Help me clean my bathtub

November 29, 2023 12:40 PM

My house came with a weird gray plastic bathtub with a partially damaged surface, and it looks gross. No matter what I do to clean it, it looks stained and dirty. Eventually we'll replace it, but in the meantime, it would be nice to be able to make it look a little bit less disgusting. Any ideas?

I don't know how this happened, since it was like this when we bought the house. I am also curious about how it might have happened, if you have any idea.

Bonus points if you have cleaning recommendations that are less toxic, or methods that would smooth the surface in addition to lessening the staining.

nb: I have tried Comet with bleach, to no effect.

posted by dizziest to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Guessing it's acrylic? Supposedly you can sand it and apply filler and then paint if you get the appropriate stuff for the job. It looks like maybe someone tried to clean it with something very not appropriate that ate into the surface.

https://www.housebeautiful.com/home-remodeling/diy-projects/a41613516/how-to-refinish-bathtub/
posted by Rhedyn at 12:52 PM on November 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It looks like someone has used a chemical to clean the bath that has dissolved the surface. Based on your photos, I don't think there's any hope of cleaning that surface and getting it back to anything decent. Apart from replacing the bath, I think your only option is to refinish it. You'll need to sand and possibly fill the damage to the surface, beyond the normal refinishing process. If this is to be a stop-gap fix, you could perhaps cheap out by sanding and spraying the bath with aerosol paint, but that could get very messy. Brush-painting could be an option, but the surface won't be great. It might look better from the bathroom door, though and would at least look clean.
posted by dg at 3:01 PM on November 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Find a bathtub resurfacer in your area. It will probably cost a few hundred but you will get your tub looking brand new, in your choice of color, and with no demolition mess.
posted by azpenguin at 3:02 PM on November 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

You could consider using a bathtub liner until you are ready to replace. They are cheap and fit right into your existing tub.
posted by sonofsnark at 3:48 PM on November 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

I agree that the surface looks etched. If I were planning on replacing the tub, and the etching is on the floor, I would just get a non-slip bathtub mat that seems nice.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:10 PM on November 29, 2023

Best answer: My kitchen sink is corian and was badly stained when I bought the condo. The sink is molded into the counter and would be hard to replace. On a whim, I bought a corian refinishing kit and it worked. It also required so much work from me. Essentially, it is a set of descending grits and you have to work through each before going to the next. The result is perfect and has held up for some years.
posted by tmdonahue at 5:33 AM on November 30, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks, all! You're all correct that the surface is definitely etched; I was hoping that a cleaning product could fix the discoloration and make it less noticeable, but it sounds like that was a pipe dream. I'm glad to learn it can be refinished, and also appreciate knowing how much work that would be--I'll definitely hire professionals, when the budget allows.
posted by dizziest at 6:06 AM on December 8, 2023