Are free standing baths a nuisance to clean around / under ?

[GrendelsMum]

I love the look of free standing baths, but my brain tells me that it's just a greater area to clean and vacuum under, and that it's probably rather difficult to get the vacuum fully under the bath. So I feel I should have a boxed in bath and try and make it look glam.

Am I right? Go on, do be honest!

We have a free standing bath (roll top one on "claw" feet IISWIM) and its no problem to hoover and mop under.

We have a cylinder Dyson so the pipe/hose and attachment reach under it without a problem.

Just thought though, ours is in the middle of the room so not against a wall which may make it easier as I can access it from both sides.

I think they look lovely and lots of people comment on it.

We have one in our rented apartment. It's difficult as it is right up against the wall (length wise) and against the bathroom window. It is the width of the room. So it's very difficult to clean, I forget about the window side.

If you had a big bathroom with the length of the bath into the middle of the room and the short side against the wall, this would be much easier.

I would love one, because I am so sick of scrubbing all the grout on the two sides of the attached one that I have, especially while pregnant. One good mildew attack and it has never looked the same. Plus I hate the smell of the chemicals. Oh for something I could just hoover and mop around and under.
Keep it away from the wall a bit so it's easy to get at.

Not difficult at all if you only clean the bits you can see

Thanks very much ladies! Much appreciated indeed. I take your point of the grout by the bath.

Hi again GrendelsMum. We have one, against one wall, and it's very difficult to clean under - it's not high enough from the floor to be able to get underneath it properly, the waste pipe gets in the way, argggh. I am looking forward to a boxed in bath in our new house!

Oh, I should say though, that it's a lovely deep old bath and I do get a fantastic soak in it!

yes they are. It's also a nuisance when your toddler thinks it's a great idea to chuck toys over the side of the bath against the wall, which you then have to hoik out with a broom!

We have just 'unboxed' ours to unveil a lovely original bath with feet and it's great! Much nicer than the nasty plastic-wallpapered plywood which was there before.

Makes the bathroom look a lot bigger, and does actually increase the floor space by quite a bit.

Yes it's a bit of a pain to reach under and clean as it's against the wall, but I use the hoover attachments to get underneath and don't worry overmuch about the bits you can't easily see...

So the verdict is they're great if there's enough room to get vacuum / mop properly under them and round the back?

Back to the design software for my new bathroom, I think!