[SPLIT] Mixer Tap Discussion (was: How to...)

Just wanted to add a note about watching out for taps that look like mixer taps but aren't--instead of being mixed, the water comes out of two separate holes in the one tap. Our kitchen tap is this way, and our water is very hot, which means that it's easy to scald yourself either on the non-mixed water or on the top of the tap.

All our single tap faucets are like this as well, and since I grew up in an area where there were plenty of separate tap sinks, this was the big "faucet change" for me.  Since we can only perceive hot or cold at once (our brains will usually switch the cold to hot), it can seem hotter than it is, especially if the water is very cold.  This winter I was washing my hair in the kitchen sink, and I felt like I was being scalded by the bitter cold side of the stream of water.

How I've worked around it is I fill the sink and dunk to get my hair wet and then to get most of the shampoo/conditioner out.  I then use a huge measuring cup (like P.Potts' suggestion) to rinse it clean after giving it a good mix with my hand for good measure.

Hahah this is a great thread.  It never occurred to me that one needed advice on how to use non-mixer taps. Though if you're not used to it, it may take a bit of getting used to.  My house growing up had separate hold and cold taps, so I guess I never thought about it. Also, I second the cup of water idea for use in the bath.  Very helpful.
My taps are the ones that look like they mix, but don't (as someone pointed out about above)  So that's a bizarre experience to get used to!

Hahah this is a great thread.  It never occurred to me that one needed advice on how to use non-mixer taps.

I think that sometimes people might get frustrated and miserable about life in the UK because they just don't know how to deal with the things that are different because nobody has told them how. I know they are a lot of silly little things - like knowing how to wash your face without freezing or scalding yourself, knowing not to pay the checker at the supermarket till until after you've bagged your groceries so she doesn't throw the next person's items on top of yours, or that your radiator is a good place to hang wet towels if you don't have a dryer - but if you are constantly annoyed and frustrated by one thing after another because you don't know how to deal with it, it can add up.

I know they are a lot of silly little things -  but if you are constantly annoyed and frustrated by one thing after another because you don't know how to deal with it, it can add up.

Yeah, that is a good point.  Luckily for me, my friends don't ever mind answering my constant questions about things.  And of course here everyone is very helpful!

Umm...  I didn't even know what a mixer tap was.  I saw it being joked about early on without detail and had to look it up...

I think that sometimes people might get frustrated and miserable about life in the UK because they just don't know how to deal with the things that are different because nobody has told them how.

You know, you're probably exactly right! In the normal course of things I doubt it'd really make much of a dent on the frustration scale, but when you spend your days feeling like a bull in a china shop with the new country, it probably is just another weird thing that makes you feel alien.

I basically used the mix method but since my brain doesn't exactly fire first thing in the morning, I'd burn myself once every few days by running my hands under the hot tap first. I think it's best for my hands and my husband who used to get woken up by my yelps that we have a mixer tap now.

LOL! I can't believe it isn't obvious how to use either? That being said, I do miss my mixer taps  :\\\'( 

LOL! I can't believe it isn't obvious how to use either? That being said, I do miss my mixer taps  :\\\'( 

It's not that it's difficult to turn on the faucet, but, for me, when you're used to being able to get different amounts of warmth from one tap, it is difficult or frustrating. Also, my face breaks out easily. I can't just fill up the sink because after the first rinse, it's dirty and my face can't take it if I reuse the water.

Just wanted to add a note about watching out for taps that look like mixer taps but aren't--instead of being mixed, the water comes out of two separate holes in the one tap. Our kitchen tap is this way, and our water is very hot, which means that it's easy to scald yourself either on the non-mixed water or on the top of the tap.

Almost all British kitchen mixer taps are like this.  It's that way because with the traditional British plumbing arrangements the hot water is at low pressure from the cistern in the attic while the cold is at high pressure directly from the incoming water line.  A standard mixer tap would be very difficult to control with the different pressures, hence the spout having two separate outlets for hot and cold so that the water effectively mixes in the air after leaving the spout.   

LOL! I can't believe it isn't obvious how to use either?

It's not as if individual hot & cold faucets aren't used in America either.  I've seen plenty of old houses and stayed in quite a few old motels with separate hot & cold on the basin.

No. It's not obvious. How to turn the faucet is on is obvious. How to get yourself clean without burning or freezing yourself is not.

Like Belita, my face breaks out if I reuse the water. I need to wash in running water.

I have used the running hands back and forth under the two taps method, but you can  burn yourself that way if the hot water tap gets too hot. I've burnt myself when I didn't wait long enough after flushing the toilet or let the hot water tap run too long.  Most Americans are used to being able to adjust the water temperature before they touch the water.

I also feel that this method doesn't get me as clean as if I had mixer taps because with mixer taps I can cup the medium-temperature water in my hand and spread it all over my face, whereas with separate taps I have to quickly splash the running water from the tap onto my face because I can't leave it on my hands too long or it will freeze or burn me so I don't rinse my face as well.

In fact, when I used to wash my face in the States, I would wash with warm (not hot water) to open my pores to let the oil and dirt out, then rinse with cool (not cold) water to tighten my pores. That kind of temperature adjustment isn't possible with separate taps.

I am used to non-mixer taps now and wouldn't be posting if someone else hadn't, but I can see how someone could have difficulty with them, particularly someone new to the UK.

Paul, I have also read on this board about there being non-mixer taps in New York City, but I have never seen them, not even in Greenwich Village, which is probably one of the oldest parts of the city. I assume  they are in some very old homes/apartments; they are no the norm.

I've lived in the UK my entire life, 4 years in Edinburgh, the other 21 in the Highlands/Inverness and I have never lived in a house that DIDN'T have mixer taps.  Are mixer taps really that uncommon?   

I've lived in the UK my entire life, 4 years in Edinburgh, the other 21 in the Highlands/Inverness and I have never lived in a house that DIDN'T have mixer taps.  Are mixer taps really that uncommon?   

I think it depends on the type of house and when it was built. Obviously older houses would not have been built with them so it would depend on whether the owners over the years have had them modernised. My parents house was built in the late 60s and growing up there we did not have any mixer taps. However, some years ago my parents had one put in the kitchen.  Our house up here (Inverness also) was built in the late 80s or early 90s and has mixer taps in the kitchen and ensuite but not in the family bathroom.

Paul, I have also read on this board about there being non-mixer taps in New York City, but I have never seen them, not even in Greenwich Village, which is probably one of the oldest parts of the city. I assume  they are in some very old homes/apartments; they are no the norm.

At least one of my flats in NY had separate taps, and that one was in the Village.  It was never an issue for me, so I guess it didn't register if the other older building I lived in had them.

I think it depends on the age of the house and the owners' views on "modernization".  I was a bit sad when I saw that my parents had replaced our old vintage two tap sink in the upstairs bathroom.  When we moved into the house, there was also a huge old sink in an upstairs utility room (probably moved from the original kitchen when they renovated in the 1970s).  I am not sure what happened to the sink, but it had the old fakey mixer tap on it.  IIRC, there was a removable rubber nozzle to help "mix" it better.

I bet any place heavily settled mostly after the 1930s or where people felt pressure to modernize would not have them at all.

The only thing about the lack of mixer taps that I can't handle is the fact that I mess up my bathroom mirror every single night washing my face.  I keep window cleaner under the sink.

The only thing about the lack of mixer taps that I can't handle is the fact that I mess up my bathroom mirror every single night washing my face.  I keep window cleaner under the sink.

You use window cleaner to wash your face?!