We've been looking for 5 years: it's the smartest way to dispense soap that we know. Attached to the wall above your sink, you touch it for soap and refill it when it's done. It's so good that we buy and sell them in our AT store.
A friend had one of these in her kitchen, and we loved using it so much we tried to find one ourself. No luck. Nowhere in town and nowhere on the web could be come up with anything. This past weekend we visited friends, who had just bought a new house and the previous owner had left these in all the bathrooms. The brand name was right on the top: Pro Ven Di.
The Conran Shop sells these!
funny post since last week, while in France we discussed dislike of this soap apparatus...
Its is usually fairly grimey looking since it is hard to rinse off...
hopefully my link works to one I photographed
Conran Shop NY sells them-
It's not on their website, but if you call the shop 212.755.9079 it's called the Palme chromed soap holder with olive soap, retails for $45.00
I saw this on SSBS and was curious to get more information about it. Sure enough, here it is! Thanks for the info!
Moon River Chattel on Grand Street in Williamsburg sells them too.
Thanks for the pic Jako. Frankly, not only does it look rude, but dirty too.
Yup. Turned me right off.
This might be a really obvious question, but is that special donut-style soap, or do you impale one of your own bars onto it?
Not obvious to me either, I was going to ask the same thing :-)
Speaking from someone who has had one attached to her kitchen wall for 3 years I can say that it is one of my most favorite items. Yes it bothers some, but who cares. I bought mine from www.frenchsoaps.com the website is a bit of a pain to navigate but in the end with shipping it arrived at $50. The soap has a fitting on the inside that helps you install it. My friend who has one just replaced the soap after 5 years!
the same restroom also had the machine with long cloth towel that when you pull on, pulls the used portion back inside, which you dont see very often these days either. (I have never been a fan of that thing either...) I think that my rational is that often while the cloth showing is clean it is a bit stained and just doesnt look clean or sanitary. Does anyone else agree with me on this machine?
YES! I cannot STAND those things! For years th little family owned Italian restaurant down the street from my mother's house had that, and they finally got rid of it. I was certainly glad to see it go! My boyfriend said "well people are wiping their clean hands on it so it's not dirty" Not in my opinion! That's nasty!
That looks extremely disgusting.
I actually like the roller towel thing. Maybe it depends on who your cleaning service is; they've always looked clean to me.
jako - those rotating cloth hand dryer things are just about my least favorite thing ever! It's been a couple of years since I last saw one. I believe it was in the restroom of a BBQ restaurant. Needless to say I just dried my hands on my jeans.
Perhaps if you have one just used by members of your immediate household...Then at least you know it's family (or friend) filth. And you know who to blame when you get some terrible intestinal virus.
Totally love those... they remind me of the French school system.
http://www.lcdpmarseille-usa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=12001&Category_Code=HSV&Product_Count=8
Those roller towels do look stained and yet, I know I have kitchen towels with stains and I use them. I haven't ever given roller towels much thought except that I hadn't realized that they have almost disappeared. I also remember pulling several times before drying my hands. But you know what? It has to be more environmentally friendly.
On the side - Most people don't wash their hands long enough, so "matter" will definitely come in contact with that towel.
One more thing. About the same soap hanging for 5 years. That's icky. Didn't they ever use it?
That's quite gross.
I saw a lot of these in restrooms in Buenos Aires--and the soap was usually bright pink! That would be a cheery addition to a kitchen.
Gross? Icky? Disgusting? Americans and their hangups...
People, it's just SOAP!!
I don't think it's that gross--but 5-year-old soap? Now that seems gross.
they sell these at moon river chattel in williamsburg (brooklyn, ny). 62 grand st. (www.moonriverchattel.com)
I've seen 'em at Conran too.
there is a cafe in the burg where they have these in the bathroom. I have been searching too for them! thank you jesus..
You can also get at Lavish Skin Care in Scranton, PA
lavishskincare.com
Ewwww...no ma'am Pam!!
I live in an old house with two small bathrooms and no counter space. I think it's a great idea. With a little maintenance it shouldn't be a problem.
Forgive us for eavesdropping, but we LOVE it when people discuss our products. We would like to offer Apartment Therapy readers 25% off PROVENDI soap sets or anything else you might like on frenchsoaps.com until April 1.
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