while and couldn’t wait to get rid of it.
Anyways, good luck on the showerhead project!
I’ve got one of these things and it is THE shit. It sprays a jet about 2x as wide as your normal showerhead so you can luxuriate in water-wasting goodness.
Well why not simply get a power shower then the head has alittle benefical factor
What about getting a removable/detachable one with a hose… cord thingi? Bloody great for cleaning the shower afterwards.
Anyone sharing a shower with a woman (maybe not your mom) would be well advised to get one with a handheld shower head like this one. Especially if it has multiple massage settings.
I’m just saying.
In your search link you had the search term as two separate words. If you put them in double quotations (“skimpy showerhead”) you only get five hits back. If you click the title links most of them give 404s, but there’s still the cache.
You best bet would be to call up Faucet Direct and ask them if they could do a special order (or even check if it’s being manufacturer any more). The cached page seems to be your best bet at this point unless you start calling local plumbing shops.
Also, since it’s mentioned in Interbath, why not call them up and ask about that it? Not everything may be online. Though that model is still in their brochure as Model No. 28456. There’s also a “Super Skimpy” which is Model No. 28457.
P.S. The comment preview is awesome.
The Interbath site does appear to have the one you’re looking for, as well as a deluxe model.
I just bought this same type of showerhead from Hope Depot 4 days ago. It’s technically not the same brand, but it looks the same and has similar properties. It doesn’t exactly shoot a concentrated mist; it’s more of a dispersed mist. But it’s pretty powerful, even for my low-water-pressure house.
My parents had purchased one of those some years ago (It was the deluxe model with the valve that Nick points to) . It was definitely the best shower head I’ve ever used. I’ve always wanted one for my own place, but haven’t been able to find any either. Of coarse, I haven’t looked very hard. Anyway, looking forward to the results of your search.
I have the same one that David has. My wife bought it, showed it to me, and I scoffed. I thought there’s no way I was going to like it. But, it’s the best showerhead I’ve ever used.
My suggestion is to just go to Lowe’s or Home Depot. You may not find it online, but I’m sure there will be one or two in the store.
At first glance, the thing looks like the cheap, industrial, water-saving faucets that were installed in my high school locker room and at every campground shower I’ve ever used. After reading your post and Waylan’s comment though, I’m throughly convinced that I need one of these things. Forget Adsense, you should make a deal with Interbath to sell them through this blog post. You’ll sell dozens. DOZENS!
Just do what would have done in the time before internet searches: Contact Interbath and have them list a distributor (or even better a reseller) in your area.
Interbath contact details
Hi Mike, I can recommend Raindance by Hansgrohe. Water gets mixed with air and it feels really light almost like rain. Taking a shower is very enjoyable and relaxing. The showerhead has 3 ‘air’ spray modes: rain, balance and whirl. I use rain mostly. WIth whirl (very powerfull) it feels almost like getting a massage :) You can see mine here.
Mike,
Here it is, at the Home Depot for $7.38 a pack (Package of 2)
Link
So is this blog now about getting readers to help Mike find all kinds of things like condos and shower heads?
I thought it was about something else.
Thanks for the recommendations everybody. And wow, good find Aaron. I don’t think that’s the “official Skimpy” but it certainly looks trivially close. I guess Google has kind of made me really lazy these days when it comes to search… if it’s not on Google I assume it doesn’t exist.
The Dawg: Yep, sadly the design/web focus of this blog has certainly strayed over the last several months. I tend to write about what is important in my life at the time and moving into a new place trumps web standards and design in my book. I would definitely like to offer a way for subscribers to *only* subscribe to industry-related posts, but at the same time, before I wrote this post, I definitely saw reader value to it. After all, a lot of people don’t even give two seconds of thought about what showerhead they use, but now, after less than a day, we have several recommendations for great ones.
Popcorn ceilings…condo purchases…and now showerheads. Hey, everything relates back to design and usability anyway, right? Anyway, I think there is a design aspect to this post, and that is:
Why is it that a cheapo $8 showerhead beats the average $50 showerhead?
I’ve found that to be true in my case also. About 10 years ago, our utility company gave out some low flow, high pressure showerheads for free. They were a lot like your beloved Skimpy. It was a great showerhead, and much better than 90% of the so-called luxury showerheads at hotels and other places I stayed.
Recently I had to replace it, so I tried two different high-end showerheads. Neither one was even close to the cheapo, Skimpy-like original.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen that an expensive, over-designed product performed worse than a cheap counterpart. I’ve had the same issue with OXO potato peelers and European garlic presses. Sometimes cheap/simple = good.
You can buy thing offline too, you know :P It’s not like any store that sells this “Skimpy” puts it on the internet too…just go to some random DIY-stores, bathroom places etc. :)
You should totally check out PlumberSurplus.com this section has a crazy amount of shower heads, I don’t know if that exact shower head is there but I found several like it.
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Cat/Shower-Heads/565
My parents had their showerhead fall off once and the water shot through a hole in the ball socket that held the old head on, and it frickin’ hurt! I felt like I was taking a prison shower and trying not to take one in the testes. I can’t believe you would be in search of such a torture device! :)
I stumbled upon this article on trendir.com…it throws out some pretty wild shower heads (all of which I want to give a try, hehe). Take a peek!
Mike
All you need now is a good woman! Have you thought of blogging for one? You will spend more time showering and less time blogging.
I love that one also. It’s called the Incredible Head when I’ve seen it. Seen it Home Depot, Lowes and WalMart. Bought one last time I was at my parents to replace theirs because I couldn’t take it.
I recommend Oxygenics showerhead. Like Veerle’s, it mixes water and air. Unlike his, the spray from this thing is incredibly powerful!
On Saturday I had some Home Depot shopping to do, so while I was out I decided to try to find a Skimpy or Skimpy-like alternative. Although I couldn’t find the genuine article, I did find another seductively named showerhead, “THE INCREDIBLE HEAD ®”, for about $5.
After twisting off the old cheap shower head, and replacing it with this new cheap shower head, I was somewhat disappointed. It looked as if my shower no longer had a shower head. Despite it’s initially shocking appearance, I have to agree with Jak’s comment above and add that The Incredible Head® is actually pretty darn incredible.
Unlike a Google search for Skimpy showerheads, a search for “Incredible Head” Showerhead turns up about 900 results, some of which with convincing blog reviews like this one. Even Amazon gets in on the action with several vendors peddling “Incredible Heads” as well. All of this popularity leads me to believe the “The Incredible Head ® ” is actually the original and that your bloved Skimpy is really just a streetcorner knockoff. Sorry, Mike.
The Fire Hydrant shower heads from Water Management are a gift from the engineering gods to anyone with low water pressure. I can’t emphasize enough how well this product works living up to every single claim made on the website. It’s so nice to find something that sounds almost too good to be true and discover that it really is. In addition the folks running the business are some of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with, both online and over the phone.
Another favorite (if your water pressure is nice and high) is the water-pik cascadia. Very sensual and relaxing.
I use this showerhead from Nikken, at least I used to before I moved. It’s a touch more expensive than the Skimpy you’re used to but I have to admit it feels damn good to me.
Mike… so funny… I also bought this exact one at a local hardware store while in Seattle in 1998. I thought it was a water saver type and wouldn’t be strong enough, but it has followed me 2000+ miles to NY and I am now using it in my 4th apartment. The BEST out there. Good luck finding it.
Oh, how hard can it be to find? I’ve seen them in every college dorm bathroom I’ve been to, and most of the apartments I’ve rented (Boston and NYC). Okay, maybe “the Official Skimpy” is hard to find, but there’s a lot of similar ones out there, and it can’t be too hard to successfully copy the design/function. Did you check your local True Value store? Apparently “all new models must meet the federal standard of 2.5 gallons per minute.” You learn something new every day…
Hah! So I’m sitting here reading this post and click on “The Incredible Head” and my fiance peeks over and says “THAT IS THE BEST SHOWERHEAD EVER!!!” …
I suppose it speaks for itself. I don’t know why we don’t have one in our shower then, but…
They sell the showerhead you are looking for at Meijer stores here in the Midwest. I just bought one and I think it was about $7. Chrome plated solid brass, and simple. Same exact one in your photo.
If you still can’t find it, shoot me an email. I can pick one up for you.
Hope this helps.
–Craig
I’ve got one of those; a similar one anyways. Mine has a little button valve to adjust the flow up top, but it does the same exact thing as the Skimpy. I used to hate it, felt like it didn’t cover enough of my back. In time, it grew on me.
However, my ultimate shower-head of all time would be whatever those funky dual shower-heads are that they have in Westins. Set one to act vaguely like the Skimpy for the pressure, set the other one to a wider spray for coverage.
I have got the exact shower head that I bought about 8 years ago from Home Depot. It’s called “Resources Conservation Small Chrome Water Saving Shower Head (Pkg of 2)” for $7.38
Still have it in my shower. It will clog over time but dip it in oxyclean and it’s good as new
Bought one at Walmart in Austin, Texas sells for $4.97. Will try it out later today.
I am quite sure I spotted the Skimpy (think there was two left) here in Toronto at a home depot. I am looking for a great shower so I will check it out.
I put in a dual version of a similar showhead for a total of 30$ Thanks for the idea. The shower went from lame to luxurious in notime!
i work at the ad/marketing agency that represents interbath, believe it or not, and found your blog by pure coincidence doing research for a shower website we run. interbath no longer markets the skimpy but they do make a few other similar models. our website, showerstore.com and have an interbath-branded shower head that is similar to the skimpy called the brass watersaver. it’s basically the skimpy with an additional trickle setting.
check it out
You beat me to it Deborah; I was looking for a showerhead and came accross this blog and also showerstore.com. The name has changed but the product is the same.
The Skimpy
More than anything, Mike Davidson loves his Skimpy showerhead. “It shoots a concentrated, forceful mist in a controlled stream unmatched by any other showerhead I’ve tried,” he said. Unfortunately, Mike’s Google-foo failed him wh…
Here is a link to purchase the Skimpy. It is now called “Brass Watersave”…but this was the former Skimpy. Enjoy!
http://www.showerstore.com/products/product-details.php?item=10017
I have one of those Shower heads, it may not be a skimpy but it is the most powerful head ever. I keep it in my suitcase so where ever I travel to the shower is garanteed to be awsome. I don’t us it at home though, I couldn’t afford it :)
If you ever find one again, I suggest you don’t ever let it get away, or order more, like a dozen or so…
The site mentioned in these posts no longer have the products mentioned. Does anyone know where I can buy one of these small but powerful showerheads. My bathroom shower presently has lousy water pressure coming right out of the pipe, even before installing a showerhead. So I need all the help I can get.
Thanks!
Walmart sells these–Called the incredible Head for 4.97
I think i’ll put it on ebay to see how much it’ll get
Check these out through Amazon. close to what you were looking for:
Ultimate
http://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Head-Power-Shower-Showerhead/dp/B000HE6PIA
It looks like the Skimpy as marketed by Interbath is actually made by Alsons 654c,(The Incredible Head). The Brass Watersaver as marketed by Interbath is made by Alsons 650c with on/off lever. The Incredible Head with an on/off button is Alsons 652c. All of these shower heads are readily available at low prices. So there you have it and I am glad I could help.
Ok, I had to make a post here…
I read this post/comments about a month ago… I ended-up buying two versions of the Alsons showerhead mentioned in the comments…
BOTH SUCKED!
The pressure was horrible, and the both leaked/sprayed water out at the joint.
Long story short, I purchased an “Extreme High Pressure Shower Head” off of Ebay:
OMG, now that is the best shower I have had in years!
Seriously folks, if you are looking for a high-pressure showerhead, that is the one to get.
The company that makes it was acquired by Waterpik, see its website for more info. You may still find Interbath’s watersaver shower for sale by googling. It’s very similar to the skimpy.
Michael, regarding the “Extreme High Pressure Shower Head,” does this showerhead put out a hard ‘fine’ mist, or does it put out a hard heavy flow of water? I’ve used showerheads that put out a hard mist, and didn’t like it. I like the water that comes out to be full body water.
Also, anyone know the trick to increasing water pressure besides removing the flow restrictor? I saw a comment on a website somewhere where a lady said all she had to do was drill the holes bigger inside the showerhead and she greatly increased the pressure. I guess there’s a metal disk inside that has holes where the water comes through, and all you have to do is drill the holes bigger? She said she used a regular power drill. Didn’t say anything else. Anyone know how to do this? Thanks in advance.
Kirk: It’s a hard, fine mist.
I usually don’t comment or post any reviews, but I recently bought an apartment. I did not realize that the water pressure was that low, because testing with my arms, it felt fine. But when I moved in, I really hated it. I scoured the web for quick and easy solutions, like removing the “washer” thing in the shower head and even calling the resident plumber of the building to see if he could do anything about it. No one could.
So I bought this fire hydrant shower head, from water management. Its amazing, I have no idea why it works but it does. For 40 bucks, you have to try it, what’s there to lose? The most you end up returning it. You can install with just using your hands! Its crazy, you guys probably think I am crazy, but its true. Anyway, try it out, that’s all I can say.
I was looking for the same type of thing. We have a cabin up in NM that has this shower head from like the 50’s, the water comes out like wind. I bought a five dollar guy today from Home Depot and took the restricter thingy out it works better than the fancy one in my other bathroom but I sure do wish I could find one like that.
Ya know I was planning on getting a Speakman but a friend gave me a Waterpik PowerSpray Orig. and it’s really good. Nice power in two of the six modes. The chrome plated ones look nice too. This model is about $18.
My only complaint is that it has no swivel or tilt capability. A metal swivel adapter is $24.
For years I have been looking for a shower head to replace the one I have in both of our showers — a small head with an adjustable flow (to almost off), and able to swivel. I even had an old one that lost the ability to adjust the flow. Neither Home Depot nor Lowes had one, nor any of the smaller bath boutiques.
Yesterday I found the flyer with the description that my wife had so carefully filed. Name? “The Incredible Head Power Shower Head” Now it’s 2013 and I went on a two-day search to find it, i.e. to find someone who had one I could purchase. My search told me that Alsons had taken over the brand, then after much more searching I found that Alsons’ had, in turn, been taken into Delta. But, alas, nothing was available. Lowes listed the Alsons’ model but, for some reason, couldn’t ship it to me. So I kept searching for hours to finally find one that I could order but I won’t know if it is what I want until it arrives. Shipping extra!
Any easier ways to get “The Incredible Head Power Shower Head” at its original low cost, i.e. $5 – 9?
Might this elusive shower head have been found to violate the federal 2.5 GPM max regulation, and the current manufacturer (Delta) had to go to a mist rather than droplets?
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/05/sales-of-shower-towers-topple-under-water-limits/index.htm
Troy.
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