Here's a link to a page of all the reviews (at TikTok). I'll just embed the one that got me started — a review of the sinks at the Museum of Modern Art:
@sinkreviews The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan ##Welcome2021 ##fyp ##sinks ##sinkreview ##sinktok ##nyc ##2021
♬ You Are Wherever Your Thoughts Are - Steve Reich
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44 comments:
The guy lives a sheltered life.
The faucets with air blades have been around for at least 5-6 years
The horse trough sink design seems pretty standard too. They've been around for 20 or more years
John Henry
I suppose that urinal reviewer was already taken.
I love peeing shoulder to shoulder in a giant trough in the Oakland Coliseum at a Raiders halftime. There's always some Dad lifting his boy up to stand on the edge to go.
Please watch a bunch of these videos to decide how to judge this guy. These are phenomenal in their use of language, music, and attention to detail. The idea of using sinks — utilitarian, mundane, necessary — as the centerpiece for design analysis is truly inspired and the execution is humorous AND perfectly serious.
In other words, John Henry, you are very much missing the reason why I blogged this.
Yeah but it's not about you Althouse. It's your blog sure but you don't control the way it's interpreted, enjoyed or reviled. When you send your children out into the world, they become a life of their own.
In my Reviewing/purchasing of a sink...or any other household fixture or appliance... the top criteria are
1. Does this thing actually function. WORK correctly
AND also tied for #1 sometimes first!
1. How hard is this going to be to clean!
2. Will this last. Not break. Deteriorate.
3. Looks. Beauty. Those are nice but without #1 and #2 why bother buying it.
Function beats form for useful items every single time.
Kohler= terlits
I have to say that I love the documentary sound/tone of his voice in this instances. The the pretentiousness of his reviews. He has the voice to fall asleep by.
Reminds me of wine snobs or art snobs raving about the qualities of the wine when we just want to drink and get on with dinner...except with sinks. Wash our hands and leave. Very amusing.
I hate starting the week off with a sinking feeling.
The narration of the public sink reviews is densely edited, becoming like the "fine print" at the end of a radio commercial.
I give it only two tongues.
Aside, how many people who bought those waterfall bathroom sink faucets because they look elegant thought through what happens when they spit?
The open chute that spills water into the sink must collect all manner of droplets that contaminate the water flow.
The public washrooms in the John Michael Koehler Arts Center (Sheboygan) are worth a side trip just to see by themselves.
https://www.jmkac.org/collections/washrooms-new.html
@Howard
I think I am pretty close to understanding what the TikTokker is trying to do and what he is achieving. I'm inviting others to try to understand, not asserting that my view must prevail. But if you disagree with my view, make a good argument. JH is assuming that the the TikTokker is somehow asserting that he has encountered new design and technology and is presenting it with amazement for viewers who will never have seen it before. I think this is objectively a mistake.
Tiktok link didn't work for me but I watched a few cat videos
Ah figured it out.
I do hate a wimpy water flow. Do the filters cause that?
They put those same feeding-trough sinks in a local nightclub and the whole thing confused the hell out of me.
I can't figure out how to get into trending tiktoks and out of cat video hell.
Not that it effects me, but my company just sent out an email telling everyone to remove TikTok from all corporate cellular devices due to significant security concerns.
I am an amateur plumber, and will take on simple jobs (leaks, installations, blockages) for family members. I posted a series of online reviews of some of the products I'd purchased, and I received an email from a manufacturer who now sends me its products (twice a year) in order for me to give them an online review. Before buying a tub, sink, commode, faucet, or shower enclosure, read the online reviews. My experience has been that the high end stuff doesn't justify the added expense, and that the low end stuff varies a great deal. there is a "feel" to good design and manufacture, and shopping for it is easier than ever.
I think I am pretty close to understanding what the TikTokker is trying to do and what he is achieving.
I note that Sink Merch is now available. That is his goal? I wonder if my kid has monetized her TikTok. One of her vids had 170K+ plays, just a piker compared to the MoMA sink review.
If I ever designed a sink -- I'd have a foot treadle to toggle the water flow.
I know a lawyer who brought home from Italy a beautiful but very expensive leather briefcase. The latch never worked well.
Sink flow is probably the most important factor for me. Ease of cleaning is a close second for me, which I don't think is a real factor for him. I almost cried looking at the tiled sink.
I was already following sinkreviews.They are well done and amusing.
It's rare to find a public bathroom with a satisfying wash up. Those dyson all-in-one are horrible.
The costco near me has a descent yet utilitarian wash up. Nice warm water, enough water pressure to make washing go fast. sanitary paper towel for drying. no door handles to touch as you leave.
(I never understood wimpy flow - it makes you use MORE water.)
The local wholefoods bath was re-modeled with a solid rocj trough sink. epic fail. They had to rip it out. The thing was so heavy - it cracked and sagged - and the grout joints were so gross - growing mildew and mold.
So they ripped it out.
The new Design Center in Denver, off 6th Avenue - the owner spared no expense in the bathrooms. Nice.
I've seen some nice public baths. What bugs me most is the inability to get the spout reach right. So often that detail is left to the contractor's employee, and that guy might be great at drilling holes, but terrible at locating where the hole should be drilled.
@wild chicken,
I do hate a wimpy water flow. Do the filters cause that?
The government mandates plumbing manufacturers comply with water flow standards.
So next time you feel wimpy water-flow -thank your big governmetn bureaucrats.
as you take 3x the time to rinse.
I had a client many years ago who was obsessed with sinks. We had one of her sinks custom made by a local pottery thrower. Oh my - that guy was such a dork.. and a total whiny leftist. He made a beautiful sink but I had to put up with his leftist lectures.
f*.
Then - I found the holy grail of decorative sink manufacturers.
Linkasink.
"I love peeing shoulder to shoulder in a giant trough in the Oakland Coliseum at a Raiders halftime. There's always some Dad lifting his boy up to stand on the edge to go."
Ah, the River of Piss. Now just a memory at both Wrigley Field and Soldier Field. I'll tell you one thing, those things sure shortened the lines. You could take a leak between innings and not miss a pitch!
Reading all this about bad sink design....I think that this Reddit sub is appropriate for people here to peruse.
CrappyDesign I find it highly amusing.
In a public restroom a sink should be super easy to keep clean, and it should show every bit of dirt if it's not. The bowl should be in one piece with the counter so there are no cracks, nooks, or crannies for dirt and bacteria to grow. No tiles with grout. The favcets, hand soap, and paper towels should be hands-free to operate. After that the designers can have it, but in the case of sanitation devices, function should always supercede form.
Initially the link took me direct to the video. After you chided me, I went back to look again and the link took me to a collage of videos and I had a hard time finding the one you discussed.
Kind of odd, unless that is typical of TikTok which I seldom use.
Anyway, find it I did. And I reread your post. I stand by my original comment. The problem is that I am not a mind reader and sometimes you are not clear what you are looking for in comments.
You post about a sink, I'm gonna give you my impressions unless it is clear what you are after.
This came up the other day where though I now forget the post. It looked like you said something and I commented on it but you were actually quoting someone.
"Not me" you said, "Look at the indenting." I went back and looked at the indenting and it was still not very clear. At least 2 other commenters had a similar problem of not understanding what was you and what was quoted.
I do try to comply with your wishes but it is sometimes hard to know what they are.
Thank you for putting up with me.
John Henry
He's a punk sink reviewer. Pre-code (or non-compliant) sinks at dive restaurants get higher reviews than MOMA or Rockefeller Center, based on punk standards like water flow, and non-crowded individual sinks. Look at his merch. NY hipster poser.
Two other washroom comments:
Someone mentioned horse trough pissers. Any old fleet sailors here remember the horse trough crappers?
Basically is was a long, 6-12', half round section, perhaps 2' wide at the top. It had pins on which wooden slats were set. No dividers, iirc. Everything flowed to one end and over the side of the ship.
Not a lot of spacing, when there was a full house, your were thigh to thigh with your shipmate. (Shitmate?) Upstream turds, tp, cigarette butts and the occasional lighted piece of paper flowed under you. A very communal experience.
2-The Dyson dryers are fairly quiet and I like them and the more typical slotted style. The Exair driers that shoot a high pressure jet of air are very noisy but, when it is just 1 it is not so bad.
In a medical plant you might have 100 people trying to get back into the manufacturing cleanroom after lunch. They have to wash and dry their hands and I have seen as many as 30 of these going at once. In a room with tiled or hard painted walls.
I've never stood in back of a 747 at takeoff but I imagine the effect is similar.
John Henry
I do hate a wimpy water flow. Do the filters cause that?
Age. It's caused by age.
The land of misfit sinks, someone should make a movie :)
Re wimpy water flow:
Best hotel shower I've ever seen was in Cost Rica. The opposite of wimpy. When I turned it on, it was like opening a firehose with a spray nozzle.
Really, really, hot water too.
No govt regulations there.
Obligatory Seinfeld clip here:
https://youtu.be/PjbXOSnyMeA
John Henry
"MadisonMan said...
I do hate a wimpy water flow. Do the filters cause that?
Age. It's caused by age."
Well, not really. Time is a factor, but it's really hardening sediment and minerals narrowing pipes and fixture paths which restrict flow. Same is true on the aerators at the discharge point. If you never ran water through them, or the water was filtered so that it was just water, time wouldn't be a factor at all.
I was actually making an oblique reference to urine, not water.
Too oblique, it turns out!
I'm with the Professor on this one. I was surprised how much I appreciated the sink reviews. I also have to agree with Dust Bunny Queen about maintenance and actually working. It's almost a cliché to walk into a public restroom with a dozen or so "modern" sinks and faucets and then have to march down the line to find the one or two that actually still work.
There is a restaurant called Andersen's near Salvang, CA that is famous for two things: their pea soup and their men's room. IIRC the men's room has all copper sinks and fixtures, including a trough urinal along one wall. The women customers were apparently fascinated by the idea and would often barge right into the men's room to take a look or sometimes a photo. I found this out the hard way as I was using the urinal when interrupted by two women visitors who barged in unannounced. Didn't even get an apology. I was left to wonder how things would have transpired if the women's room was the tourist attraction and I had barged in on them.
"Not that it effects me, but my company just sent out an email telling everyone to remove TikTok from all corporate cellular devices due to significant security concerns."
I'm giving you links that work on your browser, so you don't need the TikTok app and you don't need to sign in to play the videos.
"CrappyDesign I find it highly amusing."
Yes, me too. I've followed that for a long time.
""Not me" you said, "Look at the indenting." I went back and looked at the indenting and it was still not very clear. At least 2 other commenters had a similar problem of not understanding what was you and what was quoted."
If people can't see the indenting, this blog is gibberish. It's a very depressing piece of information. All I can say is, please don't read this blog if you can't see the indenting. The only alternative is to stop blogging and delete the entire mess. But thanks for the information.
Ann Althouse said...
"Not that it effects me, but my company just sent out an email telling everyone to remove TikTok from all corporate cellular devices due to significant security concerns."
I'm giving you links that work on your browser, so you don't need the TikTok app and you don't need to sign in to play the videos.
Thanks, but I have plenty of other things I can do to waste time.
I admire the reviewer of being resolute in his principle of if the sink has two faucets it automatically gets a two sink review. I also like his descriptors for the stream. My favorites were 'pillowy cascade', and 'dignified stream.'
I was thinking, here's another NYC sink snob for his jobbing that Tacombi sink, but then he got to the second Tacombi sink, and I agreed with him. Four sinks.
I would suppose that Grindr does it better and covers more of the restroom.
I can't decide if this is an interesting niche or a complete waste of time. I suppose there is no reason it cannot be both; De gustibus non est disputandum. I _think_ the pretentiousness is an act. The Moby Dick allusions in the review of the double-handled corner sink couldn't be accidental and I hope they also couldn't be serious.
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