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We’ve all done that one move where you’re standing at the kitchen sink with greasy fingers and you use every muscle in your pinkie to shift the faucet handle ever so slightly. “Is there not a better way to do this?” Lauren Wall asked herself back in 2008. It took a few years before the avid cook and her husband, Matt, realized that yes, there is: a foot pedal.
The fixture has been around since the early 1900s, and you’ve probably seen it in a doctor’s office before, but it actually makes a whole lot of sense for your home. Not only do you reduce the spread of germs by going hands-free, you have more control over your water usage. That’s why the Walls, along with friend John Porteous, launched Principle Faucets, a line of sink faucets that can be controlled either with a hand lever or a foot pedal. Even designers like Julia and Chris Marcum of Chris Loves Julia are putting it to the test.
“Happy to report that it has made such a difference for us,” Julia wrote on Instagram, praising the pedal’s easy installation (it only took Chris an hour to set up) and kid-friendliness. “We couldn’t even imagine our kitchen without it now!”
The intuitive design allows you to start and stop the flow of water, regulate the pressure, and adjust the temperature, all with your foot. Before bringing the product to market, the couple tested their prototype in homes across California and found that, on average, people could save up to 44% on their water usage (or 185 glasses per day). All the seconds when you would normally allow your faucet to run add up. “I think this period has really caused us to reevaluate our lives,” says Lauren. “How can we do better? How can we best serve this planet? That’s kind of our whole mission.”
For avid cooks like Chris, the fact that you don’t have to touch anything with messy hands is especially convenient. It also means you don’t have to frequently polish your faucet and there are fewer water drips that end up on the counter, Julia notes in an extensive review on their website.
The system, which includes the faucet, pedal, and engine, starts at $1,375 for the simple chrome finish, while the brushed nickel and matte black designs are slightly more expensive. If you love your current faucet but just want the bonus of the pedal, you can buy the step on its own (the adapter is compatible with nearly all faucets!) starting at $473 using the code CLJ30. Either option is a step in the right direction.
