Reviving enamel cast-iron bath

[mangocrazy]

I'm having a running battle with the OH regarding our bath. It's an old cast iron enamelled job, and I think it's just fine as it is. SWMBO differs, and thinks that it either needs replacing or renovating in some way. The enamel surface has dulled, mainly I suspect due to SWMBO's regular use of aggressive bath cleaners (another thing we have arguments about)...

Are there any viable ways of reviving a bath of this type 'in situ' (I'm not optimistic, I have to say), or am I destined to be fighting border skirmishes ad infinitum...?

 

[brightspark]

the old cast iron baths were proper glass stove enamel .once the tops off it thats it u can send them off and get them re enameled but it wouldnt be worth it

 

[julianf]

We were going to buy a victorian one... I looked into it at the time.

You can get them sprayed with 'stuff' but its not enamel. Enamel is (as im sure you know) an oven job, and hence, fairly big money.

If its just a dull finish, rather than through to the metal, i *think* they can be polished. If it were me, id be tempted to do a diy job, after testing on somthing else.

I knackered our old bath (which was comming out anyhow) by using harpic style lime scale removers (ie acids) in it (to clean other stuff - not to clean the bath)

It did such a good job of wrecking the enamel (this was a cast bath from about the 70s) that id be real cautious about using anything acid based in the future - enamel is not anywhere close to as tough as i thought!

 

[brightspark]

try these https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=g...rome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#q=enamel+bath+cleaner

 

[SmartWerks]

http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,39009.0.html

the end result looks good too?

 

[mangocrazy]

Cheers, chaps. On looking closer, it looks as if the surface has been breached in some places, but not all over. When wiping it down, the flannel drags on those parts and slides on the bits where the surface is good. Would something like a good T-cut followed by coating with lacquer work, perhaps? Haven't checked all the links above yet, so apologies if I'm not quite up to speed.

 

[julianf]

That's what my acid bath went like - there was some smooth and shiny, and some that was just like real fine grade wet and dry - white still, so nowhere close to down to the metal, but just rough.

I figured it could be polished up, but i never tried, as it met with a sledge hammer instead...

 

[Gareth0123]

4 & 1/2 years ago, 'er-indoors refurbished our cast iron bath with a kit bought from our local hardware shop . She did a pukka job over two days, with two more days to fully dry and harden, and almost 5 years on it still looks good.

 

[mangocrazy]

Excellent - I think I'm going to give it a proper clean and then try polishing it, but the Tubby bath kit is the ace in the hole. Better yet, SWMBO has pledged to do it herself - winner! (Although this does mean that I have to be on hand to supervise, and there will probably be an argument about the colour...)

 

[blenkie1]

We had someone come out to spray ours. Did a good job but 15 years later and its starting to peel

 

[Robotstar5]

We had someone come out to spray ours. Did a good job but 15 years later and its starting to peel

Well get them back and complain