Today’s item is this rusty shower caddy.
How many of these items have passed through our home over the last 23 years I couldn’t say but it has been quite a few. I am yet to find one that didn’t go rusty after about 2 years. There must be one out there in the market that is made of a substance that doesn’t perish with such monotonous regularity.
I know they only cost about $20-$30 but I’m stingy and I expect more for my 30 bucks. So I have come up with a cheap alternative to this design. I have purchased 4 plastic coated hooks with screws on the end at a grand total of $2 and I have screwed 2 of them into the bottom of my shampoo and conditioner bottles and hung them upside down on the edge of the shower screen.
The beauty of this design apart from the $2.00 price tag is that the liquid in the bottles is constantly in the ready position, that is since they are hanging upside down the liquid is always nearest to the exit hole so it is as simple as flip the cap and out it comes.
I will keep you posted as to how well this invention is working but for now I am quite happy with the result.The other items that used to reside on the old shower caddy were my razor and a comb for applying conditioner to my hair. The razer is also hanging over the edge of the shower screen and the comb is sitting in the channel above the door of the shower which works quite will.
I might add that the shower in question is very small and this new hanging method has freed up a Little moving room as well.
I like your ingenuity. I’m assuming you don’t have tile? That would crack our 1950’s tile up and down, I’m afraid.
We use the type that is on a tension rod and goes between the ledge at the side of the tub and the ceiling. It has three shelves and a large basket and has seen us through two years at our townhouse apartment and now nearly three years at our home, no rust. The lowest rack holds razors and soap, the middle rack is my husband’s level, the upper rack is my level, and the basket at the top is where keep the supplies for bathing the dog. Nothing left on the tub ledge, save the bottle of shower spray we use to keep the stall tidy. (We switched after our metal over-the-shower head caddy got rusty and we declined to use an ugly, plastic thing.)
Hi Carrie,
just as I thought, so far we have a choice of metals ones that rust or ugly plastic ones. We also found that the soap holder on the one in the picture was too wide between the wires and the soap didn’t have to get used for long before it started to fall throught the gaps so we had to get a separate soap holder. Just another way that companies make money by producing merchandise that become redundant quickly (even though this could be avoided) so they make more money out of the unsuspecting consumer.
Good plan – we have a similar issue with our shower caddy.
Also the sizes are never quite right for standing up your lotions or potions are they? Most frustrating!
Hi Anna,
I have had my bottles hanging on the hooks for a week now and they are going strong. I will continue to use this method unless I find that elusive perfect shower caddy. As you say there is always something not quite right about the ones on offer, I am prepared to wait.
Just curious Colleen, are you still using this method for your shampoo and conditioner? I have a shower caddy that has gone all rusty and since I have a shower over a bath, I just put my products on the edge of the bath.
Hi Low Income Lady,
yes I still am still using the screw in hook method on my shampoo bottles. My husband seems to like it too, well he hasn’t complained that it doesn’t work. The hooks do get a little rusty over time but they cost about $1 for four of them and I have only thrown one away so far. We don’t have a bath in our ensuite and the shower is very small with this method they a well out of the way.