How to make a weak kitchen tap feel stronger

A kitchen tap that either dribbles out or fires a hard jet that splashes off every plate is one of those small daily annoyances that is easy to live with and just as easy to fix. Before you call anyone or start dreaming about a new mixer, it is worth understanding what is actually going on, because the cause is usually cheap to sort.

First, work out what "weak" really means

Two very different problems get called a weak tap.

• A hard, splashy jet. The water comes out fast and narrow, bounces off the sink and your hands, and feels aggressive rather than useful. This is almost always a missing or clogged aerator, not a pressure problem.
• A genuine trickle. The flow is slow everywhere in the house, or slow only at the hot tap. That points at limescale, a partially closed isolation valve under the sink, or low mains pressure, and it needs a different fix.

Run the tap and watch it for a few seconds. If it is fast but splashing everywhere, you are in luck, because that is the quick and cheap one to solve.

The splashy tap: fit an aerator

The end of most kitchen spouts is meant to hold a small part called an aerator. It mixes air into the water so the stream comes out soft, even and quiet instead of a hard jet. Over time these clog with limescale or go missing entirely, and the tap turns splashy.

A push-fit aerator solves it in seconds. Our kitchen tap aerator slips over the end of most round spouts and grips with a rubber sleeve, so on most taps there is nothing to unscrew. It softens the splash, spreads the flow so it feels fuller, and swivels a full 360 degrees so you can swing it aside to fill a tall pot.

Be honest with yourself about one thing: an aerator changes how the water feels and behaves, it does not raise your home water pressure. If your tap genuinely trickles, an aerator will not fix that, and we would rather tell you than sell you the wrong thing.

Want more reach as well? Add a pull-out sprayer

If the real frustration is that the tap will not reach the corners of the sink or rinse a big pan, the answer is reach, not pressure. A pull-down extender clips onto a standard spout and gives you a flexible sprayer with a couple of spray modes, which is the single most useful upgrade for actual washing up.

Our 3 in 1 tap extender does exactly this, and like the aerator it pushes on in seconds with no plumbing.

When it is not the tap end

If the aerator is clean and the flow is still poor, check these before spending anything:

1. The isolation valves under the sink. A slotted screw turned across the pipe throttles the flow. Turn it back to fully open with a flat screwdriver.
2. Limescale in a hard water area. Unscrew the aerator and soak it in white vinegar for an hour to clear the deposits.
3. Hot only? That points at the hot supply or a dodgy flexi hose rather than the tap itself.

The short version

A splashy, feeble-feeling kitchen tap is almost always the aerator, and that is a couple of minutes and a few pounds to fix. If you want better reach for washing up, a pull-out extender is the upgrade that earns its place. Real pressure problems are a different job, and no tap attachment will solve those, so start by watching what your tap actually does.

Have a look at the full range if you want the honest version of both.