The Shower Filter Refill Cartridge

Did you ever wonder what kind of stupid-head needs the instructions on a TV dinner to include "open end of carton, remove tray from inside"? Yeah, I guess that group includes us with ADHD-Mixed or -Inattentive 🤦🏻♀️I recently had to replace the cartridge in my shower filter, and it took me about four days to compete this task, and I needed to get the freezer involved.The shower spout on my apartment bathtub is kind of old and has an angle that the instructions on the filter doesn't account for, so I have to remove the whole filter unit every time I replace the cartridge. So far, nothing special; why is this specific to the cartridge?The carton on the filter has the replacement instructions, which simply say "1: leaving filter attached take off the cartridge cover from the filter unit, 2: remove old cartridge, replace with new, 3: put the top back on." So, partly cos of my ADHD, partly cos of a weird couple of weeks with my overseas gurlfwend, and part cos I had to modify Step 1 cos of my vintage Mid 20th Century shower spout and its dumb angle, I wasn't paying attention to things beyond the carton. I just popped out the old cartridge, popped in the new one, and reattached my shower head with the filter attached. I then started my water, turned the shower spigot and waited. And waited. And water did not emit from the shower.Took the whole thing back off, and after removing it all again, EVERYTHING was stuck. As a grown-(donkey) aging nancy boy past his prime, who stands all of 4'11", I don't think of myself as having the greatest grip strength, up this was odd. I had to work on the shower head for 2 days with an adjustable wrench and a grippy pad to remove the shower head (see 2 of the 3 attached photos —no idea how *that* was stuck, cos I didn't have to take it off in the first place). When shower head finally did come off, I THEN saw the label/sticker (see 1st attached pic) on the end of the cartridge from the centre hole in the male attachment for the shower head, and part of its writing that said "remove sticker from both sides before use"🤦🏻♀️The freezer came into this, cos after spending most of the third day trying a few things to take the cartridge capsule off the spouting piece/base, I looked up to confirm that silicone (which the gasket on the base, and maybe also the adhesive in the label is made of), as most things in this world, will constrict at freezing temperatures, so I stuck the whole thing in the freezer while I spent most of Day 4 at a Doctor's appointment and running a couple of minor errands afterwards. Thankfully, that DID bring down the silicone by a fraction of a millimeter, so after the 2-ish mililitr of water (which was stuck in the unit before the freezer) thawed out, with some help from rubber bands (to increase the effectiveness of the grippy pads) I FINALLY got things back apart to remove the labels on each end of the cartridge.Now, I suspect this ordeal came down to the *fraction of a milimedr* added to the cartridge from the stickers on each end, making it all **very tight** and therefore easier to get stuck like this if accidentally leaving the labels on. I do admit that I wasn't paying the ideal minimum of attention to replace the cartridge competently. I also think that it's good the cartridge is designed to give an ideal fit inside the filter unit, rather than be a fraction of a milimedr smaller, as this filters as much water as possible so the filter can do what it's supposed to do.I'm just saying that I can't be the only 157IQ moron who's done something like this, but if I'm somehow the first, I doubt I'll be the last. Adding a line to the instructions on the side of the carton about "remove labels on both ends of the cartridge before inserting" will minimise future mistakes 😅

It was a struggle to put the original filter assembly on my shower. Not an easy task, but it eventually worked. When I wanted to replace the filter, the instructions say to twist the filter cap counterclockwise to remove it. Then just pop the filter refill in. Ok great......however, the filter cap would NOT budge. My husband could not remove it either. He tried to use a wrench. It still wouldn't budge. These products are marketed towards women so you would think it would not take this much strength to remove it. Cannot use this product because I can't get to the filter area. Not as easy to replace as you claim.