How To Use Washers Properly Install Your Shower Filter With Pictures

We've been in the shower filter business for over 10 years and a few times every week we always get a customer asking us, "What on earth are those small plastic round things and what do I do with them?". Initially we always did a double take and wonder to ourselves, what is this customer asking? What plastic round thing? Then after getting this question over and over we now know exactly what our customers are talking about, they're referring to the plastic clear washers that come with all our shower filters.

In this article we're going to give you a quick overview of exactly what these little rubber wonders actually do and how they are fitted in your new shower filter to ensure that your filter is fitted properly onto your tapware.

So what exactly do these washers look like?
Here's a picture of two of them that are supplied with the Compact Shower Filter :

Shower Filter Washers

So what is exactly is a washer? Whilst we're unsure what the exact reason why a washer is called a washer (it doesn't actually clean anything!) we do know that they come in a lot of different sizes and different materials. Wikipedia says, "A washer is a thin plate (typically disk-shaped, but sometimes square) with a hole (typically in the middle) that is normally used to distribute the load of a threaded fastener, such as a bolt or nut. " So we know that all washers are generally the same shape and size but the material they are made from can vary greatly. They can be made from metal, nylon, plastic, alloys and in the case of the ones we're most interested in; rubber.

Usually if it's the first time you've ever changed your taps, shower heads or anything inside your shower - then you probably don't have any experience with washers so we're actually not very surprised that we get asked about what they are so often.

So what is the function of a rubber washer in a shower filter? Well, they actually aren't specific only to installing shower filters. Actually whenever you install any type of shower head or hand held shower head or anywhere two pipes join with a male joint to a female joint, you will usually find that there is a small round rubber washer installed between the joins. So even when you are taking off your old shower head and putting on a new shower filter, 9 times out of 10 you will find an old (sometimes very old and worn out looking) rubber washer already between the pipe and the shower head or the hose and the shower head.

But why are they there? The primary reason for washers being installed in between where two pipes are joined together is to cushion the two pipes when they come together and create a tight seal that will stop leaks. If you think about the little rubber washer like a small pillow, when two hard metal pipes are joined together and they rest both their heads on the small pillow of the rubber washer. What happens is that they press into the rubber slightly and that depression creates an extremely tight seal between the two pipes. Therefore no water can leak between the two pipes and through the joint when water passes through.

It really is an ingenious way to make sure that any new shower heads or shower filters can be joined onto a pipe or a hose without leaks and therefore without wasting water.

So where exactly do we put these washers inside a shower filter?

As mentioned earlier a washer needs to be between where a shower filter fits onto a shower pipe or onto a shower hose.

They always go into the 'female' threaded part. So for an in line shower filter, that means the part that fits onto the shower pipe.

Here's a picture of how to install a washer into the Compact Shower Filter:

Shower Filter Washers Installed On Compacter Shower Filter

For a hand held shower filter, that means the washer will go into the 'female' threads of the shower hose before the hand held shower filter is attached to the hose.

Here's a picture of how to install a washer into the the hose of a Paragon Luxury Hand-Held Filtered Shower Head :

Shower Filter Washers Installed On Shower Filter Hose

Once the washers have been positioned into the shower filter or the hose, then all you need to do is connect the shower filter to the pipe. Or connect the hand held shower filter to the hose. Make sure to screw it in really tight and you will be able to feel that the two pipes are connecting together to make a tight seal because you can start to feel that the rubber part of the washer is giving a little bit.

Once that's done, then you're all set! Start enjoying your pure showers in crystal clear filtered water.