When you Paint Porcelain Cast Iron Bathtubs

When you decide that you want to re-do your bathroom's color scheme you usually have two choices: choose colors that will compliment your current bathtub color or get a new bathtub in a new color that matches the color scheme you are going for. This is the case in most homes because today most homes have acrylic or plastic bathtubs that are not easily painted or primed. If you have an old fashioned bathtub however, like a clawfoot cast iron tub, you can simply repaint the tub to match the rest of the bathroom. This is just one of the reasons that porcelain cast iron bathtubs are popular.

If you want to repaint or refinish your porcelain cast iron bathtubs, you need to do your homework first. There is more to changing the color of a cast iron bathtub than simply slopping on some new paint. You will need to completely refinish the cast iron base to get the "new finish" look that you desire. Read up on how to do this before you get started so that you can be prepared for the project.

Believe it or not, for most home owners, the easiest way to handle a do it yourself cast iron bathtub refinishing project is to remove the cast iron bathtub from the bathroom and take it down to the garage or even out into the yard if it is sunny. Having the tub freed up from the room around it will help you maneuver more freely (and it is better for your lungs, since some of the materials you will be using are not safe to inhale). Do not try to move the porcelain cast iron bathtub yourself as, even as a cast iron base, it will way well over three hundred pounds. Get some friends to help you move it out of the bathroom and then back in to the bathroom once it is done.

Before you start painting clean the tub thoroughly and make sure that any nicks, scratches, abrasions, etc. are sanded down and/or smoothed out with filler. Get rid of any extra caulking that might have been done. Uninstall the drain and the stopper to keep them in good condition. If you decide to leave the tub in the bathroom, make sure all of the rest of the surfaces in your bathroom are covered. Open all of the windows and turn on the fan. You want as much air to flow through the room as possible.

Take your time. Be thorough. Fill the scratches, sand down the abrasions; make your small cast iron bathtubs look new again before you put on the new paint. Once the paint has been applied give it enough time to dry. You want to let the tub sit for at least two full days (forty eight hours) before you attempt to use it for a bath or a shower again. Using it as a tub or a shower too soon can completely ruin all of the hard work that you put in to refinishing your cast iron base!