As is true for so many things, cheap bathroom accessories cost you more over the long run. A good shower caddy or toilet tissue caddy should last you for decades, while cheap ones can only last you a few months. There are several reasons for this:
1. Rust
Rust is the big one. A Google search for “rusted bathroom accessories” yields 2.8 MILLION results. The total number of rested bathroom accessories sitting in the world's landfills at this moment is incalculable.
Even worse, rust is absolutely preventable on all bathroom accessories. Chrome-plated steel could theoretically sit in a pool of salt water for a million years and still look shiny and new. It also doesn't cost that much more than typical steel finishes, so there's no excuse. A few dollars saved is worthless if your accessory will look rusted and ugly in under a year. However, chrome plating in a cheap product can also be vulnerable to rust. Chrome, of any quality, never rusts. However, a thin coat of chrome, poorly applied, can crack. Once it cracks, the steel underneath will begin rusting out.
Rust is water-soluble and gets anywhere. A crack in a shower caddy's casing can lead to ugly, rust-colored drips that stain both skin and porcelain. A crack in a soap basket can lead to rust colouration on your soaps and skin. The smell of rust is also extremely unpleasant.
Because of this, even a small crack can mean throwing out a bathroom accessory. They usually have to be totally replaced, because of Reason #2.
2. They have no replaceable parts
Most things are cheap for a reason. Most often, the reason is that some parts, but not all, are extremely cheaply made. For example, a cheap hair dryer caddy might have a really nice-looking basket, but a poor wall mount. It doesn't really matter how nice the basket is, because with bathroom accessories you can't exactly swap in or out new parts.
If a bathroom accessory seems remarkably cheap, it's likely that there is one piece that isn't properly made. It could be a chrome seal that barely holds up. It could be a valve on a soap dispenser that's prone to leak. It could be anything. Unless you work in industrial design, it probably isn't something you'll see. But it's there. This cheap part will make you throw out the whole accessory. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
3. If plastic, they are often made of substandard plastic.
There are a lot of different types of plastic. The only person I've ever met who really understood the difference between all these types of plastic was a chemical engineer.
There are a lot of things to worry about with substandard plastics. They might warp. They might get discoloured. They might scratch easily. Soap or skin oil might corrode them. Fluorescent lights might degrade them. It's a lot to keep track of.
Fortunately, companies that sell medium to high cost bathroom accessories have a reputation to maintain. Most companies won't come out and say “non-corrosive processed type 6 plastic,” but they will know that, at their prices, customers expect all the details to be handled right.
As a result, it just isn't worth it to buy bathroom accessories on the cheap. There are so many ways to cut corners, and all of them can lead to rusted, corroded, ugly broken products in the trash.
