Plumbing fixtures made from modern acrylic are becoming increasingly popular and are installed in most cases during major renovations in an apartment. Bathtubs made of acrylic are lightweight, excellent in appearance, and easy to install. The variety of shapes allows you to install an acrylic bathtub in a room of any style and size.
The only difficulty that arises after installing acrylic bathtubs is maintenance, which requires compliance with certain rules. We could treat chemical-resistant cast iron and enamel with any means at hand, including harsh abrasive powders and bleaches.
This is detrimental to acrylic; even one incorrect treatment will lead to damage to the outer coating.
Therefore, before you start caring for your acrylic bathtub, you need to know exactly what will not harm it.
What care is not allowed for acrylic bathtubs
Lightweight acrylic bathtubs are made from a special polymer material - sanitary acrylic. This material is particularly durable, has high thermal insulation properties, and is resistant to corrosion. Most bathtubs are made from sanitary acrylic, which prevents the proliferation of fungal spores, which is important when using plumbing fixtures in wet bathrooms.
However, despite the many advantages of acrylic bathtubs, they also have some disadvantages that affect the complexity of care:
- The acrylic surface is easily scratched.
- Long-term contact with boiling water causes the bathtub surface to change color.
- The coating is easily damaged by contact with chemicals.
- With long-term use, the bathtub becomes covered with small cracks, but this drawback can be corrected on your own.
Based on the listed disadvantages of acrylic bathtubs, we can draw the right conclusion about what means and methods are unacceptable to use when starting to care for plumbing:
- Hard and metal sponges cannot be used to clean the surface.
- Do not use abrasive cleaning agents, solutions containing acid, chlorine, alcohol.
- Do not use boiling water during cleaning, only cool or warm water.
Manufacturers do not recommend soaking linen for a long time in acrylic bathtubs; you cannot bathe animals in them, since scratches on the surface cannot be avoided in this case.
The appearance of the installed plumbing will please you for months and years if you do not use aggressive chemicals.
Acrylic bathtub care rules
You do not need to think that an acrylic bathtub will require a lot of time for care. If you follow a few rules, then periodic cleaning of the plumbing will take only a few minutes.
- After each water procedure, the bathtub should be rinsed with clean water. Acrylic, unlike enamel, does not absorb dirt and therefore simple rinsing in most cases is enough to make your bathtub look decent.
- It is also not reasonable to clean the plumbing polymer often; it is believed that a general cleaning of the surface is best done no more than once every two weeks.
- Purchasing special products for treating acrylic plumbing will prevent damage to the coating and help you cope with cleaning in a few minutes.
- In order for the applied solution to clean off all dirt stains, you need to apply it and leave for 15-30 minutes, then rinse off.
- If you are not sure that the solution you purchased is suitable for a new bathtub, then you need to test it first. To do this, apply a small amount of the product to the most inconspicuous area of the bath and evaluate the result after a few hours. If the coating has not changed its appearance, and the dirt has come off, then the product you purchased is suitable for processing.
- After cleaning and rinsing the bathtub with water, the surface should be thoroughly wiped with a soft cloth. This will get rid of streaks and give the bath extra shine.
During care, do not forget that acrylic does not like sudden temperature changes, so it is best to use warm water.
Stages of proper bath cleaning
As you know, plaque on the surface of a bathtub can vary. Regular plaque is accumulated dirt formed by residues of cleaning products, skin epithelium, and dust. Limescale deposits occur on bathtubs when there is hard water in the pipes. Rust appears less often, but you also need to be able to deal with it using safe means.
The stages of cleaning a dirty bathtub usually consist of applying the solution, letting it sit and rinsing off. This is enough to make the surface of the plumbing fixtures shine like new again. You can choose from cleaning products:
- A liquid solution used for washing dishes.
- Special solutions - “SanClean”, “Triton”, “Pani Vanna”, Akrilan, Sarma, Cif.These products are first applied to a napkin and only then distributed over the surface of the bath.
- As a last resort, washing powder is also used to clean acrylic, but only in gel form.
All products are applied for 15-20 minutes, during which time the dirt particles soften and move away. Then the bath is washed and dried with a napkin.
If limescale deposits form on the surface, you need to act in other ways. One of the simplest and safest is the use of citric acid.
- The bath needs to be filled with water, its temperature should be within 25 degrees.
- You need to add 1.5-2 liters of a 7% solution of vinegar or citric acid to the water.
- The water in the bath should be thoroughly mixed and left for half a day.
- After soaking, the water is simply drained, the surface is rinsed and wiped.
You can resort to such a procedure once or twice a year, and then extensive plaque deposits, the removal of which would require an aggressive agent, will not appear. Using citric acid will also help remove yellow rust stains.
If your bathtub has a hydromassage system, then it is necessary to periodically clean it. To do this, water is drawn into the bathtub, a special disinfectant solution is poured in, and the hydromassage is turned on for a few minutes. This type of care should be carried out once a month.
When cleaning bathtubs, do not forget about your own safety. You should always wear gloves on your hands, and open windows during cleaning will ensure the least negative impact of chemicals on the respiratory tract.
We fix minor defects
During the operation of an acrylic bathtub, if care is not taken care of, small scratches and cracks may appear on it, which spoil the overall appearance. You can fix this problem yourself:
- First you need to clean the surface.
- Then the identified cracks must be cleaned with fine sandpaper.
- After this, polish is applied.
It happens that some stains from the surface cannot be removed by any means. In this case, you shouldn’t despair; special liquid acrylic will help you cope with the problem. Before using such a product, you must read the instructions and follow all its steps.
Caring for an acrylic bathtub is not difficult if done regularly. By following all the cleaning rules, you can admire the shiny surface of the bathtub for several years.
