Lulani Faucets Review & Rating Updated: March 15, 2024
Law Requirements
Warranty Footnotes:
1. "as long as the original consumer purchaser owns the product and lives in the residence in which the product is first installed"
Read the Lulani faucet warranty.
Learn more about faucet warranties.
This Company In Brief
Lulani LLC, founded by Gregory Michael Lange in 2018, is an importer and distributor of faucets made in China and Vietnam by manufacturers with excellent credentials and reputations for producing good quality products incorporating first-rate components.
They are sold primarily on internet venues that host third-party sellers and on the company website.
We judge the faucets to be a fair to good value considering their quality and price points.
Formed in 2018 by Gregory Michael Lange and Chandra Lou Lange, Lulaini as a business unit of their corporation, Tanfel, Inc., Lulani was reorganized in 2020 as a separate limited liability company.
The Lulani name was trademarked by Tanfel in 2019.
Tanfel is an manufacturer organized in 2008 that makes custom metal components for other companies.
It adverties that it provides
"… a combination of world-class manufacturing, quality control, engineering support, warehouse, and logistics services."
Although the two companies are separate legal entities, they are under common ownership and management and are co-located at the same address.
Tanfel is the actual importer of many if not most of the faucets sold by Lulani.
Although Tanfel appears to have all of the capabilities required to design and manufacture faucets (except finishing), there is no indication that any of Lualani's faucets are domestic products. All are imported from Asia.
The Manufacturers
Lulani's known faucet manufacturers are and include:
A Short Note on Chinese Faucet Manufacturing
Because so many junk faucets originate in China, Chinese faucet manufacturing has gotten a reputation for making cheap, unreliable faucets — in far too many cases a well-earned reputation.
But, Chinese manufacturers also produce some of the finest faucets made anywhere.
The very upscale, English-designed brands of mid-priced faucets is one of our Best Value faucet lines.
Other upscale faucets manufactured in China include faucets made for
The fact that a faucet is made in China is not dispositive of its quality.
Other factors need to be examined. Among these are:
- Certifications: Uncertified faucets tend to be very cheaply made using lower-grade materials and poor construction technology. The primary reason that most are uncertified is that the seller believes they would not pass the extensive testing required by North American standards. (Learn more about uncertified contraband Chines faucet at Amazon's Contraband Faucets .)
- Reputation As is true of any business, Chinese manufacturers that make good quality faucets earn, over time, a reputation in the industry for high-quality manufacturing. This reputation is generally a reliable guide to quality.
- Italisa Vietnam Co, Ltd. is a manufacturer located near Hanoi that speclailizes in faucets and other sanitary wares for the export market.
- Its products have only recently appeared in the U.S. and Canada, but it appears to have captured the attention of Ferguson Enterprises. A number of faucets distributed by RGM Enterprises.
- Nokite EcoSmart Water Heating Systems (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. supplies the stainless steel faucets sold by Lulani. Until recently it manufactured stainless steel faucets as a part of Water Systems. Franke, however, recently divested itself of all of its Water Systems subsidiaries, selling its well-known faucet lines to Equistone Partners Europe. The new owner has not yet disclosed what the future holds for Nokite.
- Nokite supplies the stainless steel faucets sold by Franke in North America and also manufactures faucets for Kubebath LLC which sells under its
- Huayi Plumbing Fittings Industry (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. is a member of the giant Huayi International Industrial Group, a collection of companies involved in some manner in metal fabrication. Huayi sells faucets throughout Asia under the Freendo brand.
- In the U.S. Huayi supplies faucets to Northern Central Distributing which sells them as Huayi is .
These companies may not be Lulani's only faucet suppliers.
The Collections
Lulani roducts are organized in twenty collections that may include several faucets along with accessories such as towel bars and robe hooks. The collections do not include shower components or tub fillers, neither of which are sold at present by Lulani.
Some collections are extensive. The St. Lucia collection, for example, contains eight different lavatory faucets, towel bars and rings, a toilet paper holder, robe hook, and lotion dispenser. Others such as the Nassau and Ibiza Collections include a single faucet.
Other collections are sparse. The Aruba collection, for example, includes just one lavatory faucet and a soal dispenser. Undoubtedly, Lulani intends to expand the collections over time.
A couple of the collections seemed forced. The Bora Bora collection, for example, includes bathroom faucets with with gentle curves and flowing lines paired with a spring-style pre-rinse kitchen faucet with no design similarity and supplied by a entirely different manufacturer.
Faucet Construction
Lulani faucets are made using conventional construction in which the body and spout channel water as well as give the faucet its appearance.
Buying Rule for
Smart Faucet Buyers
Valve Cartridge
Never buy a faucet until you know the type of cartridge used in the faucet and who made it.
Its cartridge is the heart of a modern faucet and should be your very first consideration when making a buying decision.
It is the component that controls water flow and temperature. Its finish may fail, and the faucet will still work. It may be discolored, corroded, and ugly, but water still flows.
If the cartridge fails, however, the faucet is no longer a faucet. It is out of business until the cartridge is replaced. It's important, therefore, that the cartridge be robust and durable, lasting for many years.
For more information on faucet vales and cartridges, the differences among them and the history behind each technology, see Faucet Basics, Part 2: Faucet Valves & Cartridges.
None of its manufacturers use the newer core and shell construction[1] in which the waterway and decorative shell are divorced.
The waterway is constructed of tubes inside a decorative shell that gives the faucet its appearance. The advantage of core and shell is that much less expensive leaded brass can be used to make the shell with no risk of lead contamination since the water never touches the shell.
The primany material in LuLani faucets is either brass or stainless steel. Kitchen faucets are mostly stainless while lavatory faucets are uniformly brass.
Each material has its advantages and drawbacks.
Stainless Steel
Most Lulani kitchen faucets are made from stainless steel but the company does not identify the type of steel used.
According to the manufacturer, however, the faucets are made from 304 stainless, an alloy that includes chromium and nickel. The nickel gives the steel a crystalline structure, which increases its strength. The chromium helps the steel resist rusting.
Why Stainless Steel Does Not Rust
Properly alloyed stainless steel contains at least 10% chromium and a dollop of nickel. These form a coating of oxides and hydroxides on the outer surface of the steel that blocks oxygen and water from reaching the underlying metal, preventing rust from forming.
The coating is very thin, only a few atoms thick, so thin that it is invisible to the eye under ordinary light but thick enough to protect the faucet.
Stainless 304, also known as "food-grade" stainless, is by far the most common alloy used to make cookware, kitchen utensils, silverware, sinks and faucets.
Steel is much harder than brass. It can be made in thinner profiles that use less material and still have sufficient strength.
But, steel is not in the least anti-microbial and. Unlike brass, does nothing to help keep harmful organizms from building up inside the faucets.
(Always run racuet water at least three seconds before using to flush away any harmful organisms or materials.)
Brass
Brass is the traditional primary faucet material for two reasons:
- Brass is strong but easy to work with. It casts, forges, and machines with relative ease.
- Brass is naturally anti-microbial. The copper in brass kills bacteria, retarding the build-up of potentially hazardous microbes inside a faucet.
Brass has one serious health concern, however. Traditional brass contains metallic lead.
Ordinary (Alpha) brass is a blend of copper and zinc with a small amount of lead (1.5% - 3.5%) added to make the material more malleable, less brittle, and easier to fabricate.
Lead, however, is now all but banned in North America in any drinking water component due to its extreme toxicity to humans, particularly children.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), lead, even in small amounts, causes slowed growth, learning disorders, hearing loss, anemia, hyperactivity, and behavior issues.
Before 2014, a faucet sold in the U.S. or Canada could contain as much as 8% lead and still call itself lead-free.
Now the maximum lead content of those parts of a faucet that touch water is 0.25% (1/4 of 1%), basically just a bare trace. In fact, there may be more lead in the air you breathe than there is in a faucet that has been certified lead-free.
To comply with the restrictions on lead, today's faucet brass replaces lead with other additives to reduce brittleness without adding toxicity. The most common is bismuth.
Bismuth is similar to lead – right next to lead on the periodic table of elements – but it is not harmful to humans.
It is, however, very expensive. It is 300 times rarer than lead, even rarer than silver, which is why bismuth-brass alloys are considerably more expensive than leaded brass.
However, Even leaded brass is rapidly getting more expensive.
Brass is typically about 66% copper and the price of copper is rising exponentially as the number of electric vehicles increases.
Copper is an important material in electric vehicles. The typical EV uses up to four times more copper than regular gasoline or diesel vehicles. By some estimates as many as 50% of the vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 will be electric.
Just as the need for copper increases dramatically to combat global warming, the world's supply is decreasing.
The expected surplus of copper through 2024 has all but disappeared. In consequence, the price of copper has skyrocketed with no expectation of increased supplies in the near future.
This additional cost of brass in general and lead-free brass, in particular, has encouraged many faucet manufacturers, including those that produce LuLani faucets, to use substitute materials where possible.
Zinc & Zinc/Aluminum Alloys
The most common substitute metal is zinc or a zinc-aluminum (ZA) alloy. One of the most common is called ZAMAK, a composition containing 4% aluminum.
Zinc is not as strong as brass and does not resist water pressure as well as brass. However, its use in non-pressurized parts of a brass faucet such as handles, base and wall plates, and is common.
It does no harm when used in these unpressurized components and may save buyers a few dollars.
At the moment, LuLani bathroom faucets are still primarily of brass construction. But expect LuLani, along with most other faucet companies, to increase the use of zinc alloys to contain the rising cost of faucets.
Faucet Components
Lulani faucets include some of the best components available. Its faucets are equipped with ceramic cartridges that have been certified lead-free and drinking water safe to North American standards and the aerators installed in most of its faucets are from the Swiss company, Neoperl. Both of these components are crucial to long-term faucet performance.
How to Clean a Ceramic Valve Cartridge
If your faucet starts to drip after several years, the problem is most likely in the valve cartridge.
The cartridge is probably not defective. It is just clogged up with mineral deposits accumulated over the years from hard water.
To return it to full functionality, removing the deposits is all that is required.
Here is how that can be done:
- Remove the cartridge following the instructions in your faucet manual.
- Soak the cartridge for up to 30 minutes in a solution of 50% household vinegar and 40% water.
- While you are waiting, take a toothbrush soaked in the vinegar/water mixture and clean the cavity in the faucet that holds the cartridge. Wipe it dry with a clean cloth.
- Rinse the cartridge thoroughly in clean cold water.
- Lubricate the O-ring(s) and rubber washers with silicon plumbers grease
- Reinstall the cartridge.
If the mineral build up is substantial, you may have to do this more than once.
Lulani's ceramic cartridge suppliers include:
- Kerox Kft, a Hungarian technical ceramics company
- Kerox is recognized for its high-quality mixing cartridges used in single-handle faucets. All of Lulani's single-handle stainless steel faucets made by Nokite are equipped with Kerox cartridges.
- Kaiping Yizhan Valve Core Co., Ltd. supplies the stem cartridges used in Lulani's two-handle stainless steel faucets. Yizhan has a good reputation for quality and is used in several upscale faucet brands including . However, it is not yet recognized for having the robustness of better-known brands such as Kerox.
- Sedal S.L.U. is a technical ceramics company chartered in Spain but manufacturing in China at two facilities: Sedal Technical Ceramics in Jiangmen and Sedal Kaiping. its cartridges are considered solid, reliable performers that should give leak-free service for many years.
- Guangdong Hent Technology Co., Ltd. established in 1991 is one of the oldest of the Chinese technical ceramics companies.
- The company is an innovator in the ceramics industry and has been awarded numerous patents for improvement to ceramic technologies.
- Its state-of-the-art facility in Heshan City produces high quality cartridges used primarily in faucets made for domestic use in China,
- The cartridges have been tested and certified to all applicable European and North American standards and are increasingly installed in faucets destined for Western markets.
Kulani's mixing cartridges for single-handle faucets are not proprietary designs. They are based on the standard cartridge configurations developed in the 1980s by Galatron Plast S.p.a., an Italian technical ceramics company.
Standardization means that a cartridge is easy to replace in the unlikely event it ever fails. Most plumbing supply houses keep standard cartridges in stock. So. a quick trip to the local Ferguson (Wolseley in Canada) or Grainger store, cartridge in hand, restores faucet functionality in short order.
Faucet Aerators
Neoperl®, founded in 1959 in Reinach, Switzerland, supplies most of the aerators used in Kulani faucets. Faucet aerators used to be simple devices that merely infused a little air to soften the water stream so it would not splash out of the sink.
Today, however, aerators are high-technology precision-engineered products used to limit water volume to the lower flows required by federal and state water conservation laws, and in faucets with pull-out sprays, to prevent back-flow that could contaminate household drinking water.
It is important, therefore, that this little device, often smaller than a dime, be the best available. And that, almost by definition, is the Swiss-engineered Neoperl® aerator.
Faucet Finishes
Lulani offers a total of nine finishes on its faucets. Two of the finishes, chrome and brushed nickel, are . Matte Black is a . Brushed stainless steel is not an applied finish. It is the stainless material of the faucet buffed and brushed. The remaining finishes are (PVD) coatings.
Lulani Finishes
No Lulani faucet is available in all nine finishes.
A few, like the Ibiza can be ordered in every finish except stainless steel which is available only on stainless steel faucets.
Most faucets are limited to one, two, or three finishes. The finishes offered largely depend on the finishes the faucet's manufacturer is capable of providing.
The Ibiza faucet is also available in a . The handle and base can be given one finish and the spout and body another. Eight finishes choices are available which, when combined result in 56 split finish possibilities.
Electroplating
Electroplating is the old standard, having served the industry well for over 150 years.
Plating involves immersing the faucet and the metal to be used as the finish in an acid bath, then applying an electrical charge to both objects so metallic ions are drawn from the plating metal to the faucet.
The process is inherently dangerous, involving very corrosive acid solutions, and the resulting waste products are hazardous to the environment if not disposed of properly.
Powder Coating
Powder coating is considerably less burdensome to the environment. It does not involve toxic chemicals or produce hazardous waste.
Powder coating is the usual way in which faucets are given non-metallic or "painted" finishes. A colored powder similar in texture to baking flour is applied with a special low-velocity sprayer that gives the powder a positive electrical charge. The particles are drawn to the faucet which has a negative charge. The faucet is then baked in an oven which melts and bonds the powder and changes the structure of the coating into long, cross-linked molecular chains that give the coating its durability.
A powder coat is semi-durable. It does not bond to the underlying metal like metallic finishes which means it can chip if not handled carefully. It also requires more care in cleaning. A harsh cleaning solution can damage the finish.
Physical Vapor Deposition
PVD finishes are, by contrast, nearly indestructible. They are applied in a very thin layer in a vacuum chamber loaded with unfinished faucet parts. All the air is replaced with a carefully calculated mix of inert and reactive gases. A rod of the metal to be used for the coating is heated to a temperature so high that it dissolves into individual atoms creating a plasma that is bombarded onto the faucet parts.
Various finish colors and effects are created by varying the mix of reactive gases. PVD brass or gold can be created, for example, using a titanium alloy as the coating metal with nitrogen gas. Adding methane to the mix reddens the color, producing rose gold, and adding a little acetylene darkens the finish for old gold or antique brass.
The very dense PVD coating is very robust and bonded to the faucet at a molecular level, essentially becoming an integral part of the fabric of the faucet. It is very difficult to scratch. In abrasion tests, PVD finishes are regularly found to be 10 to 20 times more scratch-resistant than the old standard, electroplated chrome.
For more information on faucet finishes including the advantages and disadvantages of each method of application, see Faucet Basics, Part 5: Finishes and Coatings.
Lulani Website
The website, based on a Shopify template, is colorful and fairly simple to navigate although some selections will result in a lot of jiggling and jumping around before settling down to display the new content.
Faucets can be selected from the main menu by room (bathroom or kitchen) or by collection and can be filtered by finish and style from a menu on the left side of the page.
The filters are accurate. Selecting Gun Metal as a finish and Widespread as a style correctly produced just one faucet: the 8" widespread from the Corsica Collection. Sttel black combined with pull-down resulted in just the Nassau faucets, the only faucet that has those two featured in combination.
Once a faucet has been selected, the information provided on the site about the faucet is fulsome but not entirely complete and not sufficient for an intelligent buying decision.
The listing page displays the finishes in which the faucet is available, a brief description of the faucet, and what the company calls its "Highlights." More detailed information is included in downloadable .pdf documents. These include
- Specifications: Hard facts about the faucet such as the material from which the faucet is made, maximum flow rate, type of valve cartridge, aerator source, number of mounting holes required, spray type (kitchen faucets), and whether a drain is included (lavatory faucets only).
- Installation Instructions: A copy of the installation instuctions packed with the faucet. These are useful to your plumber to determine whether there may be any installation issues in the location you have planned for the faucet.
- Product Dimensions: A document containing a measured drawing of the faucet dimensioned in inches and millemeters. Detailed measurement are useful in determining whether the faucet will fit your sink and cabinets.
- Parts List: An exploded drawing of the faucet identifying all of its invidiual parts and components. Useful if you ever need to order a part.
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Lulani Website Faucet Specifications
Score: 75 out of 100
Grade: B+ (Good)
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|---|---|---|
| Specification | Specified | Score |
| ADA/ACA qualitied1 | ✓ | 5 |
| Aerator (manufacturer)5 | ✓ | 5 |
| Baseplate (included)2 | ✓ | 5 |
| Certifications | ✓ | 5 |
| Dimensions | ✓ | 5 |
| Drain (included)2 | ✓ | 5 |
| Finish chart6 | ✓ | 3 |
| Flow rate (maximum) | ✓ | 5 |
| Images (multiple or 360° view) | ✓ | 5 |
| Installation instructions | ✓ | 5 |
| Material, primary (brass, stainless, etc.) | ✓ | 5 |
| Material, secondary (zinc, plastic etc.) | - | |
| Mounting holes (number) | ✓ | 5 |
| Parts diagram | ✓ | 5 |
| Spray head material2 | - | |
| Spray hose material2 | - | |
| Supply hoses (included)4 | ✓ | 5 |
| Supply hoses manufacturer2 | - | |
| Supply hoses material2 | - | |
| Valve/cartridge (type) | ✓ | 5 |
| Valve/cartridge manufacturer5 | ✓ | 5 |
| Warranty link | ✓ | 5 |
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1. Suitable for use by persons with disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Accessible Canada Act.
2. If applicable.
3. Bases are included with some faucets, but also available separately.
4. Supply hoses are included.
5. Kitchen faucets only.
6. Finishes are illustrated, but not in chart form.
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Not every faucet listing includes all four links to supporting documents. Installation Instructions seem to be universal as is a link to the faucet warranty, but some listings do not link to Specifications, and some have no Parts List.
Lulani makes visualizing the faucet very easy by providing several (usually a ozen or more) static images of the faucet, including images of the faucet installed in various settings, a 360° rotating view of many of the faucets, and sometimes a short video.
The website has a few mysteries. One is Lulani's Spot Defense finish. Several faucets show Spot Defense as a finish option, but exactly what it is, what it does, and the benefit to the customer of having a Spot Protect finish are nowhere explained.
We suspect it is a hydrophobic coating that sheds water but its secifics are unclear. Most probably it is an oxide polystyrene composite that repels water due to its particular surface structure. Because water cannot stick to the surface, the coating eliminates water spots.A short explantion in Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) would do a lot to resolve the mystery or, better yet, a brief tooltip that appears when the mounse rolls over the term, similar to the items on this page.
Faucet Warranty
The Lulani warranty guarantees all parts of a faucet except electronics and supply lines against leaks and defects in material and workmanship for as long
"... as the original consumer purchaser owns the product and lives in the residence in which the product is first installed ..."
Our warranty panel classified the warranty as substantially equivalent to the standard North American limited lifetime faucet warranty.
We found just one problem with the warranty. This language is inappropriate and could be considered deceptive:
"... Except as provided by law, this warranty is in lieu of and excludes all other warranties, conditions and guarantees, whether expressed or implied, statutory or otherwise, including without restriction those of merchantability or of fitness for a particular purpose.
For some reason, lawyers love to include this or similar language in warranties even though the claimed exclusion of implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose is prohibited by the federal law that sets the rules for consumer warranties, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. § 2301).
The underlying principal of the Act is that company warranties are a supplement to, not a replacement of, state law implied warranties. A company that provides a written warranty cannot exclude or modify implied warranties (15 U.W.C. &§ 2308) So, this language is at most a bluff, hoping to convince readers that no other warranties are available.
Buying Rule for
Smart Faucet Buyers
Warranty
Never buy a faucet unless you have read and understand the faucet's warranty. It tells you more than the company wants you to know about management's real opinion about the durability and life expectancy of the faucets it sells.
Learn how to read and interpret faucet warranties at Faucet Basics, Part 6: Understanding Faucet Waruranties.
We don't beleive that Lulani is being deliberately deceptive. No doubt whoever wrote the warranty saw the provision in some other warranty and copied it, unaware that it is prohibited.
But, under Magnuson-Moss, deliberate deception is not required to incur liability. It is sufficient that the company has not taken "reasonable care to make the warranty not misleading." (15 U.S. Code § 2310(c)(2)) The very presence of his language in the LuLani warranty shows a lack of reasonable care.
In any lawsuit, LuLani's liability could well include punitive or exemplary damages for deception that would far exceed any actual damages.
Electronics are guaranteed for five years. This is a generous electronics warranty. Most companies guarantee electronics for three years at most.
Customer Service
Customer service is provided by Tanfel, Inc. It is very competent and responsive. However, product knowledge is a little weak which is to be expected of agents whose primary focus is on the custom metal components made by Tanfel.
We did not run our usual customer service tests on Tanfel. They don't always work with very small companies. Agents quickly realize they are being tested. However, we did ask difficult questions and posed typical problem situations, all of which were handled well and with dispatch.
Testing & Certification
For more information on how federal, state, and local laws and regulations work to keep unsafe and unreliable faucets out of your home, see Faucet Basics, Part 3: Keeping Faucets Safe & Reliable.
Comparable Faucets
Faucets made in Asia comparable to Lulani in quality and strength of warranty but not necessarily comparable for design or price, include
Testing & Conclusions
This is a company that has done everything right. It selected its suppliers for the quality of their products, includes good to very good ceramic cartridges, provides a wide selection of finishes, and prices the faucets competitively.
The components used in the faucets are very good, equal to those used in faucets costing up to twice the price. We believe the faucets to be a very good value for the price and well worth consideration for even a primary faucet in a busy kitchen or main bathroom.
the company website is well-designed and includes most of the information needed for an informed faucet-buying decision (and all of the really critical information). Its warranty is etensive and customer service is responsive and effective.
Our rating panel was unanimous in its favorable judgement of the company and its products. All would buy the faucets for their own kitchen or bathroom "without hesitation."
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Lulani faucets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please e-mail us at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com, text 402-871-5301, or post a comment below.
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The newer faucet construction method, and almost certainly the wave of the future, is called "core and shell". The water channel is provided by the core components, typically consisting of copper or composite tubes that are guaranteed to be lead-free. This core is then concealed inside the decorative outer shell that provides the faucet's shape and style. Because it never touches water, the shell can be made of leaded brass, and because it is not subject to water pressure, it does not need to be structural and can be made of much thinner material.
The technology is actually not all that new. Wall-mounted faucets have always been core and shell. The core (usually called the "valve") is mounted in the wall and the shell (called the "trim") conceals the core. What's new is that the technique is now being applied to faucets other than wall-mounts, and the core, rather than being brass is some other lead-free metal, usually copper or a zinc alloy, and some companies are experimenting with composite cores, eliminating metal entirely.
faucets are already all core and shell construction with a zinc alloy shell.