How far does a shower spray in a big open space?

IMO 6’ would be too close. My shower is 6’ wide and the opposite wall will still catch splashing off the floor. If you have a low power shower head that rains down on you, you may be able to get away with the towels in the shower. My concern would be lack of circulation to let the towels dry sufficiently and you may be dealing with moldy towels in a hurry.

@Crazydawg Do you think if the towel bar was higher it would matter in terms of the splash?

Oh yes indeed. My opposite wall is half glass and the upper glass part never gets wet. It just steams up if I take a long hot shower.

Thanks!

In relation to the shower head, where is the rack you want to put the towel on? Also, if the rack was already there when you moved in, it would tell me it will not get wet, or what would the purpose for it to be there?

@Hypocrisy_Central I am building the house and I made the mistake of listening to everyone but myself and now I am in this predicament. Long story that I won’t bore you with all the details.

The full space is 15×6. The shower head at one end and the bathtub at the other. It is one big “wet” space. I’d like to be able to hang the towels away from the shower head near the bathtub. The 15 foot wall you enter through is glass and a door. To the right is the showerhead, to the left is the bathtub. The wall right in front of you is where I hope to put the towels and maybe even a button to hang a robe on. The space is as big as a typical small bathroom, so I am not worried about airing it out, because I can leave the door ajar and it will air out into the rest of the bathroom and master bedroom. Also, there is a functioning window in the wet area I can crack open. In the summer it won’t help, but the rest of the year it will.

What do you think?

I have been in showers that were rectangular about 9’ from back wall to the entrance, the shower head was at a 90 deg angle in the back. The towel rack was near the entrance on the same side as the showed head, and I do not recall getting the towels wet unless I mis-aimed the shower wand, then water flew over there, but if it were pointed at the opposite wall, it seemed OK. It seem as if you would have more space. With a 15×6’ space I am thinking the bar would be close to 12’ away from the start of the tub. Unless you have some very good pressure, I can’t see how the towels would get wet if the rack is next to the tub.

The thing is I want to be able to have the towels even closer than the 12’ mark. I understand where you get the number from, you are subtracting the tub.

My frustration is, if I can vent for a minute, I really wanted the shower to spray towards the glass. Still the same end of the wet area, but the other wall. Then I would only have to worry about the water spraying from the sides, but no one was listening to me and I gave in. Like an idiot. I’m sure now I would have liked it better.

< Jealous.

Instead of a “towel rack” which suggests hanging towels inside the shower, consider instead a “towel shelf” at the back of the tub or shower enclosure and comfortably above head height. On the shelf you could store clean, folded towels and/or “the towel that I dried from yesterday’s shower and am planning to reuse now”. Put your racks and hangers outside the shower enclosure completely.

Especially if the shower is used by more than one person, it’s going to be in the way and not drying properly while every other shower is being taken. With a shelf, you can store more towels, they’ll be comfortably above any possibility of spray and splash, and always overhead, not in the way.

A friend has an open shower in a very large bathroom. I’m assuming that what you mean by “open shower” is that there is no surround or curtain to contain water. I always had to leave my towel somewhere close to the shower so I could reach it from the chair I used to shower. The towel rail, actually a handrail but served both purposes, came out at right angles from the wall of the shower to which the shower head is attached, in other words, the wall facing you when you shower. The towels hung probably only 5 feet from the shower, remember the shower sprays out far more towards you than it does to the side. The towel never got wet during my l-o-n-g showers.

@Adagio What you said about the towels being to the side of the shower is exactly why this might be the thing that finally gives me a nervous breakdown. I hope it teaches me never to listen to anyone else ever again when I know something is right. My last house had that set up, the towels were only three feet from the showerhead, and they never got wet. The shower head was slightly at an angle, so easily at 5 feet in this new house the towels would have been safe. Probably it sounds crazy to get so upset about a shower, but it is symbolic of a pattern of letting myself be talked out of things and of people not listening to me. My husband, the designers, and if you have seen me on other Q’s, doctors. I am so tired of not being heard and caring so much about it. My husband asked me if it is going to bother me the whole time we live in the house. It might.

@CWOTUS I never leave any extra folded towels in bathrooms that are used a lot. I actually am going to have a rack with folded towels high up and places for hanging below in my pool bath, but probably the shower will get used once in a blue moon. My master, since it is used daily, I don’t feel co for table doing it. In FL we have to be extra obsessed with mold and mildew. For instance, I never use hooks, always bars for my towels so they have the most chance of drying fast and completely. So, here I am talking about towels in the shower and also how we have to be careful here. I have a sinking feeling I am going to have a lot of regret (re: what I explained to @Adagio about how no one listened to me during the planning).

Also, I don’t like towels set above or behind a tub, because reaching for them is very difficult. I try not to do any uncomfortable reaches, especially now with my neck and shoulder injury from my accident. But, I appreciate all the suggestions from you and everyone on the Q.

The typical apartment bathtub is five feet long. There is usually a shower on one end and often a towel rack on the other end, five feet away. Mine’s like that and my towel doesn’t get wet unless I point the showerhead farther up than is useful.

Your experience will also depend on the water pressure. If the pressure is really high you could get a towel wet across the room.

Alright, did some observing this AM. First, I tried to take into consideration that my shower is half the width of yours 36” and my shower head is not a rain shower but a spray that is relatively gentle and pitched at a 40 degree angle . As I exited the shower I noticed droplets on the glass wall all the way to the end which is 5’ but the highest droplet was roughly 24” up. SO I would say you could place the towel rack with the closest side at 5’ as long as the bottom of the towel was 2 feet off the floor. Since your shower is 9’ wide that placement would probably be visually appealing as well as functional.

Thanks everyone! I’m feeling better about it. The showerhead is a regular one, not a rain shower from the ceiling. Too often I like to keep my hair dry when I shower, so I figured the expense of the rain shower wasn’t worth it, even though I guess it looks more contemporary.

I would conclude of the bathtub is opposite the showerhead on the far side of the space, and you want to place the bar close to the tub, that would make it near 12’ away, that is wider than many bedrooms, so unless you have a firehose for a showerhead the spray will not reach the tub or any towel rack near it.

@JLeslie Why not do both or better yet

@Crazydawg Hahahaha. Everyone is surprised I am not getting some sort of fancy schmancy shower thing with multiple sprayers. I am hoping I don’t regret not doing a double shower so my husband and I can shower at the same time. That’s very popular now, I had it in my last house. I cheaper out on it to put a sprayer on my bathtub.

@Hypocrisy_Central If I do two side by side they will be at 11’ and then 9’ extending to 7’ from the shower head and I guess. I’d love a hook for a rob additionally. I think you’re right that it’s going to be ok.

The response from @Crazydawg leads to another datum that’s vital in your consideration. What is the height of the showerhead? A showerhead that is located 6’ or more high, relative to the surface that the user will be standing on, will help to direct its spray downward more than outward. It doesn’t really even matter what the height of the shower stub (piping from the wall) is, because you can buy showerheads with flexible hoses and their own mounts, and mount them as high as the ceiling will permit.

@CWOTUS I happen to ask how high the showerhead is and the construction manager said he thinks they put it at 6’7”. I assume that is the pipe, so the head would come a little lower. I asked for a different reason than this question, but your point is a good one.