Forgotten bathroom items every family used in 1986
Kohler’s 1986 Roseleaf bathroom family came in seven colors, and Raspberry Puree was one of them. Wild Rose, Innocent Blush, and Thunder Grey made the list, too, Click Americana shows.
Walk into a 1986 bathroom, and the color hit you first. The fuzz came second. Avocado was long gone by then, and the palette had turned to pinks, greys, and jade.
Eight items follow, from a lid cover that matched your rug to a glass decanter that nobody opened.
The toilet outfit: lid cover, tank cover, and contour rug
Even bathrooms with hard floors got the soft treatment. In the 1970s and 1980s, department stores sold plush lid covers, U-shaped contour rugs, and tank covers in coordinated colors, from powder blue to dusty rose. They were a quick way to make a bathroom feel finished.
The contour rug hugged the toilet base. Nobody liked thinking about what it collected.
Wall-to-wall bathroom carpet
Carpeted bathrooms peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1980s, tile and vinyl were replacing them, though plenty of families still had it in 1986. Home inspectors still find rotted subfloors under old bathroom carpet, the same source notes.
Wild Rose and Innocent Blush
In the 1980s, Kohler’s bolder pinks gave way to Wild Rose and Innocent Blush, Retro Renovation says, though they were far more beige-leaning. The 1986 Roseleaf family added Raspberry Puree. Eljer showed a neo-classic suite in jade and black.
More than half of Kohler’s output in the 80s was nonwhite.
Hollywood vanity lights
A row of globes spanned the mirror, and the vanity took on the scale of a backstage dressing table. A broad plate-glass mirror usually went with it. It was a lot of glamour for a laminate counter.
Avon decanters and fancy soaps
Avon released its first figural decanter in 1965, a boot, and partnered with Wheaton Glass for about 20 years. The 1970s were the peak. By 1986, they were still on shelves, next to the fancy soaps.
Many people bought them in quantity and found they hadn’t held their value. Most are still waiting for a buyer.
Colored toilet paper
Rolls in pink, blue, yellow, and more were matched to the bathroom, Bygonely notes. By the mid-80s, it was slowly disappearing. Doctors warned about dyes on skin, and environmental concerns followed.
Bath oil beads
Bath beads were ubiquitous from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, a collectibles guide says, so 1986 sat right in the middle. They were hard gelatin capsules that melted in the tub, released scented oil, and left the tub slippery. They began with Calgon’s idea to scent its water softener.
Many sat in a pretty bowl for years, saved for company. Some people ate them, thinking they were candy.
Jean Naté
After-bath splash was popular with women in the 1970s and 1980s. Jean Naté was the leading brand, and its lemony scent was such a hit that Avon, Jovan, and Victoria’s Secret copied it.
The bottom line
Kohler’s 1986 Roseleaf family offered seven colors, including Wild Rose and Raspberry Puree. Bath beads were everywhere from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, so 1986 sat right in the middle.
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