Interview about ARC Shower Water Flosser, winner of the A' Beauty, Personal Care and Cosmetic Products Design Award 2025
ARC is an innovative shower water flosser designed to seamlessly integrate into your daily shower routine, making oral hygiene more convenient and efficient. By utilizing the existing water pressure from your shower hose, ARC eliminates the need for electricity or batteries, offering a sustainable and hassle-free solution for water flossing. Its ergonomic design includes a replaceable 4-way water stream head, ensuring thorough cleaning between teeth and along the gum line. Users can customize the water pressure to their preference, allowing for a gentle or more intensive flossing experience.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe inspiration behind the ARC Shower Water Flosser came from a very personal place. I’ve struggled with dental issues in the past, largely because I didn’t have a consistent flossing habit. Like many people, I found it hard to integrate flossing into my daily routine — it always felt like a chore, and frankly, I often skipped it.I started thinking: what if we could make building healthy habits easier, more intuitive, and less of a hassle? That’s when the idea of combining flossing with an existing daily habit — showering — came to life. The shower is already a natural part of everyone’s routine, so integrating oral care into that time makes it nearly frictionless.Most flossing solutions on the market today are either expensive, bulky, or just inconvenient to use consistently. I wanted to create something that was simple, effective, and accessible — both in terms of usability and cost. The ARC Shower Water Flosser removes the barriers that often stop people from flossing, making it a natural extension of their daily routine.
The primary goal behind the 4-way water stream head design was to make flossing faster and more efficient without compromising on precision or effectiveness. Traditional single-stream flossers often require a lot of time and awkward maneuvering, especially when trying to reach the back teeth. We wanted to solve that.While the head features four strategically placed nozzles — two for the front teeth and two for the back — we intentionally designed it so that only two streams operate at any given time. This was a critical decision made for two main reasons: accuracy and water pressure.From a performance standpoint, using just two focused streams at once ensures that the water is directed precisely to the grooves between teeth, where it’s most effective. From an engineering perspective, this also allows us to maintain strong water pressure, even when relying on a standard shower connection. Activating all four streams simultaneously would have reduced pressure significantly and compromised cleaning effectiveness.The rear-facing water streams were an especially thoughtful addition. They solve a common pain point with traditional flossers: trying to twist or rotate the device at uncomfortable angles to clean the back teeth. Our dual-stream setup allows users to get a full clean — front and back — with minimal effort and without breaking their natural flow in the shower.Ultimately, the 4-way design is about efficiency, comfort, and delivering a complete clean, all while respecting the limitations of home water pressure systems.
Sustainability was definitely something we kept in mind throughout the design process. Traditional string floss creates a lot of waste — from the plastic cases to the floss itself, which is thrown out daily. With ARC, we wanted to minimize that. The flosser uses water from your shower and only requires a replacement head every 3 to 6 months, which helps cut down on waste.We also kept the design low-tech on purpose. There are no batteries, no charging, and no electronics involved, so it’s not only more durable but avoids the environmental impact of electronic waste. That simplicity also means fewer repair issues over time.Installation was another area where we tried to reduce waste. ARC connects directly to your shower without needing extra adaptors or complicated parts. And we use recycled materials in our packaging and keep it as minimal as possible.Overall, the goal was to make something that fits into people’s lives easily while being a little more thoughtful about its impact on the environment.
Ergonomics were a big focus for us from early on. We went through multiple iterations of prototypes to find a form that felt comfortable to hold and easy to maneuver inside the mouth. We wanted to make sure that even people with weaker wrists or grip strength could use the flosser comfortably, so we kept the design light and compact.One of the practical improvements we made was in the placement of the pressure control button. Many existing shower-based flossers have the pressure adjustment near the hose connection, which can be hard to reach during use. We moved it directly onto the handle so users can adjust the pressure easily while flossing.As for the mouthpiece design, while we didn’t have access to formal testing resources, we still took a thoughtful approach. We studied the shape and structure of sports mouthguards, and I even used a 3D print of my own dental scan, done through my dentist, to help shape the early designs. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave us a solid foundation and showed our intent to create something that truly fits users’ needs.Overall, it was a very hands-on, iterative process, grounded in real user challenges and focused on making the experience as smooth and accessible as possible.
Talking to users was a big part of our process. In interviews, we found that most people simply don’t floss, and the reasons were pretty consistent — they hadn’t built the habit, and they found string flossing either annoying, wasteful, or both.That really shaped how we approached the product. Instead of trying to force a new habit, we wanted to attach flossing to something people already do every day — like showering. That’s what led to the core idea of a shower-based flosser.We also saw user reviews on competitor product pages that water flossers are too bulky, hard to use, or awkward, especially when trying to reach the back teeth. That helped guide choices like making the device compact and lightweight, and adding rear-facing water streams so users wouldn’t need to twist their wrists in uncomfortable ways.Even smaller things, like putting the pressure control button on the handle instead of at the hose connection, came from users mentioning they wanted more control while using it.In the end, user feedback and reviews helped us focus on solving the everyday problems that were stopping people from flossing in the first place.
Designing the storage solution came with a few key challenges. First, we knew that ease of use in the shower was essential. When water’s running and visibility isn’t great, users don’t want to struggle with placing the flosser back in some complicated holder. That’s why we chose a magnetic attachment between the handle and the wall plate — it allows for a quick, one-handed interaction without needing to look closely or align anything.The other big consideration was moisture management. Showers are wet environments, and we didn’t want water, soap, or shampoo to collect on the floss head while it was stored. Over time, that kind of exposure can lead to issues like mold or mildew. So we designed the storage shell with moisture resistance in mind, keeping the floss head elevated and minimized exposure from splashes as much as possible.It was about making sure the flosser stayed clean, dry, and easy to use — even in a less-than-ideal environment.
Winning the A' Design Award was a great moment for us, and it reinforced the idea that oral care can be approached in new, more user-friendly ways. I hope ARC doesn’t just stay a personal product, but that it also finds its way into commercial spaces like dorms, hotels, or even gyms. Oral health is closely tied to routine and accessibility, so the more places people can access simple tools like this, the better the impact on their long-term habits.I also think there’s room for the medical and dental communities to study and build on these kinds of products. Oral care tools should be as easy and universal to use as brushing your teeth. There’s still a gap between what’s available and what actually works well for most homes and users. I hope ARC helps push that conversation forward — toward more practical, inclusive solutions that support everyday care, not just occasional effort.
The pressure adjustment feature was a key part of the design from the beginning because we knew that everyone’s comfort level with water pressure is different. Some users need a gentler stream, especially if they have sensitive gums, while others prefer a stronger flow for a deeper clean.One of the main considerations was where to place the pressure control. Many existing shower flossers have the adjustment located near the hose connection, which makes it hard to access once you're actually using the device. So we chose to move the pressure control onto the handle itself, allowing users to make real-time adjustments while flossing — no need to stop or fumble around.From an engineering standpoint, we also had to account for variations in household water pressure. We designed the system to operate well across a range of pressures, while making sure that only two water streams are active at any given time (either front or back) to maintain strong, effective flow. Activating all four streams at once would have lowered the pressure too much and reduced cleaning performance.Overall, the goal was to create a customizable yet simple user experience, without adding complexity to the hardware or installation.
For me, a product is only as good as the experience the user has with it. That’s why everything I design has to be user-centric — not just in how it works, but in how it fits into people’s lives, routines, and even the environment around them.With the ARC Shower Water Flosser, I really tried to take that approach to heart. I believe that the best designs come from testing, observing real behavior, talking to people, and iterating until it just feels right. That process helped us build something that’s easy to use, fits naturally into daily routines, and avoids the common pain points people have with flossing.I’m also a big believer in low-tech solutions. If you can achieve 90% of a function without needing batteries, chargers, or complicated systems, why not take that route? ARC runs purely on water pressure, which makes it more reliable, sustainable, and easier for more people to use — without adding unnecessary complexity.In the end, I see the ARC flosser as an example of how we can use design to simplify, not complicate, and to make everyday tools feel more natural, approachable, and accessible.
I see the ARC Shower Water Flosser as a step toward making oral care more accessible, consistent, and integrated into daily life. One of the biggest challenges in oral health isn’t just about tools—it’s about habits. If we can create solutions that fit naturally into routines, like showering, we reduce the effort needed to stay consistent, which can lead to better long-term outcomes.Looking forward, I think the evolution of products like ARC lies in making them even more adaptable to different lifestyles and environments — whether that’s shared living spaces like dorms, hotels, or even community health settings. The goal is to make good oral care easy and available to more people, not just those with time or access to expensive tools.From a design perspective, I’ll continue to focus on user-centered solutions. The more we can strip away complexity without sacrificing effectiveness, the more we can support everyday wellness in a sustainable, approachable way.
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