How To Paint a Bath and Give Your Bathroom the Wow Factor

A bit like kitchens, bathrooms can be extremely pricey to update or completely renovate, so why not paint a bath for a quick refresh?

Most bathtubs come in white, so painting your bathtub any colour you wish, will give you a unique design in the bathroom. 

how to paint a bath and update your bathroom Pinterest pin

When we renovated our house, we completely gutted our bathroom and started again.

The bath was leaking, there were holes in the walls to the point where you could see through to the outside world and a lot of the tiles were either chipped or falling off.

estate agent picture of our bathroom with white and blue mosaic tiles, a bath and sink and toilet with wooden seast
From this…
bathroom renovation with mosaic floor tiles, stand alone bath tub, metro tiles, grey walls and grey vanity cabinet
To this! Our bathroom renovation before I decided to paint a bath

Read More on Our Bathroom Renovation >>>

Our Complete Bathroom Renovation with Costs and Measurements

I had a huge bathroom board on Pinterest when we started looking for ideas for the renovation.

They all consisted of monochrome bathrooms with a white suite, a different coloured sink unit and monochrome tiled floors.

I’d never really given much thought as to how I wanted the walls, other than subway tiles to keep it watertight.

Don’t get me wrong, I love our bathroom but I started wishing I’d injected a bit more colour in there.

Painted Roll Top Bath Inspiration

I started seeing all these wonderfully painted roll top baths on Instagram and knew that’s what I needed to do!

It would help to keep the costs down but totally transform our bathroom.

A yellow bath tub with metro tiles and patterned flooring in the bathroom
One of my favourite colourful baths on the gram! Instagram: @the_idle_hands
Pink bath tub with wallpapered walls, dark blue panelling and tiled flooring in the bathroom
Katie showing us how to have a pretty perfect bathroom! Instagram: @comedowntothewoods
black bath tube with dark blue walls, white stone flooring and sash windows in the bathroom
Ultra stylish black bath. Instagram: @styletheclutter
Pink bath tub with black panelling and monochrome patterned tiles in the bathroom
The perfect shade of pink. Instagram: @faulk.house2home

How to paint a bath

If you want to repaint a bathtub, it’s quite simple to do.

Acrylic and cast iron baths can easily be painted over, as long as you prepare them properly. 

Best paint for a bath

Choosing the correct paint is key to having a good finish on your bath.

Acrylic polymer paints are the best options for an acrylic bath and for a cast iron tub, make sure it is suitable for metal.

Starting with an oil-based primer and paint will work on most types of baths. 

What you will need

  • Paint sheets or old newspapers

  • Clean sponges or cloths

  • Sugar soap or normal soap

  • Masking Tape or Frog Tape

  • Quality Paint Brush/Roller

  • Rough and Fine Sandpaper

  • Surface primer

  • Bath enamel Paint!

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Preparation

First of all, give your bath a good clean and scrub!

Give the area of the bath you are painting a good scrub, making sure it is clean.

I used sugar soap as it prepares surfaces and cleans off grease and grime.

Not that my bath is particularly dirty, but I have small children who like to use bath crayons!

Once you are happy it is clean, make sure it is completely dry.

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Before you begin to paint a bath, prepare!

Prepare the rest of the bathroom by laying down paint sheets or old newspapers around and under the bath where you will be painting. You don’t want to get paint on your expensive tiled flooring or vinyl do you?

As our bath has claw feet, I made sure I wrapped tape around the feet and also put tape around the edge of the roll-top tub (as I’m definitely a messy painter!)

white roll top bath with feet wrapped in plastic
Dust sheets and frog tape wrapped around the feet.

Give it a good sand

Sand down the outside of the bath where you will be painting.

To give the smooth outside of the bath a rough surface so the primer can adhere to it, sand down the bath using rough sandpaper.

This will also help the paint to take hold. I used Diall Hand Sanding Sheets, 1 x 120 grit and 1 x 40 grit.

white roll top bath with sanding paper

Clean again!

Once you have finished sanding down the bath and you are happy that it is rough enough to the touch, give the bath a clean again with either warm water or sugar soap.

Make sure that the bath is dry once it is clean and that all sanding residue has been cleared.

Prime the bath ready to be painted

Apply a good primer (I used Rust-oleum Surface Primer in grey so I could see where I had sprayed the primer), by either spraying it or using a brush or roller evenly over the bath.

This will help to fill in minor irregularities and give you a smoother paint finish.

You can apply the primer a few times until you are happy with the result, making sure the layer is dry before you apply it again.

rust-oleum surface primer
Rust-oleum surface primer in grey
primer on a roll top bath
The first layer going on.

Get ready to paint!

Once you are happy with the primer finish and it is completely dry, you can start to repaint a bathtub.

Make sure you choose an acrylic polymer paint so that it sticks to the tub and it is best to use either a spray painter or a small paint roller to give it an even finish.

My bath tub was always going to be pink so I went with Dulux Burnt Autumn 5.

paint roller and pink paint

pink paint on a roll top bath
First coat going on.

Apply a few more layers

Leave the first application of paint to dry and then give it a very light sanding to make sure the paint is smooth.

If you have applied the paint with a paintbrush, make sure there are no streaks. It is a good idea to do the top coat with a roller as this leaves a better finish.

Apply the paint again and repeat this process until you are happy with the finish, but do not sandpaper the final application.

pink bath being painted

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Never use the bath again and just admire its beauty!

Haha, only kidding.

Do not use the bath for around 48 hours whilst you wait for the paint to set and dry out completely.

You can, however, stand back and admire your new bathtub in all its glory and plan how to accessorise to make the most of the new colour.

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When I spoke to a few paint manufacturers, they didn’t want to recommend their paint 100% as acrylic is not really meant for painting on.

But I think this is only because they can’t guarantee a perfect finish. As long as you know that your bathtub will not be completely flawless, then go for it.

I’m so glad I did mine and I am incredibly pleased with the results. It would have cost me several hundred pounds to buy a new tub, not to mention the plumbing in costs, so I think this is money very well spent!

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pink painted roll top bath

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If you repaint a bathtub yourself, don’t forget to tag me if you put it on Instagram!

Mel x

More on Bathrooms >>>

10 Creative Ways to Use Tiles in Your Bathroom

10 Ways to Makeover Your Bathroom on a Budget

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how to paint a bath for a quick refresh Pinterest pin

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16 Comments

  1. Claire
    29/03/2020 / 8:21 pm

    Hi Mel, where was your bath from? I like the acrylic, roll top that can go against a wall without the weight of cast iron! X

    • Melanie Boyden
      01/05/2020 / 11:50 am

      Hi Claire
      I got this bath from bath store, the space is really small so it was perfect !

  2. Amrit Purba
    03/05/2020 / 6:41 am

    Hi Mel, what colour is the paint on your wall and sink unit?

    • Melanie Boyden
      05/05/2020 / 2:49 pm

      Hello

      The sink unit came like that, it’s from Bath Store. The colour on the bathroom wall is Warm Pewter by Dulux UK

  3. Andreea
    05/10/2020 / 11:40 pm

    Hi Melanie,

    I love your bathroom design. I am inspired for my new house. Can you please tell me what are the measurements os your bathroom?
    Would like to fit, same as you, a tub and a quadrant shower.

    Thanks

    • Melanie Boyden
      06/10/2020 / 2:18 pm

      Hi Andreea

      My bathroom is 1.8m x 2.3m. I would definitely have a smaller sink in the bathroom if I were to do it again as it’s quite a squeeze!

      Mel 🙂

  4. Katie
    24/01/2021 / 6:53 pm

    Hello!
    Love this and thank you for the tips on how to do it.
    Can I be cheeky and ask where your lovely floor tiles are from? I’ve been trawling for something just like them but haven’t had any luck.
    Thank you!

  5. Charlie
    13/02/2021 / 4:58 pm

    Hiya. I found your bathroom on Instagram and am obsessed. I’ve been resigned to having to have a shower over bath but seeing yours I’m thinking it’s now doable to have both.
    Where’s your shower from and do you know the dimensions of it?

    • Melanie Boyden
      15/02/2021 / 12:51 pm

      Hello. Our bathroom is 2.3m x 1.8m so pretty small. The shower is the smallest available from Bath Store, the 800mm shower quadrant and I’ll be honest with you, we very rarely use it. I find it too small and claustrophobic so use our larger one downstairs. If I was to design our bathroom again, I would have had a much smaller sink to fit in a bigger shower or had the shower over the bath. Hope this helps.

  6. sophie king
    28/02/2021 / 12:51 pm

    What paint did u use for the bath and tiles please

    • Melanie Boyden
      03/03/2021 / 10:22 am

      The paint is Dulux bathroom paint called Dulux Burnt Autumn 5. The tiles are from Topps Tiles and they are called Thornbury

  7. Michala
    02/10/2021 / 6:04 pm

    I follow you on Instagram and love your bathroom so much! Can I please ask what pink paint you chose for your bath ? About to paint mine and am bamboozled by the sheer amount of pink paint out there so would love to know yours!
    Thanks so much x

      • MICHALA
        03/11/2021 / 4:51 pm

        Thank you ever so much! I’ve also saved your to do on how to paint it ready for when I do it. Current bath is navy blue Can I ask another question? Where did you get your beautifully rustic bath board? Xx

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