Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

============================= ORIGINAL REVIEW ============================= I bought the Umbra Birdie pump to replace the "disposable" Method foaming soap pump that I had been refilling. Be sure to MIX WATER with soap when filling the soap pump! I constantly read reviews that the soap just dribbles out in foaming soap pump. I suspect that in many of those cases, not enough water was added. Umbra recommends a ratio of 10% soap, 90% water. I use Dr. Bronner's (Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps Pure-Castile Soap, 18-in-1 Hemp Peppermint, 32 Ounce Bottle), but any liquid soap should work. In the video you will see that pumping quickly will dispense the soap nicely. Pumping slowly will make the soap dribble down the side. The dribble is not a big issue, as the design is sleek and very easy to wash off. Also, if you place your hand closer to the spout, it will not dribble down the side. If I had to make a tiny complaint, it's that the pump is not very one-hand operation friendly, unlike the Method pump which can very easily be pumped with one hand. I will be buying more for all the sinks in the house. ============================= UPDATE (10/18/12) ============================= It has now been about 4 months since I've started using this soap pump. About a week ago, the pump started to "stick" a little bit...it pushes down fine, but takes a few seconds for it to pop back up. An annoyance. It has pumped thousands of times so far, which is nice, but I would like for the pump to last a lot longer than 4 months. I took the pump apart by unscrewing the top, then pulling the actual mechanism off (pull gently). (See customer uploaded images under product images). (Watch out that you don't lose a small, clear 1/2 inch piece at the end of the tube). Then I immersed the pump mechanism in hot water and pumped all the gunk out, and let any remaining residual soap dissolve by soaking it for a few minutes. Put everything back together and voila, no more sticking. Works like new. I imagine that I will have to clean out the pump every so often to wash off the soap build-up inside. It was a very easy "fix" and I don't begrudge this task. So the rating still stays at 5 stars. (I suspect that the type of soap I'm using may have accelerated the "sticking" of the pump. I'm using Dr. Bronner's castile soap which tends to build up and clog soap pumps. I think switching to a non-castile soap might help the pump stick less. But I really like Dr. Bronner's so I'll just clean the pump more often.) ============================= UPDATE (1/13/13) ============================= I bought more and have been using 3 of these in the house. I've found that the pumps that get used more often tend to "stick" less and need cleaning less frequently. One of them started sticking after only a month of use. I cleaned and soaked it for 30 minutes but it still would not come back up. I left it soaking overnight, and it started working again. ============================= UPDATE (2/14/13) ============================= I'm not sure if Umbra has changed their manufacturing process/vendors, but I'm disappointed with 2 of the 3 soap pumps that I've now purchased over the last 8 months. The very first pump that I bought, which you see in the video, is still working pretty well. It sticks a little more than it used to, but it still does its job fairly well. However, the two I purchased since the first purchase have become completely unusable in less than 2 months. I see that many recent reviewers have had the same issue with the soap pump sticking. Since mine were not coming back to the up position even after soaking in water for a few days and pumping water through them, I proceeded to take apart the pump mechanism in one pump. If I broke it in the process, oh well, it wasn't working anyway so no big loss. I managed to take it apart without breaking it (not easy to do). I pried off the black tab from the black ring with a screwdriver to get to the innards. I thought perhaps there was soap build up inside that was making the pump stick. Well, it looks like a combination of many things...there is a thin slip valve inside the spring that seems to not be popping up correctly (not sure why). Also, the cylindrical disc inside that pushes down on the soap mixture has tiny little capillaries that seem to have clogged up. I tried soaking and cleaning them out, but the capillaries are so small that it is impossible to get any soap build up to dissolve. Maybe I should have used a needle to clean them out, but I left it at that. As I have not taken apart other foaming soap pumps, I'm not sure if that's how they all are made. I've gone back to using the disposable Method hand soap pump that you see in the video. I'd used Method bottles with Dr. Bronner's soap mixture for a long time, and have not had any huge issues with any of them. They don't score high on style points, but they're more functional than this Umbra pump. Now that Cuisipro has many different color options than stainless steel, I may have to give it a try (Cuisipro 83758002 13.2-Ounce Foam Pump, Black). ============================= UPDATE (9/18/13) ============================= The very first of my Umbra pump puchases, the green pump seen in the video, has finally died. After 1 year 3 months of service, it is permanently stuck and cannot be revived. RIP. ============================= UPDATE (3/14/15) ============================= So I did end up buying the Cuisipro foaming soap pump (Cuisipro 83758002 13.2-Ounce Foam Pump, Black) in Black in January 2014 (about 14 months ago) and it's been great. No signs of any kind of "sticking" or build-ups, and it's going strong even after a year. It gets refilled probably every month, as it's a work horse in the kitchen. It's not as sleek as the Umbra birdie, but "cute" and still modern. I just bought 2 more for the bathrooms. If you've read this review, you know what happened the last time I bought more of the Umbra Birdie soap pumps...knock on wood!