Invacare Mariner Rehab Shower Commode Chair

The Invacare Mariner Rehab Shower Commode Chair is a popular choice for portable shower chairs where I work, and can be purchased from Sherman Oaks Medical Supply for $665. But being the one who has to work with the Invacare Mariner Rehab Shower Commode Chair every day, the manufacturer could have done a better job with the design because I have a few complaints about it.

These chairs never SEEM clean even though they are clean. The blue plastic seat, plastic arms and blue vinyl fabric for the back look like they're permanently stained with white soap scum, and no cleaner I've tried has been able to make these chairs look like new again.

The rubber handle grips that should make pulling and pushing the shower chair easier, constantly slip off of the chair. That's a real problem when I'm pushing somebody along, then want to stop with them at the bathroom sink so they can brush their teeth, only to discover that I'm not hanging onto the chair anymore because the rubber grips slipped off and the person is still rolling along. Now I just grip the metal arms directly when I need to move somebody around in the shower chair, but the loose handgrips are one of my biggest frustrations.

I appreciate that these shower chairs are wide enough that they can be positioned directly overtop of a standard or elongated toilet. However, removing and replacing the wire basket that holds the plastic commode so that the flushable toilet can be used is a genuine pain in the neck. The holes for the wire basket are small, hard to find, and who wants their face that close to somebody's butt after they've just finished using the toilet?

On the pro side, I like that the arms of the chair can lift up easily for people who like to slide themselves from their bed and into the Invacare Mariner Rehab Shower Commode Chair. I also like the quick-flip lock-down tabs on the wheels, though the front wheel lock-down tabs can be a pain to reach sometimes if the wheels are positioned backwards. The plastic commode is easy to clean, and just slips out of the wire basket that holds it when I need to wash somebody's butt.

Overall, I like the Invacare Mariner Rehab Shower Commode Chair for its sturdiness, but I wish the manufacturer would fix the bugs I've complained about in their next new and improved model.