Hello again,

To further develop the theme of personal care from last week I am going to let you know why we think the Etac Clean Shower Commode Chair is the best on the market. 

Catherine did so much research into shower commodes before we eventually chose this one that she awarded herself the title of, ‘QC’ (Queen of Commodes).
It is quite expensive but worth every penny!

We had to pay for it because we had problems with the mobile shower commode that the local health department provided for us.

As I said last week, we had a high lavatory installed, which had been great whilst Mum could still walk but once we got to the stage of needing to wheel Mum to the loo and shower it gave us issues. We felt it was much more dignified and ‘normal’ for Mum to be able to still use the loo so needed a wheeled commode that would fit over the loo. We also still needed to be able to shower her in the wetroom. Our first rate Occupational Therapist provided us with what we all thought was a high enough commode but what the OT had not taken into account was something we labelled ‘bum hang’!! When one sits on a commode without pants on, your bottom ‘hangs’ through the hole below the level of the loo seat! This causes a problem because if the person is being wheeled to the loo and the commode wheeled over the loo there needs to be enough clearance for commode and bottom to go over the top of the loo. This was not the case with the one provided for us. (Believe me I know – I tested it!)

The Etac Clean has extra pieces that can be put in to raise the height of the seat which meant it and the bottom would fit over the loo.

The Footrest is great – most other wheeled chairs have foot rests that stick out sideways and my ankles were often bruised when we forgot to put them back in. The Etac Clean footrest slides backwards when it is not needed.

The Pan is a sensible (well actually beautiful) teardrop shape. All others we looked at were grey circular buckets with a free swinging wire handle. Very difficult to empty cleanly into the loo and even more difficult to use the bidet shower to rinse out. The Etac Clean has an incorporated handle, a pouring spout and a lid the locks in place when it is on. All these things make what can be a quite unpleasant chore a little better.

The arm rests also come off the Etac Clean chair very easily if and when necessary.

There are various accessories for comfort and safety including a safety bar, and a comfy ‘seat’ – although take care that you don’t catch fingers or skin when attaching the crossbar.

It is also much more attractive than any other shower commode we have seen – especially in the pale green colour.

All in all a great product that has had a huge amount of thought put into its design – just like our Draprons®. I see they have an updated version now with what I assume are improvements.

Remember that cheaper can sometimes be false economy. The Etac Clean Shower Commode Chair meant that we could maintain Mum’s dignity which was always the priority but it also made life easier for us as well.