My Smart Home: I bought a new tap and it has a clever feature I now can’t live without
I went shopping for a tap that could reach inside a saucepan. I came back with a built-in glass rinser, a new favourite gadget and only two minor installation injuries
One of the many reminders that I'm not a kid any more are the things that excite me. First it was He-Man toys, then it was anything with a Nintendo logo, after that it was fast cars, and now it's a kitchen tap.
Yep, I've just bought a new tap, and it's one of my absolute favourite things.
The tap in our new house was hopeless. It was too short, so we couldn't fit the kettle under it, the seal was weeping slightly, and despite regularly cleaning it, it always looked dirty. It had to go.
So I did what any self-respecting cheapskate would do and I turned to Amazon to see if I could find a bargain.
It's an absolute minefield out there. Taps can be bought from £20 to £200, but I knew exactly what I wanted. There was one feature I spotted, however, that I never knew I wanted. And now I don't think I could live without it.
It's a glass rinser, and it's one of those pieces of kitchen tech that quickly becomes indispensable, despite it being a remarkably simple bit of kit.
Plonk the glass upside down on a rubber tray, push downwards, and a swirling jet of water hoses down the inside of the glass.
I get through a lot of orange squash in a day, and I've always made a habit of rinsing the glass out between pints, so this gets used constantly.
Then, when it's a socially acceptable time to crack open a bottle of beer, I can rinse the glass out after I'm finished. And then it dawns on my I might as well use the freshly-cleaned glass for another beer.
If my wife's enjoying an evening touring her vast collection of craft gins, she can jump from bottle to bottle, safe in the knowledge her next festival of flavours won't be contaminated by the last.
Of course, we could just run the tap and swill out the glass that way, but where's the fun in that?
It's not as if this is just a basic tap either, the Mynaiad Kitchen Mixer Tap has a pull-out sprayer, which is what I originally set out to find in my tap search, and two spray modes on the nozzle, which is great for blasting out pots and pans before they go in the dishwasher, or for rising off a pot of pasta.
The price? That's the bit that really surprised me. It's £64.99. And I genuinely can't believe the build quality, either. It even comes in two colours.
The best bit is, there's a deal on right now giving you 15% off, so this incredible bit of kit costs just £55.24. It's an absolute bargain.
I even found it easy to fit. Getting the old one out was a bit traumatic, but I only had to change clothes twice, and I only sustained two injuries, both quite minor.
So if you're in the market for a tap or even if you're not, let's be honest, this is a remarkably affordable kitchen upgrade you'll be thrilled with. Especially with the festive season looming large.