How to choose a sanitary mixer

Are you changing your mixer? What types are there, what is the difference between ceramic and a ball cartridge? How to choose what you need, find out more about this product

The old faucet needs to be replaced !?

When we are faced with the need to buy a new water tap, or rather a mixer, we rush to the store in order to purchase this product, although often we do not even imagine the existing differences in these sanitary products.

There are not so many reasons for buying a new faucet, or the old faucet has dripped and completely deteriorated, or you are making repairs and want new and modern water supply and mixing devices to appear in your kitchen or bathroom.

If you are reading these pages, then you have nevertheless decided to understand a little about the purpose and modifications of these irreplaceable devices.

Purpose of mixers

So where to start and how to choose a mixer, first let's decide where we will install the mixer, if we classify them, then we can distinguish two main groups used in everyday life: kitchen and bathroom.

Kitchen faucet

When choosing a kitchen faucet, you should know that it should provide the ability to wash dishes, fruits and vegetables, as well as other food products.



The spout (spout of the tap) should be relatively high, and provide the ability to place tall dishes and other objects under the tap.

Kitchen faucets with a retractable hose on a high spring suspension are very popular.

If the sink is double, you can use a separate version: a conventional mixer with a high spout in its original place, usually placed in the center (between two sinks), and installed in a convenient place, a mixer with a flexible hose that can reach any corner of the sink.

Bathroom faucet

The faucet in the bathroom can be divided into several subspecies:

• Basin mixer
• combined with a shower tap mode switch, having its own spout and a shower hose with a hand shower
• separate, representing two independent mixers, one of which is responsible for filling the bathroom with water, and the second is located on the wall and works as a shower.

Shower rack

This is another option that is increasingly common in everyday life, or as they are also called a shower panel.

The features of the shower rack include the presence of a built-in overhead shower, seats, shelves, and hydromassage nozzles, using a special switch (diverter), you can direct the water optionally to the top shower head, hose, or to the nozzles of the hydromassage system.

Shower racks are a good alternative to conventional shower sets.

Also, it is worth noting a separate line, mixers with a hygienic shower, are a mixer for a sink that has a third outlet of mixed water to a hygienic shower head with a self-closing valve, connected to the mixer through a flexible hose.

Types of mixers

Two-valve mixers, the classic is rightfully the first, has separate handles for hot and cold water, if there is a tap to the shower, switching is made by the central handle.

Each valve of such a mixer is a replaceable valve box. The crane-box is a water-locking device, they are mainly made in two versions, a box with ceramic plates or with rubber cuffs.

Ceramic crane-axle box, has a small swing stroke, (half a turn) from open to closed state of the crane, handle rotation is smooth and does not require efforts, not repairable, in case of failure, a complete replacement of the axle box is required.
It lasts longer than an axle box with cuffs, the service life depends on the quality of the water, it is afraid of sand. Choosing a mixer with one or another type of management is a matter of personal habit.

Crane-axle box with rubber cuffs, has a longer stroke of the handle (up to 1.5 turns), when the valve is completely closed at the end, a little effort is required.

More frequent repairs due to wear of rubber gaskets.

Inexpensive maintenance - gaskets cost a penny.


The two-valve mixer, for all its not novelty, still remains the leader in the plumbing market, and most importantly, a separate valve system will allow you to more smoothly regulate the pressure and temperature of the water, unlike other types of mixers.


Single-lever mixers entered our life with confidence and relatively long ago to be time-tested. The control of the pressure and temperature of the water in such a mixer is provided by one lever.

The mechanism of a single-lever valve consists of a cartridge, the latter can be of two types: ball and ceramic. A big plus of a single-lever mixer is the ability to control the flow and temperature of the water using only one hand.

A ball or plastic cartridge is of the following design, a hollow metal ball with holes is fixed on the axis of the mixer lever, when you turn and tilt the lever on the mixer, the ball holes are displaced or aligned relative to the counterpart of the cartridge, where hot and cold are supplied through the same holes water that mixes inside the cartridge and comes out through the spout.

The cartridge of the spherical design loses its smoothness over time, bites are possible when opening and closing, it is quite noisy, not durable, relatively inexpensive compared to ceramics.

The ceramic cartridge consists of two, less often three ceramic discs, the ceramic discs undergo a special ultrasonic grinding.

As a result of such grinding, the discs have perfect conjugation at the molecular level, when connected, they hold like magnetized, it is difficult to separate them by hand.

The discs have holes that regulate the water supply. Ceramic cartridge: has a smooth running throughout the entire service life, faucets with ceramics are quieter than other counterparts, does not like the presence of sand in the water, with the main filters installed, it can last up to 10 years.

Mixer with thermostat, or as it is also called "thermostatic mixer"

This mixer is a combination of modern technology and practicality.

When water is supplied through such a mixer, the temperature and pressure of the leaving water can be set.

The temperature of the water in this mixer is monitored by a special thermostat, whatever the pressure and temperature at the inlet, the smart mixer will only give out the one that was set by the user.

Even if the cold water supply suddenly stops, the thermostat will instantly cut off the hot water supply, such a mixer will protect against burns and an ice shower when the pressure drops and the water temperature drops.

Such a faucet is especially convenient for the elderly and small children, the thermostatic faucet is equipped with a limiter: by knowingly turning on the fuse, it will not be possible to regulate the water hotter than 38 degrees Celsius.

Choosing this type of mixer, you solve many problems at once, but of course, the price for such an apparatus is much higher than a conventional tap.

What to look for when buying a mixer

Quality and reliability is probably the most important criterion in buying a mixer, choosing a new mixer, any buyer does not want to return to this issue in the near future. A really high-quality product, with proper operation and maintenance, can serve you for many years, we read an overview of well-known brands in the article mixers, the best of the best.

Considering the design and operation of the moving parts of the mixer when choosing, we must not forget that an important factor is the material of the body and the coating applied to the surface of the faucet.

The body of the mixer in most cases is made of brass, after which a chrome plating is applied to the surface during the galvanization process, and the shell can also be made of stainless steel.


When choosing, pay attention to the massiveness and weight of the product; a good mixer should not be light, and therefore thin-walled. On a poor-quality thin coating, scuffs and scratches very quickly appear.


 The aerator (a nozzle with a mesh located at the end of the spout) serves to saturate the water flow with air, during which a more voluminous and denser stream of water is achieved, pleasant to the touch.

The aerator helps to save up to 10% of water and must be removable, it is a consumable item, check that there are analogs in stores that correspond to the diameter and type of thread of your mixer.

The same applies to cartridges and faucet boxes, if in free trade there are no components for the mixer that you want to purchase, you should think about the advisability of such a purchase, since you risk, if one or another element fails, again, start buying a whole mixer.
What to look for when completing a mixer?


A pleasant addition when buying a mixer can be various accessories included in the basic package, for example: eccentric adapters for mounting the mixer on the wall, gaskets, flexible hoses, chrome decorative cups covering the transition from the mixer to the wall, an additional cartridge, etc.

Therefore, when choosing, always be interested in what is included in the kit, thanks to the rich configuration, you can save enough money and afford to buy a more expensive option with a better package than a cheap one that requires some additional investment to ensure installation and normal operation.

Do I need to install a filter to protect the mixer?

It has long been not news for everyone, that at the entrance to the apartment, cold and hot water, it is necessary to install a filter, the so-called "sump". But a sump will not protect your plumbing fixtures from the fine sand that may be in your tap water.

The presence of small grains of sand in the water is fraught with accelerated wear of plumbing equipment, especially ceramics do not like sand, so it is advisable to install main filters that have a finer fraction of the filter material, which prevents the ingress of fine particles of sand, rust, etc. in the plumbing system of the apartment, the main filter will extend the service life of any plumbing fixtures.

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