Confused about Soap Dispensers? Here’s a Quick Guide

Hand sinks & soap dispensers are a match made in heaven. You can’t have one without the other. But, with the sheer abundance of soap dispensers on the market, which one is right for you & your business?

Cleanliness & hygiene are the top priority of any restaurant, school, hotel & medical facility. It’s essential to provide your staff & guests with a way to effectively wash & disinfect their hands. Simply put, soap dispensers help prevent the spread of germs, therefore reducing illnesses & spread of disease.

Let’s take a look at the main types of IMC soap dispensers & then we’ll give you some other buying considerations to aid you in your search. Please note we will only be looking at counter mount soap dispensers, which are positioned on the deck of a countertop or a hand sink deck. Let’s get started.

Touch vs. Automatic 

You may be thinking to yourself: “Should I buy a touch or an automatic dispenser?” It’s a fact that both types have glaring differences. Let’s break them down below:

Touch (Manual) Soap Dispensers

• As the name suggests, patrons will have to use their hands to operate the soap dispenser. This means patrons will have better control over how much soap will be dispensed.
• No power/batteries are required, so maintenance is kept at a minimum.
• Because they do not contain any electronics or sensors, they are more affordable than an automatic soap dispenser.

Automatic Soap Dispensers

• Auto soap dispensers are fixed with sensors that recognize certain motions & automatically dispense the soap. No physical touching of the dispenser is required, so the contact point where microbes & bacteria live is completely eliminated.
• You’ll be receiving perfect, controlled portions. This means less wasted soap & more money saved.
• They are effortless to use, so the whole hand washing process is sped up & simplified.

So, What Else Should You Consider Before Buying?

Touch vs. automatic operation is just one consideration in the grand scheme of things. The truth of the matter is there are quite a few other things to remember when choosing soap dispensers. Here’s a small sample:

Soap Capacity – Take note of how many people will be using the soap dispenser on a daily basis. You do not want to run into a situation where you have to refill your soap dispenser every hour. A good rule of thumb is to pick a soap dispenser with enough capacity that will last you the entire day without a refill. For automatic soap dispensers, be sure to keep plenty of refill bottles on hand to avoid a hairy situation.

Liquid vs. Foam Soap Dispensers – Both will get the job done, but foam soap is actually more cost effective & environmentally friendly than liquid soap. Liquid soap is still the more popular choice in today’s industry, though. 

Aesthetics – If you are designing a restroom or wash area, you may want to pick a soap dispenser based on what will be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Touch soap dispensers look more traditional, while automatic soap dispensers have a more modern, upscale feel to them. 

At IMC/Teddy, we provide a full lineup of counter mount soap dispensers to complement your IMC hand sink. The SD model is the standard, manually operated soap dispenser. The SD-E (54 oz. capacity) & ESD (27 oz. capacity) models are the automatic operated soap dispensers. Soap dispensers are just one small part of accessories that you can select for your IMC hand sink. For a complete look at IMC hand sink accessories, click here.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of IMC/Teddy. Our content is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. Please contact IMC/Teddy directly if you would like to feature this post on your webpage. Thank you.