The Best Shower Caddy Is One That Stays Put

The Simplehuman shower caddy is big, but it still fit into my small shower beautifully. It must be screwed closed over the showerhead, which was a bit annoying—I had to ask my husband to assist with this task—but this, coupled with its high-performing suction cups at the bottom of the caddy, meant this thing stays firmly in place. It is the only shower caddy, in fact, with suction cups that actually worked on my porcelain tile. 

This caddy has three levels that are divided into six shelves, a design that allows a shower hose to hang between each cubby. The shelves are adjustable, so if a bottle doesn’t fit, you can move a shelf up or down an inch to allow for more space. A razor can hang from three plastic hooks that attach to the side of one shelf, and there are two small shelves, with drainage, for bar soap. There’s a round hook at the bottom of the caddy for a loofah, washcloth, or shower brush. There are also two small plastic cubbies that can (awkwardly) host toothbrushes.

The one flaw of this caddy? The shelves are slightly shallow, so one of my shampoo bottles, which is in a wide rectangular shape, must be placed at a slight angle to fit on the shelf. I would consider this a very minor flaw, and would likely only be a problem if you have so many shower products that you need every inch of space you can get. 

We bought the Threshold shower caddy in black, and it has a chic, modern look. It has two deep shelves and a soap tray, with two hooks beside it for loofahs or a razor. On either side of that bottom shelf area there are two longer hooks for loofahs or washcloths. This is more than was provided by most of the shower caddies that we tried. And the suction cups stuck to the wall like a tongue to a frozen pole.

The Threshold is an excellent budget pick: It’s good-looking (in black), well organized, and at only $16, well priced. Plus, the suction cups actually work. 

The Oxo aluminum shower caddy is a compact, well-designed hanging caddy that’s perfect for small spaces. It’s made of anodized aluminum, which is a type of aluminum that’s been chemically treated to be extra durable. It has two good-sized shelves that will each fit about four to five bottles (depending on the size of the bottle), and a smaller, plastic-lined shelf on the bottom for bar soap. It has two hooks from which you can hang a razor, and a hook on the very bottom for a loofah or a washcloth. It looks nice and is easy to install, but unfortunately the suction cups did not work on my porcelain tile. Still, this caddy didn’t swing around with abandon but mostly stayed in place, probably due to the well-designed hook that encircles the showerhead pipe. It slightly shifted when I’d grab a bottle, but not enough to affect the overall stability of the caddy. An Oxo representative told Consumer Reports that if the suction cups won’t stick, thoroughly clean the wall and allow it to dry completely before pushing the suction cups onto it, then wait 12 to 24 hours before adding items so that the cups can adhere completely. Avoid grout lines and textured surfaces. I tried this, using rubbing alcohol to clean my tile, and it worked: The suction cups didn’t budge unless I wrenched them, with some effort, from the wall.

It’s fine. This aluminum shower caddy comes in two finishes: your standard, shiny “satin” silver, or matte black for a bit of fashion and pizzazz. Its hook has what marketing materials call a “protective cap” that helps prevent the caddy from moving around, which is good because the suction cups—as with nearly all the rest—didn’t work. As a result, the Eichel shifts a bit when bumped, but not so much that your stuff goes toppling out.

Two non-adjustable shelves fit about four narrow bottles each, and there’s a small shelf on the bottom for a bar of soap. Framing it are two narrow hooks for loofahs, washcloths, et cetera; I appreciated that these hooks had some space between them so that two hanging loofahs, for example, wouldn’t overlap and disrupt airflow. There’s no dedicated spot for toothbrushes or razors.

The Mainstays shower caddy from Walmart is an acceptable budget option. It has two shelves plus a soap tray, and two hooks beside the soap trap for loofahs or washcloths. Because these two hooks are close together, there’s little room for the loofahs (or whatever) to drain; this would be improved if the hooks framed the soap shelf instead. However, the upside to this design is that you can hang a razor between the two hooks instead of washcloths.

The loop that hooks over the showerhead pipe was too narrow for my shower, which meant that the hook perched awkwardly and unsteadily from the pipe. The suction cups didn’t work, initially, so this wasn’t super-stable and shifted around a bit when I grabbed a bottle from a shelf. A Walmart representative told Consumer Reports that if you’re having trouble getting the suction cups to stick, clean the shower wall surface with rubbing alcohol and let dry, then push the suction cups firmly into the wall while avoiding grout lines. This worked—the suction cups stuck—although they weren’t totally flat the way some of the others, like the Simplehuman and Oxo, were on the wall.

Well! This shower caddy is a bit more like two metal baskets than a shelving unit. It requires about 45 seconds of assembly, unlike the other shower caddies that shipped as a single unit. And to its credit, this shower caddy can be assembled to hang from a bar (such as the shower curtain rail) rather than a showerhead. (Note: I didn’t test it that way.)

The Krokfjorden doesn’t come with suction cups, so it swung around with abandon and tipped wildly when I put a single bottle off-center in the caddy. This unsteadiness rendered it nearly impossible to use. If you’re on a budget, you can surely find a better product than this one—though I didn’t love it, the Walmart Mainstays caddy didn’t tip nearly as much as this one, and is, thus, much easier to use.