Best shampoo bowl for a salon

The Lexus is the shampoo unit I’d set in most salons, and I’ve used it. Buy-Rite calls it a European-style backwash unit: a reclining chair with a white tilting porcelain bowl behind it.

The plumbing is in the box. Buy-Rite lists a European-style single-handle faucet, a spray hose, a custom-fitting neck rest and a built-in vacuum breaker. That last part is the one I care about; it keeps rinse water from being drawn back into the supply.

Buy-Rite publishes the numbers your plumber and your floor plan need: 21¾ in. inside the arms, 27½ in. outside, a 20 × 23 in. bowl, an 18 in. seat depth, 39 in. total height, and 66 in. long with the leg rest fully out.

The bowl tilts, so the stylist can bring it to the client’s neck instead of asking the client to scoot. That scored a 10 on the tilt check.

Where it lost points: Buy-Rite doesn’t name a certification for the faucet or vacuum breaker on the page I read, so it scored 6 on that check.

Buy-Rite’s warranty answer covers its shampoo bowls and backwash units for one year against material and workmanship defects, including vacuum breakers, drain hoses and drain kits. It also says installation must be done by a licensed professional, to code, to keep the warranty valid.

Buy-Rite offers a downloadable specification sheet and lists it in multiple vinyl colors with a black or white bowl, plus a California Prop 65 notice.

My call: before it ships, give the spec sheet to your plumber and confirm where your supply stubs and drain will land relative to the bowl. Moving a drain after the floor is finished costs more than the unit.

The Eros is the unit for a salon that wants the paperwork, and I’ve used it. Minerva states UPC and cUPC certified fixtures on its page, the only maker here that names a plumbing certification for its faucet and fittings.

Minerva says it can be installed as a backwash or a sidewash station. That flexibility matters in a narrow room where the client sits beside the bowl instead of in front of it.

The page lists a black ceramic tilting bowl, a gel neck rest, a basket strainer, a spray hose and a flexible drain line, which Minerva gives as 1¼ in. wide and 27½ in. long.

The footprint is 28½ in. wide, 50½ in. deep and 39 in. tall, with a 21 in. wide and 20 in. deep seat. Minerva also offers a dimension PDF.

The frame is 5/8 in. thick 7-ply plywood with steel reinforcement, high-density foam with memory, and reinforced double stitching. Minerva says it meets California TB117 fire-retardant standards.

Where it lost points: the vacuum breaker kit is an add-on, sold separately in chrome or matte black, so it scored 6 on that check. Order it with the unit.

Minerva’s warranty is one year, and it says all plumbed salon equipment must be installed by a licensed plumber under its warranty requirements.

This listing is the black chair with a black bowl; Minerva also sells the Eros with a white bowl. Its add-ons include the vacuum breaker kit in chrome or matte black, a Catch All hair trap and an ECOHEADS sprayer and hose kit.

My call: the backwash-or-sidewash option makes this the easiest to fit into an existing room. Decide which way it faces before your plumber roughs in, because that sets where the supply lines and drain come out of the wall.

The Eclipse is Buy-Rite’s lay-in unit, and I’ve used it. Buy-Rite says it reclines nearly flat with a built-in headrest, and pitches it for traditional shampooing and head spa treatments.

Like the Lexus, the plumbing comes with it. Buy-Rite lists a black porcelain bowl with a built-in head rest, a single-lever faucet, a hose and nozzle, and a vacuum breaker.

The numbers are on Buy-Rite’s page: 21¼ in. inside the arms, 27¾ in. outside, 72 in. long with the leg rest fully extended and 56 in. with it closed, 33¾ in. from the floor to the top of the bowl, and 21 in. to the seat.

That 72 in. is the number to plan around. It’s the longest unit here, so measure the room with the leg rest out and a stylist standing behind the bowl.

Where it lost points: the bowl is fixed with a built-in head rest rather than tilting, so it scored 7 on that check. And like the other Buy-Rite units, no fixture certification is named on the page.

The seat has integrated lumbar support and black vinyl upholstery. Buy-Rite offers a specification sheet to download.

The warranty is Buy-Rite’s one year on bowls and backwash units, including vacuum breakers and drain hoses, with licensed installation required.

The listing describes an ultra-wide seat with a kick-out leg rest so the client can recline into a nearly horizontal position, and says it pairs with Buy-Rite’s Christina, Onyx and Lexus styling chairs.

My call: a lay-in unit puts the client’s head lower, so check the bowl height against your stylists. At 33¾ in. to the top of the bowl, it’s close to the Oasis, and well below the Lexus at 39 in. overall.

The Oasis is the compact Buy-Rite unit, and I’ve used it. Buy-Rite gives its length as 56 in. from the front of the chair to the back of the bowl, the shortest of the Buy-Rite units here.

It comes complete. Buy-Rite lists an extra-large black bowl, a single-lever hot and cold fixture, a black shampoo hose and nozzle, an anti-bacterial rubber headrest and a built-in vacuum breaker.

The rest of the footprint: 19¾ in. inside the arms, 25¼ in. overall width, and 33½ in. from the floor to the top of the bowl. The base is heavy-duty fiberglass with metal feet.

The listing says everything is included for a quick installation by a licensed plumber, and Buy-Rite offers both a specification sheet and an assembly instruction manual to download.

Where it lost points: the bowl is fixed, so it scored 7 on tilt, and no fixture certification is named. The 19¾ in. inside-arm width is also the narrowest here, worth checking for your clients.

Buy-Rite’s warranty is one year on the unit and its plumbing parts, with installation by a licensed professional required.

Buy-Rite says the deep bowl is meant to prevent splashing and handle longer hair. My call: a deep bowl also means a longer reach for a short stylist, so check the 33½ in. bowl height.

The listing describes an ergonomically angled seat with a built-in lumbar cushion and a rounded black vinyl seat on metal feet. Buy-Rite ranks it number 2 among its own backwash units; read that as the seller’s ranking, not a test or a review from us.

For a shampoo area along a short wall, the 56 in. length is the reason to choose it.

The Pibbs 5274 Loop is the smallest unit here, and I’ve used it. Buy-Rite, which sells Pibbs, lists it at 26½ in. wide, 40 in. deep and 37 in. tall, with a 9½ in. base width.

Forty inches deep is ten less than the Minerva Eros and sixteen less than the Oasis. In a salon where every foot of floor is a styling station, that’s the reason to buy it.

The listing describes a large white porcelain bowl that tilts, a European-style single-handle fixture, a durable hose and the plumbing hardware for setup. The frame is a heavy-duty metal base with fiberglass housing.

It’s part of the Pibbs Loop collection, so it matches Loop styling and dryer chairs.

Where it lost points: the vacuum breaker isn’t listed in the box. Buy-Rite offers Pibbs’ P389C vacuum breaker kit for Italian backwash bowls as an add-on, so it scored 6 on that check. I found no spec sheet to download, and no fixture certification is named.

Buy-Rite’s one-year warranty answer applies to the shampoo bowls and backwash units it sells, with licensed installation required.

For a two-chair salon, two of these side by side need about 53 in. of wall, by Buy-Rite’s 26½ in. width each.

The listing describes an extra-thick cushioned seat with a tilting backrest and says the unit arrives with all necessary fixtures and hardware. Buy-Rite also sells Pibbs’ P650 Italian head spa waterfall attachment, which fits its bowls if you add head spa services later.

It still clears our 7.0 floor at 7.6, because the footprint and the tilting bowl are what a small salon needs most.

My call: order the P389C with it and have your plumber install both at once. A shampoo sprayer without a vacuum breaker is the first thing an inspector will flag.