Finding a comfortable bath

[littlemisscookie]

Hello :) I haven't had a decent comfortable bath since I moved into my "new" home four years ago!

The current bath was put in brand new by the developer but it's too long for me (1700mm) and the back is quite steep so I can't lie back and relax. I'm always sliding down because I struggle to reach the end. The edges are quite rounded so it sort of squashes your shoulders too.

We've booked to have the bathroom renovated soon but I'm not sure what I should be looking for in a comfy bath. We're going down to 1600mm which I think will be a better length, but I have no idea what sort of shape or slope we should be looking at for the bit where your back goes. The bathroom websites don't seem to give measurements or angles for this part of the bath. I've been around the bathroom shops sitting in the baths like a wally but most of the ones in the showroom are 1700-1800mm so hard to get an idea of how it will really feel in a 1600.

We're getting a regular bath rather than a fancy free standing one. Also my old bath was steel & enamel which I loved (although the water did get cold fast). This current bath is acrylic which I find harder to clean but it's probably just a cheap bath so I'd go acrylic again if it was better quality.

Has anyone had a new bath recently that they would recommend? Or any suggestions of what to look for from your experience? Thank you!

You do want quite a high gradient slope to be comfy IME, nothing too upright. If you look at the measurement for the base of the bath, then the measurement for the top length of the bath, the difference between the two should give you an idea of the slope.

I share your disappointment about modern baths. I loved our old pampas coloured cast iron bath, Imperial sized and a perfect fit for me, lovely comfy slope to lie back against and read.

Since then we've installed 3 white acrylic baths, and haven't been happy with any of them. Just like you 1700 is too long for me and I have to keep a leg stretched out so I don't slide right down, and the steep slope is really uncomfortable and my neck ends up bent at 90 degrees if I want to relax back. I hate baths now.

We only finished doing up our house 6 months ago and already we know it has to be changed. We plan to install a traditional shaped Bette steel bath (Bette have a good reputation and are often used in hotels), and I will sit in however many it takes to find a comfy one. Something like this: www.bette.de/en/produkte/produktfinder/badewannen/detail?p=Classic

I now have a 1500 steel bath and love it - i'm 5'7" and can sit up comfortably with legs straight and feet against the end or lie with back flat and knees up

I was lucky to find one in a showroom to try

Even better it was about £100!

Just googled and it was Kaldewei

We installed the biggest double-ended bath we could fit in the space we had. 1800x80 IIRC. I sat in it in the showroom, found it comfortable and loved it.

Mistake. If I lean back when it is full of water I slide down the steep slope and my legs float away. I suspect that the only way to lean back is in a short bath where you can brace your feet against the other end.

But I prefer to soak lying down, and it is long enough for me to lie down comfortably. And it is wide enough for both wide-shouldered dh and plump-hipped me to feel comfortable. And the steep, square ends gave plenty of space when we bathed 3 dc at once. Now that those days are gone, the bath is also very comfortable when two adults share it .