The death of the bath – 25% of households would rather have walk-in showers

The bath has been a traditional feature in bathrooms throughout the UK for the best part of a century, but modern life is slowing changing what we want in a bathroom and over the past few years there has been a shift in what people are installing in their bathrooms. Gone are the days when a bath was a compulsory fixture in the bathroom, many people are opting for shower enclosures and walk-in showers instead of baths and over the past two years we have seen a 340% increase in sales of walk-in showers alone.

As part of our ongoing research into the habits if Brits in the bathroom, we looked into why this change is happening. We surveyed 1,000 people from throughout the UK and asked them two questions, “What bathroom suite would you prefer to have in your home?” and “Do you generally prefer to shower rather than take a bath?”

Our survey found:

• 43% of those polled would prefer to have a walk-in shower and a bath in their bathroom if there was enough space.
• 25% would like to have just a walk-in shower in their bathroom.
• Although a standard fixture in many homes in the UK only 18% of those surveyed said that they would prefer a shower over a bath.
• 14% of respondents said that they would prefer to have only a bath in their bathroom instead of a shower.
• 62% of participants said that they preferred to shower than take a bath.

Our survey seems to be reflected in our sales figures which have seen a 340% increase in sales for Walk-in showers over the last 24 months. Shower heads and accessories have also seen an increase of 34% over the same period. Funnily enough, although not as popular as they once were, baths have also seen a steady increase of 106%, so it seems that even if users prefer to shower than take a bath, it is still seen as a must have fixture in the home.

Our very own Mark Walters had this to say about our research:

“From the survey results and the sales figures, we can easily see a change in bathing habits, which is reflected in our lifestyles as people become more time conscious you look to showering as its quick, but also from an ecological point of view it is also better than taking a bath which uses more water. However baths are still an important addition in people’s homes. “

He added:

“We can see the evolution from bathing to showering in the UK, the contemporary bathroom which has in the UK shifted to a preference for showering, with modern baths being reserved as a luxury, flash item for the master bathroom, influenced by European design and lifestyle. But we aren’t ready to give up taking baths just yet in the UK as we still see them selling well, just not at the same phenomenal rate as walk in showers.”