How to Choose Bathroom Aids: A Five-Step Guide

Choosing bathroom aids is easier when you work from the problem back to the product. Someone who tires standing in the shower needs something different from someone who cannot lift a leg over the bath, and both need something different from a person who struggles to push up from a low toilet. This guide sets out how to choose in five steps: name the hardest moment, measure, match the aid to the task, check the ratings, then decide between fixed and freestanding. Every product mentioned sits in our Bathroom Aids category.

Step 1: Name the hardest moment

Walk through a normal routine with the person, or talk it through: getting in, sitting, washing, reaching the feet, standing up, getting out, then the toilet. Note where they grab the towel rail, the vanity or the door frame, because those are the places a proper handhold or seat should go. If the list is long or the person has already fallen, Healthdirect’s falls advice points to Occupational Therapy Australia to find a private practice OT who can help assess your home and make safety changes.

Step 2: Measure the bathroom and the person

A few measurements rule out most poor choices:

• the width and depth of the shower recess, and whether there is a hob or step at the entry
• the height of the toilet seat and the space either side of the pan
• the inside width of the bath at the rim
• the doorway width, if a mobile commode needs to roll through
• the person’s weight and the height of the back of their knee when seated

Then compare those numbers with the listings. The standard Overtoilet Aid lists a seat height of 470 to 620mm, the Swan swivel bath seat has an adjustable width to suit most baths, and the bath boards range from 680mm to 780mm wide with adjustable feet.

Step 3: Match the aid to the task

Sitting to shower

If standing is the problem, a seat is usually the first aid to buy. A chair from the shower chairs range adds back support for anyone who tires quickly, and the swivel model locks in place once for getting on and again for showering. Shower stools take up less room in a small recess. Where floor space is very tight, a wall-mounted drop down seat folds flat when not in use. Our shower chair buying guide compares the options side by side.

Getting over the bath

Bath boards sit across the rim so the person can sit first, then lift their legs in one at a time; the Kingfisher Bathboard adds a removable rail and feet that grip with suction cups. Bath transfer benches offer a bigger seat with a curved back, plus a built-in grab rail on whichever side you choose, and the sliding model moves the seat across into the bathing position. Swivel bath seats rotate from a transfer position to a bathing position and lock in both.

On and off the toilet

A low toilet turns standing up into hard work. Raised toilet seats sit on the existing pan, held by a front lip and adjustable clamps, to add height. Over toilet aids combine a raised seat with arms, while toilet surrounds and safety arms add arms without changing the seat. The Darts Toilet Aid attaches with the existing toilet seat fixings, and its arms lift back separately for transfers.

When a commode makes more sense

Commodes suit people who cannot reach the toilet safely, or who need to be wheeled between the bedroom and the shower. A mobile shower commode can be wheeled over the toilet and then into the shower, and a pan carrier slides under the seat on the commode’s own runners to hold the pan in place.

Rails and handholds

Grab rails give a fixed handhold where the person sits, stands or steps, and drop down rails lift out of the way when they are not needed. Rails and drop down seats are fixed to the wall, so their installation is a job for a qualified tradesperson. Fixed rails for beside the toilet are in toilet safety rails. Our grab rail placement guide covers where they usually go.

Washing, reaching and casts

Small aids stop people overreaching on a wet floor. The bathroom accessories range includes a bathing sponge on a long, angled stem, a toe washer, hand showers that fix to the shower outlet or an existing tap, and non-slip shower and bath mats with suction cups underneath. Cast protectors cover a plaster cast or dressing, with a seal that keeps water out in the shower.

Step 4: Check weight ratings and standards

Every seat, frame and bench lists a maximum user weight, and the figures vary a lot, even within one product type. The Kingfisher Bathboard is rated to 200kg, while one of the plastic bathboards is rated to 100kg. Among shower seating, the aluminium shower chair is rated to 200kg and the folding shower chair to 100kg. Some listings also name the standard a product meets: the aluminium shower stool and shower chair are listed as tested and conforming to AS/NZS 3973:2009, and the wide Over Toilet Aid as tested to AS/NZS 3973.7:2009.

Step 5: Fixed or freestanding, and who pays

Fixed bathroom aids, such as grab rails and drop down shower seats, become part of the house, while freestanding aids move with the person. The Rebotec Brest, for example, is a free-standing toilet seat raiser whose aluminium legs adjust individually to sit firmly on uneven floors. Our guide to home modifications explains how the two are treated differently.

Funding follows a similar split. The NDIS names shower chairs, hand showers and handrails as examples of low-cost assistive technology, while complex bathing and toileting devices are on its list of higher-risk items, which need written advice first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you have your measurements and your list of hard moments, bring them to our Liverpool showroom inside Northumberland Arcade to sit on the seats and try the frames before you choose, or call 1300 767 777 for help comparing models.

This guide is general information, not medical advice. Read our disclaimer.