Panelling in the bathroom. Is it hard to keep clean?

[Peasnotomatoes]

We are about to refurbish the bathroom. I'd quite like panelling on the walls like the picture.

DH likes it but wonders if the ridges will collect dirt. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Any ridge will collect dirt, but the brush attachment on a vacuum is your friend hear. Maybe a car detailing brush too.

I would make sure that the design of the room enables you to access all of the panelling easily (don't ask me why I know this), and to use washable paint so that a damp cloth over it won't be detrimental in the long term. Make sure all the wood is primed properly, and if you can, spray the paint for a factory looking finish. This will require the rest of the room to be masked, but boy is it worth it when you see the finish.

Years ago we had tongue and groove panelling in our bathroom. It looked lovely but it was terrible to keep clean and dust free.

Thank you both. I guess DH was right. I do like the suggestion of spraying the paint, thank you @HappiestSleeping

In fact our freestanding bath would obstruct quite a bit of the panelling so maybe I need to think again...

Ah, you don't need to ask me how I know 🤣

Our freestanding bath is also a pain to clean behind. We only have tiles, but the bath doesn't have much room around it, and also have curved corners which are a dust trap and a nightmare to reach. Car detailing suppliers do some amazing brushes with odd shapes to reach into such places. I use them a lot on the house.

One other thought. If you are handy with DIY you could make some fake tongue and groove panels with MDF. In this way you could space out the grooves, or even have plain panels in areas that are hard to reach, but giving you the effect you want where it is more visible.

This youtube video will show what I mean, although it isn't necessarily the best example of how to undertake the task. It will give you the general idea and you can adapt it.

If you don't have a router, then maybe you can kill two birds with one stone and ask for one for Christmas? They are sooooo useful.

If you do go this route, use Medite Moisture Resistant (MR) MDF. It costs a little more, but is way better quality than you can get in most big box stores, it takes paint really easily, and is suitable for a bathroom.

God yes. I regret ours so much. Grubby, hard to clean and to put Tim hat on it. We managed to get silver fish behind it!
Don't don't do it!

Oh nooooo! I had my heart set on it. It looks so pretty!! What to do instead. Just tiles?