The significant facets you will need to prepare for in your bathroom designing or remodeling are commercial restroom accessories. There are additional fixtures and hardware pieces that might not compose the actual structure and layout of a bathroom but are nonetheless essential for your restroom facilities to operate normally and correctly.
From handles and hooks to dispensers and disposals, there are additional pieces of hardware you will need for your bathroom to be a functional space.
Baby-Changing Stations
There are two different types of baby-changing stations: recessed and wall-mounted. Recessed changing stations require a bit more planning, as they need a hole or a recessed piece in the wall to insert the station. Wall-mounted stations, on the other hand, can get mounted directly to the flat and even surface of a wall anywhere.
In the case of both types of changing stations, the hardware itself is fairly similar. It consists of some kind of wall mount, and unfolds almost like a suitcase, with one side opening up to form a temporary sort of table that parents can lay their child on while they give them a quick diaper change.
Paper Towel Dispenser
To help you decide the type of dispenser you should get since there is a variety of them, think of your budget, and what style fits best inside those constraints. You might also think about your location and how that affects your dispenser. For example, if you’re a restaurant or any other type of setting that deals with food, it might be especially important to curtail the spread of germs, making a hands-free option the best choice.
Whichever design you decide on, they all mount in relatively the same way. You’ll attach these dispensers directly to a flat wall surface, typically right next to the sinks for convenience after washing your hands.
Soap Dispenser
Every bathroom needs soap, and in commercial bathrooms, you need a way to store and dispense soap to the hundreds of visitors you’ll serve every day.
Bathroom Trash Can
If your bathroom is going to have paper towels, it only follows that you’ll need trash cans as well. Even if you opt for air dryers instead of paper towels, you’ll still want to install trash cans so people can dispose of other restroom trash. These receptacles play a critical role in keeping your restroom neat, clean, and sanitary. In general, your options here fall into two categories: wall-mounted and freestanding.
Air Freshener
While you can’t have a bathroom without soap or toilet paper, it’s entirely possible to have a bathroom without an air freshener. It isn’t required by any means. What an air freshener does, however, is elevate your restroom from a purely functional space to luxury space.
Choose between passive air fresheners, programmed to release their fragrance gradually over time, or battery- or electrical-powered fresheners that release concentrated bursts of fragrance periodically.
Sanitary Napkin Disposal
Again, these are fixtures that will only be present in the women’s bathroom, typically mounted next to the toilet paper dispenser or on the opposite partition, close to the toilet. While they aren’t necessary, as there will be a trash can elsewhere in the bathroom, they are becoming increasingly popular and universal because of the sheer convenience and privacy they offer to bathroom users.
Grab Bars Grab bars are needed to respond to ADA mandates, and in other cases, they’re there as a courtesy to elderly or disabled users. It will provide a stabilizing handle someone can grasp as they move from standing to sitting and vice versa.
Towel Bar or Towel Hook
These fixtures may not be necessary unless your facility includes shower rooms. If you do have showers, however, this is an extremely courteous accessory to provide for your bathroom users. It gives them a safe, dry and convenient place to hang their towel, typically right outside the shower stall, until they’re ready for it.
Sanitary Napkin and Tampon Dispenser
This dispenser is another fixture that will typically be only in the women’s bathroom. In most cases, one of these will be affixed to the wall near the sinks or someplace else where it’s easily accessible. You will also be able to decide whether to dispense the products for free, for 25 cents or 50 cents.
Hand Sanitizer Dispenser
Due to the pandemic situation nowadays that hits the worldwide, it’s an extremely courteous thing to provide to your customers. No matter how well and often you clean your bathroom, any public restroom is still a place that tends to collect germs. Because of this, many people feel better leaving the bathroom with the extra protection of a coat of hand sanitizer.
Urinal Screens and Deodorizers
Just as we’ve mentioned several items that will only be available in the ladies’ bathroom, this is one accessory that will only show up in the men’s room. These are typically mounted inside the urinals and are designed to release bursts of fragrance that keep your restroom smelling clean and fresh. Depending on the style and model you choose, it may also discharge a coloring agent, so you can see it’s working.
Automatic Toilet Flusher
Rather than choosing toilets that operate their flushing mechanism with a traditional hand or foot pedal, more and more public restrooms are turning to automatic flushers. The main advantage of this, of course, is that it allows bathroom patrons to enter the stall, use the toilet, flush and leave again, all without ever touching any part of the toilet with their hands. This step is significant in preventing the spread of germs.
These flushers are usually motion-activated and battery-powered. The batteries will last several years, in most cases, making these flushers an obvious choice that’s not only sanitary but also convenient and efficient for you.