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katienic_gw

Soap dispenser - any regrets not adding one - or adding one?

katienic
14 years ago

I do not have a soap dispenser, but I have to decide whether to have the granite people add a hole for one.

For those who chose to not get a soap dispenser do you regret not planning for one?

For those who did allow for one, are you glad you did, or could you do without it?

Thanks.

Comments (33)

  • mom2reese
    14 years ago

    I like to use the foaming hand soap, so I opted not to put in a dispenser because I didn't find a foaming dispenser I liked.

    I regret not going ahead and putting in a regular soap dispenser because I could have put dish soap in it or had the option to have regular handsoap (and hide the foaming pump bottle when people were over). I wish I had thought it through more, but I had a million and one decisions to make (we were doing a full house).

    I had a soap dispenser in my last house (before I started using the foaming pump) and never regretted having it.

  • kelleg69
    14 years ago

    I love having a soap dispenser. I will have one on my big sink and on my prep sink. I like it for hand soap. To me, when you are chopping food, it is good to easily be able to wash your hands. Obviously, you can have a bottle of soap there, but like on my prep sink on island, I wouldn't want a bottle sitting out all the time.

    The only reason I wouldn't do one is if you are getting into too many holes (if your faucet takes three for example).

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  • reshal
    14 years ago

    My faucet takes three holes and the soap dispenser balances nicely with the sprayer hole, for a total of 5 holes. I LOVE having the dispenser next to the sink. I put dish washing soap in the one next to the main sink and anti-bacterial hand soap in the one next to the prep sink.

  • ella_socal
    14 years ago

    Honestly, I thought they were totally unnecessary, but I like mine. Right now I have TJ's lavender honey hand soap in there, but I might switch it to dish soap in the future. I have 5 holes on a 36" sink and it doesn't bother me at all. The one I put in is a Rohl dispenser and I love how good it looks (along with the other Rohl fixtures!).

  • bostonpam
    14 years ago

    My son and nephew have food allergies. I'm ALWAYS washing my hands and couldn't live without my soap dispenser. It leaves the counter a little cleaner looking too - one less item on the counter.

  • rnest44
    14 years ago

    I live in a nanny state that still requires an air gap for the DW. I am opting to go with a soap dispenser that is also an air gap. I have made a request to get the air gap waived but I'm not holding my breath.

  • marthavila
    14 years ago

    I'm really happy that, at the last minute, I went ahead and decideded to install a soap dispenser. That little addition had not been part of the original plan. I now find it to be a pleasant convenience -- for the most part. My only regret is that I did not have the dispenser on hand when the fabricator cut the holes in my countertop. Or maybe more importantly, I regret that I didn't give a whole lot of thought to placement of the holes other than to request that the faucet be centered between the sprayer and soap dispenser and that the faucet lever, when cranked backward, not be stopped by the backsplash. Now that all the fixtures are installed though, I find that the arm for the soap dispenser does not clear the front edge of the countertop! This means that every time I want to use the soap dispenser, I have to dispense the soap directly onto my dish cloth, or onto the thing I'm washing, or into some kind of vessel. Otherwise, the soap will drop directly onto my soapstone contertop -- which, despite the name, doesn't look so good with soap sitting on it. What a bummer!

  • katienic
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Wow, thank you for all the information being sent in. My DH really, really, thinks it is over-kill & not worth considering, so it is good to hear everyone's views on how much you like it, and why.

    It might be one of those options that if you don't have it you don't miss it, but once had it becomes as marthavila said 'a pleasant convenience'.

    The granite guy is coming tomorrow to measure. I'll need holes for the faucet & inta-hot, and I'll hit the web search tonight to see what I can find for dispensers & where I can get one in my locale.

  • becktheeng
    14 years ago

    I'm opting not to have a soap dispenser. I have one now and the dishsoap continually leaks out of the pump during the summer (it's in a south facing window). I'm just planning on having a pretty countertop container for it in the future.

  • seaglass7
    14 years ago

    If you decide to install one for dish soap, check out the threads about Never-MT. We purchased one and DH thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. We have a rather large sink and it would be difficult to have to refill the soap dispenser. With the never-MT you can hook the dispenser right up to a large bottle of dish soap. A few people have had difficulty with using Never-MT, but many GWer's have listed it as one of their best purchases. And no, I have don't have any affiliation with Never-MT except as a happy customer.

    I wish I has put a second dispenser at the main sink for hand soap and a handsoap dispenser at the prep sink since that's the sink the kids use all the time.

  • ella_socal
    14 years ago

    Despite my positive post above, I totally agree that it is just a "pleasant convenience." I like it, but wouldn't be terribly upset if it disappeared tomorrow.

  • raehelen
    14 years ago

    The $14 Soap Dispenser I got from HD is one of the things we love most about our new kitchen! Went there fully intending to buy the matching $220 Blanco version, but the salesman talked me into trying the HD one. I was actually leery because it was so cheap- hah- it is made with solid brass construction, looks very similar to the one I was going to buy, and has been a dependable workhorse for the past 17 months! Goodbye bright yellow Sunlight bottle! (I actually had an antique oil carafe but half the time guests couldn't figure out where the soap was- and the other half the time, I couldn't be bothered to refill it, so just left the plastic bottle on the counter.)BTW, it fills quite easily by just lifting the top off, so I haven't invested in a NeverMT- and I really wouldn't have room for a large bottle of soap under the sink anyways.

    AND, it's great when you have slimy dirty hands and can just hit the push top with the clean side of your hand. I use a dish soap for 'delicate' hands, and just wash my hands with that too.

  • lkremodel
    14 years ago

    We don't have one and I don't regret that decision. It seemed like one more thing to clean around.

  • starfish24
    14 years ago

    We have two sinks with a soap dispenser (kind that fills from top -- very easy), and one in another room without. Am about to do the counters for laundry and basement and would not even consider not putting them in there. To me, it's now a no-brainer.

  • rosema12
    14 years ago

    Dh didn't want it I like u wasn't sure. Now I am glad we bought the faucet with one as I am thinking it will be great for my dish soap imstead of having to pull out the big bottle everytome I want to wash something and then ican display my hand soap on the sink. I may decide to do hand soap instead but for now that is what I am thinkong so yes glad we decided it as at one point thought it was totally unnecessary

  • katiee511
    14 years ago

    We bought our faucet a few months before demo and it came with a matching dispenser. I absolutely had NO intention of using it and told my granite guy that. He said just put it away or throw it away before we get here so the guys don't install it. THEN I read here how much everyone loved theirs and decided it would be a great idea, afterall. I bought another cheapie one at Lowes to use for handsoap also. When it came time to drill we saw how badly the two types looked together and scrapped having the second one installed :( We moved it around on the counter, found the perfect location for it to make sure it would dispense into the sink and had it installed. I bought the Never MT, hooked it up and have been loving it ever since!! I am soooo glad so many posters talked about theirs here. Having never had one, I didn't know what I was missing. Love, love, love not having a dispenser on the counter and always having soap at the ready whenever I want it.

  • Circus Peanut
    14 years ago

    My guy voted against it and I now really regret not having one. It would be soooo convenient not to have that icky soap bottle (even a nice dispenser) sitting out there, which just creates a little puddle or ring on the counter and is one more thing to tip over/wipe down.

    What I'd definitely want in a soap dispenser would be a good long reach so that any drips go right into the sink.

  • rhibert
    14 years ago

    We have a soap dispenser hooked up to a Never-MT, and I think it would be great if it worked right. => Not sure if it's the dispenser itself or the NMT, but it leaks constantly and doesn't "reset" quickly (can't think of any other word for it, but I mean it takes a long time for it to rise again after a pump). Luckily the spout is really long so it lands all the way in the sink when it drips. We still use it, even with the problems!

  • katienic
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I'm going to head out to our local hardware store to see if I can find one that will look ok with the existing fixtures. The Kalia faucet & the insta-hot don't match all that great in detail, but they're both chrome so as long as I can avoid the 'faucet police' I'll be fine.

    There sure is a huge spread in price ranges for these things.

  • zelmar
    14 years ago

    We have soap dispensers at both sinks with hand soap and we love them. DH didn't see the need during the planning phase but he now uses them all the time. I tend to use dish soap once a day at the main sink. I wash my hands many more times each day + having handy soap encourages everyone else to wash more often. I used to have a soap bottle next to the sink. When it got low in soap it would often get knocked over and then ooze soap. We have never MT's on both dispensers.

  • socalusa
    14 years ago

    We have had a soap dispenser for years in our kitchen. We fill it with non-concentrated dish soap and use it for hand soap and also for hand washing dishes or pre rinsing before putting them in the dishwasher. The "non ultra" dish soap uses less water to rinse off, so it's a bit of an energy/water saver as well.

    Have also had one in our motorhome and really use it a lot there, because there is no bottle sliding around or dripping and we really need to conserve water there... It's just been a better mousetrap for us!

  • elfmom
    14 years ago

    We just finished our kitchen in which we installed a Delta soap dispenser. It is just long enough to drop the soap into the sink, which was unplanned but fortuitous. I keep dish soap in it and use it to wash my hands too (I know I shouldn't, but I'm lazy). I must say that I'm extremely glad I have this feature in my kitchen. I hated pulling out the bottle of dish soap everytime I needed to do dishes. I wish I would have installed one in the prep sink. The Delta dispenser is very easy to fill, too. Just lift the pump and fill from the top. I don't think you'll regret having one.

  • howmuchlonger
    14 years ago

    I plan on putting a soap dispener in my new kitchen along with the never mt. Was woundering though how it would look in the bathroom? Havn't heard of anyone put one in there, but it seems like it would be less things on the bathroom counter...

  • teppy
    14 years ago

    i absolutely would not want to go without my soap dispenser and the never MT. it is the most convenient thing ever. i don't think i would love the dispenser so much without the never MT though. i bought a huge bottle of soap from sams and have been using it for months now. i would hate filling the little bottle all the time that came with the dispenser.

  • sue36
    14 years ago

    I have a Grohe soap dispenser. Hate it, never use it. I plan to put something else there, either a side-spray or a water filter.

  • southernstitcher
    14 years ago

    So you guys with a Never MT and also a hand soap dispenser: If I go with a faucet with one lever and it's pull down sprayer -- I'd have to have a sink with 4 holes, and make sure that whatever faucet kit I buy has two soap dispensers (or I could order an extra) that extend into the sink? Sorry to sound dumb about this but I've never had any soap dispenser!

  • katiee511
    14 years ago

    howmuchlonger - we have 2 more soap dispensers and Never MT's for both bathrooms. Just waiting for the countertops. Really can't wait to have them in there, too. There are quite a few people on the bath forum that have them and love them! :) One poster said it was his wife's best planning decision in the whole bath..... haha

  • howmuchlonger
    14 years ago

    Katiee511: Thanks! I will plan for them in my bathrooms then. I had also thought about 2 for my kitchen sink, one for dishwashing liquid and one for hand soap, but then no one would know which was which lol

  • zelmar
    14 years ago

    southernsticher, the Never MT is basically a long tube with a one way valve on it that attaches from the soap dispenser to a large bottle of soap (dish soap or hand soap.) It takes the place of the plastic soap reservoir that comes with the dispenser. The soap lasts a lot longer between changes and changing is easier since bottles are just swapped out instead of having to pour soap from one container to another. In my case I just have one dispenser at each sink and these dispensers are hooked into my hand soap bottles with the Never MT (tube.) The Never MT comes with different fittings for different size soap bottle mouths.

    Our soap dispensers were purchased separately from the faucets and don't tie into the faucet in any way. I have a pull down faucet with a single lever handle. We had 2 holes cut---one for the faucet and one for the soap dispenser. Some people do have 2 dispensers--for hand and dish soaps. Our dispenser isn't long enough to reach the plastic tub I put in our single bowl sink for washing dishes. I wouldn't want a long nozzle sticking that far out into my sink because I would probably keep knocking into it with large fry pans and stock pots. Since I only use dish soap approx. once a day, it's not a problem storing it under the sink.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Never MT

  • southernstitcher
    14 years ago

    Thanks zelmar. That is another thing I was wondering about - having the dispensers hanging out over the sink. Seems like it would get in the way of doing the dishes! Sounds intriguing though. I could always squirt it in my hand and then rinse that into the sink.

  • holligator
    14 years ago

    We have two soap dispensers. We put one with dish soap at the clean-up sink and one with hand soap at the prep sink. This arrangement has worked out perfectly for us. I never wash dishes at the prep sink, so dish soap wouldn't make sense there. If I ever need to wash my hands while I'm standing at the clean-up sink, it doesn't bother me to use dish soap.

    The dispenser I had at the clean-up sink did not work that well, taking a long time to prime again between pumps. I was irritated, because they were rather expensive Kohler dispensers, but I wasn't irritated enough to send it back. Since I like multiple squirts of dish soap but usually only need one squirt of hand soap, I switched dispensers and put the one that worked better at the clean-up sink. I haven't noticed the sticking one since.

    Both of ours are attached to a NeverMT, and I wouldn't do without it. I'm always puzzled when folks say that they don't use a NeverMT because they don't want the large bottle under the sink--where do they keep the bottle to refill the dispenser directly?

  • mbarstow
    14 years ago

    I have my first soap dispenser ever and I Love it. No soap bottle on the counter. I just think you have to buy a good quality dispenser. We have three holes total, the faucet is on the right side and the spray and soap dispenser are on the left. We are using a D-bowl, which is the reason there isn't a faucet in the center.