Anyone got advice on baths? Steel vs Acrylic.

[GoodSouls]

In the process of doing our bathroom and I can't decide between steel or acyllic, most of the baths available now are acyllic but they seem so flimsy, and I'm not sure they will hold the heat but then steel baths are so cold to touch.

Has anyone got any advice please!!?? Have also seen the Vitale range in homebase which are acyllic with a special coating to strengthen and retain heat, has anyone got one of those?

standard acrylic is fine if correctly installed and supported.

We got a steel one. I love it - feels so solid and retains the heat like you wouldn't believe.

We have two baths, one is steel enamel(Kaldewei Puro) and one reinforced acrylic (ClearGreen Verde)

Everyone said steel feels colder, but I have never noticed a difference between our two. They both feel very sturdy and nice to sit in. The only difference I have noticed so far (after about a year) is that the acrylic one seems to have marked a bit more - but then that's the one with the kids in every day, so might just be that.

Pressed steel is OK, it's the old cast iron ones that suck the heat out of the bathwater. They are hardwearing.

You can get at least two grades of plastic bath, the thicker one is sturdier. I have heard of plastic baths cracking, but have never seen it. I have however often seen them chipped where a thoughtless person allows tiles or plaster to fall in them when decorating, and they will scratch if you put anything other than a human body in them. They are less rigid, so as well as the supporting cradle, you need to firmly support the side and ends to the wall. Brackets or clips should be supplied.

You can get an extra-thick reinforced plastic bath from a couple of top makers, Carron call theirs "Carronite". It is rather expensive. Carron baths are also available in a wider range of lengths, which may be useful if you have an older bathroom. I don't know Vitale, perhaps it is similar.

IMO the plastic is more likely to be slippery than enamelled steel.

Handles are very useful.

Our acrylic bath is unbelievably marked and stained :( I suspect it's because I used a bathroom cleaning cloth with a scouring side and its scratched the acrylic - I didn't know any better at the time.

Steel every time for me now!

we bought a 6 foot long hotel bath - heavy duty acrylic - love it.