We Tested 6 Filtered Showerheads for 90 Days. Only One Was Worth the Money.
Three months, five products, hundreds of dollars. Here is what actually works and what is a waste of money.
Our 90-day testing setup: water quality meters, skin hydration analyzers, and way too many spreadsheets.
Okay let me just say it. The filtered showerhead market right now is a complete mess.
There are literally hundreds of options on Amazon. Half of them are the exact same cheap product from China just rebranded with different names and different prices. Then you have the Instagram brands charging $170 for two filtration layers and a pretty box. And do not even get me started on the sketchy Facebook ads.
We kept getting questions from you guys. Does this stuff actually work? Which one should I get? Is that thing I keep seeing everywhere a scam?
So we decided to find out ourselves. We bought six of the most popular filtered showerheads with our own money and tested them for three months straight. Water quality measurements, skin hydration tracking, the whole thing.
Here is what we found. Out of six products, only one actually delivered real results. A few were fine but overpriced. And one is almost certainly a scam that we need to warn you about.
eskiin Filtered Showerhead
The only one that actually passed our tests
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15 layer filtration - Most brands use two to four. This one is different.
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98.7% chlorine reduction - We tested this ourselves. It is legit.
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Actually boosts water pressure - Most filters make it worse. This made ours better.
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230,000+ happy customers - Real company with a real track record.
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60 day money back guarantee - Longest return window we found anywhere.
Free shipping ยท 60 day guarantee ยท $149
Wait Does Shower Water Actually Matter Though
I know. I was skeptical too when we started this.
But the more we dug into the research the more it made sense. There is actual science here. Once you understand what is in your water, the whole filtered showerhead thing stops sounding like wellness nonsense and starts sounding kind of obvious.
The Chlorine Situation
Chlorine in tap water is there for a good reason. It kills bacteria and keeps the water supply safe. That part is important.
But here is what nobody talks about. Chlorine that is safe to drink is not necessarily great for your skin. When you heat water up in the shower, chlorine turns into gas. You breathe it in. It absorbs through your skin. And according to actual research, you absorb more chlorine from a ten minute shower than you would drinking eight glasses of the same water.
"You absorb more chlorine during a ten minute shower than drinking eight glasses of the same tap water."
- American Journal of Public Health
What does chlorine do to your skin? It strips away the protective oils on your skin barrier. That is the layer that keeps moisture in and irritants out. When it gets damaged, everything falls apart. Your skin gets dry. Products stop absorbing right. You become sensitive to stuff that never bothered you before.
Sound familiar? Because honestly that described like half of our team before we started this project.
Hard Water Makes It Worse
On top of the chlorine thing, most of us are dealing with hard water. That means water with a lot of dissolved minerals in it.
Hard water is not dangerous to drink. But it leaves an invisible film on everything it touches. Your shower door gets that gross white buildup. Your hair feels like straw. Your skin feels tight and squeaky after showering. That squeaky feeling? That is not clean. That is mineral residue sitting on your skin.
If three or more of those sound like you, congrats you have hard water. Welcome to the club. 85% of American homes do.
๐ผ Moms This Part Is For You
If you have little kids please read this part.
Children's skin is about 20 to 30 percent thinner than adult skin. Their barrier is still developing. That means they absorb more of whatever touches their skin. And their smaller bodies are less equipped to deal with it.
Pediatric eczema rates have tripled in the last few decades. Chlorinated water is a known trigger. We have heard from so many moms whose kids got better after switching to filtered water.
If your kid fights bath time or says the water hurts, they might not be dramatic. Chlorine can actually irritate sensitive developing skin even if they cannot explain what is wrong.
Kids breathe faster and have smaller airways. All that chlorine vapor in a steamy bathroom sits right at their face level.
We spend so much time researching safe shampoos and lotions for our kids. Then they soak in unfiltered water every day. Once I realized that I could not stop thinking about it.
How We Actually Tested These
We did not just use these and give opinions. We made a real testing plan and stuck to it for three months.
Yes we actually did all this. No we did not expect it to take three months.
- ๐ Water quality before and after - Professional TDS meter and chlorine tests. Not the cheap ones from the pet store.
- ๐ง Skin hydration - Daily readings with a moisture analyzer.
- ๐ธ Photos - Same lighting, same time of day, tracking visible changes.
- ๐ฟ Water pressure - Because what good is a filter if your shower becomes a sad drizzle?
- ๐ Is the company legit - Customer service, return policy, whether they are real or just a dropshipping scam.
The Five Products We Tested
eskiin Filtered Showerhead
Okay honestly we saved this one for last because we figured it was overhyped. Like come on, how much better can one showerhead really be?
Turns out: a lot better.
Within the first week of testing we understood why this thing has over 230,000 customers. The difference is the filtration. Most showerheads have two to four layers. eskiin has fifteen. That is not marketing fluff. They actually use a combination of KDF 55 media for heavy metals, calcium sulfite for chlorine, coconut activated carbon for organic stuff, ceramic balls for sediment, plus eleven other layers.
When we tested the water coming out, chlorine dropped by 98.7%. That absolutely crushed everything else we tried. Most landed somewhere between 60 and 85 percent.
But the thing that really surprised us? The water pressure got better. Every other filter we tested reduced pressure. Some of them a lot. eskiin somehow made our shower feel stronger not weaker. I do not fully get how but it works.
Results: By day three our hair felt softer. By day seven skin hydration readings improved. By day ten the persistent redness some of us deal with started calming down. Not subtle at all.
- 15 layer filtration system
- 98.7% chlorine reduction verified
- Actually improved water pressure
- Highest Oasis score we tested
- 230k plus happy customers
- 60 day guarantee longest available
- $149 not cheap but worth it
- Replace filter every 90 days
This is the one we actually kept installed. It is the only filtered showerhead we can recommend without any hesitation. The 60 day guarantee makes it risk free to try.
$149 ยท Free Shipping ยท 60 Day Guarantee
Jolie Filtered Showerhead
Jolie is not bad. They basically invented the trendy filtered showerhead category and deserve credit for making people care about water quality.
But the issue is what you are paying for. Jolie uses two to three filtration layers versus eskiin's fifteen. Our tests showed 65 to 85 percent chlorine reduction. Fine but noticeably lower than eskiin's 98.7 percent.
At $169 you are paying twenty bucks more than eskiin for less filtration. You are basically paying for the Instagram aesthetic. If that matters to you then fine. But purely on performance? eskiin wins easily.
Also the water pressure got worse. After getting used to eskiin going back to Jolie felt weak.
- Beautiful design and colors
- Strong brand reputation
- 60 day return policy
- Only 2-3 filtration layers
- Noticeable pressure reduction
- Higher price, less filtration
Decent product, excellent marketing. If looks matter more than results it is fine. Otherwise save your money and get something that works better.
$169
Afina A 01 Showerhead
Afina is the budget option at around $50. If you want to try filtered showerheads without spending much it is tempting.
But here is the problem: it barely works.
Oasis rated it "Poor" with a score of 48 out of 100. It specifically failed on microplastics removal. During testing we saw minimal improvement in water quality or skin hydration. Nothing significant we could measure.
Spending $50 on something that barely works is not budget friendly. It is $50 mostly wasted.
You get what you pay for. A cheap filter with poor filtration is not really a deal. Save up for something that actually works.
Canopy Showerhead
Canopy is known for humidifiers. Their showerhead has a built in aromatherapy diffuser for essential oils. Which is cute I guess.
But we were testing filtration not aromatherapy. And on that front Canopy is meh. Independent testing ranked it sixth out of nine showerheads. Oasis gave it 64 out of 100, below eskiin's 71.
Build quality felt cheap. Flimsy plastic for $150? Disappointing. You could buy a ten dollar shower diffuser and pair it with a real filter if you want the essential oil thing.
Buy if you really want aromatherapy. Otherwise you are paying $150 for a so so filter and some nice smells.
$150
Filterbaby Showerhead
Filterbaby does a ton of marketing around being "doctor developed" with dermatologist endorsements. They claim to be "95% effective for 3 months."
Our question: 95% effective at what exactly? They never say. And they do not share any lab data we could verify.
Here is the bigger problem: Filterbaby has no patents. When we opened it up, the filtration technology inside is the same generic stuff you find in $15 Amazon showerheads. They are literally using the same supplier as dozens of cheap knockoffs but charging premium prices.
During testing our results were inconsistent. Some days better, some days worse. Tracks with a filter that might work initially but degrades fast. Not surprising given there is nothing proprietary about their technology.
Red flag: Filterbaby runs about 270 Facebook ads at any given time. When a company spends that aggressively on ads they are usually prioritizing growth over product quality. The money is going to marketing, not R&D.
Marketing budget bigger than R&D budget. No proprietary technology, no patents, just repackaged generic filters with influencer endorsements. Hard pass.
Drrvse Filtered Showerhead
This is the one we need to warn you about. Drrvse is not a real company. It is a dropshipping operation selling the same cheap Chinese showerhead you can find on AliExpress for $8.
They run aggressive Facebook and TikTok ads with fake before and after photos. The "reviews" on their site are fabricated. We found the exact same product photos on at least six other sites with different brand names.
When we tested it the filtration was basically nonexistent. Chlorine levels barely changed. The plastic felt like it would crack if you looked at it wrong. And good luck getting a refund - their customer service is a ghost town.
Do not buy this. It is a scam. If you see ads for this or anything that looks like it, run the other way.
Quick Comparison
| Brand | Layers | Oasis | Price | Pressure | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eskiin Best | 15 | 71 โ | $149 | โ Better | A+ |
| Jolie | 2-3 | N/A | $169 | โ Worse | A- |
| Afina | ? | 48 โ | ~$50 | Same | B- |
| Canopy | 3 | 64 | $150 | Same | B |
| Filterbaby | 3 | N/A | Varies | Same | C+ |
| Drrvse Avoid | 1-2 | N/A | ~$40 | โ Worse | D |
The One We Actually Use
After three months of testing eskiin is the only one our team kept installed. It works. The company stands behind it. And the 60 day guarantee means zero risk to try it yourself.
Check Price โ$149 ยท Free Shipping ยท 60 Day Money Back Guarantee