Why We Care About Test Results

Most shower-filter brands talk about what their products claim to do. We became interested in what could actually be measured.

A category built on claims

Shower filters occupy an unusual space between water treatment, wellness and personal care.

Many brands promise chlorine reduction, softer skin, healthier hair or a better shower experience. Yet in many markets, the testing conditions behind those claims are often difficult to find, compare or verify.

The result is a category where marketing claims are common, but transparent performance data is relatively rare.

We wanted to take a different approach.

Why Korea matters

PICKI NIKI is engineered in Germany for European hard-water conditions, but developed, manufactured and tested in Korea.

There is a reason for that.

Korea has become one of the world's most mature shower-filtration markets. As filtered shower heads became mainstream, consumers, media and regulators began asking a simple question:

Do these products actually do what they claim?

The 2021 wake-up call

In November 2021, the Korea Consumer Agency tested 20 filter shower heads sold online. Seven of the 20 fell short of the basic performance bar, removing less than 80% of residual chlorine. Six of those seven were being sold with no supporting evidence for their chlorine-removal claims at all, and some carried "100% removal" language while failing the agency's test.¹

The issue was not whether shower filters existed. The issue was whether brands could prove what they advertised.

That shaped how we chose a manufacturing partner. We were not looking for the lowest-cost supplier. We were looking for a partner with a proven filtration track record in one of the world's most scrutinised shower-filtration markets.

Korea was a more expensive manufacturing option. It was also the option we trusted most.

Evidence before marketing

That experience shaped how we think about product claims today.

We do not believe consumers should have to rely on marketing language alone.

A claim on its own is easy to make.

Many shower filters advertise high chlorine-removal figures – 99% or more. The number is rarely the issue. The question is what stands behind it.

A percentage means little without the conditions that produced it: which laboratory ran it, whether that laboratory is independent and recognised, and the flow rate and filter life the test was run under. Water-filtration testing is often carried out under cool, controlled, low-flow conditions – but a shower delivers water quickly and at higher temperatures, and a figure produced under standard test conditions does not automatically transfer to the shower.

So two questions matter more than the headline number: was the testing carried out by an independent, recognised institution, and was it carried out under conditions that are clearly defined and reported?

That is the distinction we care about – not whether a number is high, but whether it can be traced back to a defined, independent test.

That is why we continue to prioritise:

• Independent laboratory testing
• Recognised testing institutions
• Clearly defined testing conditions
• Transparent reporting of results

The filtration technology used by PICKI NIKI has been independently evaluated by recognised Korean testing institutes, including:

• KEWI – the Korea Environment and Water Works Institute, a government-designated drinking-water testing institute
• KTR – the Korea Testing & Research Institute, an independent testing and research institute²
• P&K Skin Clinical Research Centre – a dermatological and clinical testing institute

When we say free chlorine was reduced to non-detectable at the outlet under the test conditions, we can point to the KEWI laboratory test.

When we say our vitamin C stage brings alkaline water toward a more skin-friendly pH – measured at a realistic shower flow rate of 7.5 L/min – we can point to the KTR contract test.

When we reference skin compatibility, we can point to the clinical report.

Because better shower water should not depend on marketing claims alone.

It should be supported by evidence.