The difference between steel and acrylic baths

By Benjamin Clarke | Published on 5th February 2019

When choosing a luxury spa bath, it's important to understand the various options that are out there for you to choose for your bathroom.

Of course, we're all aware that baths come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. However, what's not quite as well known is that there are two different materials that are used to manufacture most baths. Steel and acrylic.

What are the benefits of steel baths?

Heat retention

Steel is a pretty good conductor of heat and, as a result, the hot water in your bath is much more likely to stay warmer when compared to water of a similar starting temperature in an acrylic bath.

This can be a little hard to believe when you initially touch the cold steel, but the metal quickly warms up and you'll find you don't need to add as much additional hot water if you're having a particularly long bath.

Great aesthetics

Steel baths come with a smooth, white enamel coating which gives a sleek and sophisticated finish that looks especially good in minimalist bathrooms.

The enamel finish is slightly more prone to scratches and chips so you need to take care of it, but the fact that steel can be bent into all sorts of designs, the great aesthetics make the slightly higher maintenance definitely worthwhile.

Recyclable

All of our luxury whirlpool baths are manufactured using the highest quality mild steel.

This means that your bath can be recycled in the future (after many years of your enjoyment first), which means that you'll be doing your bit for the environment and it won't end up in landfill.

What are the benefits of acrylic baths?

Huge range of choice

While steel baths look great, there is much more variety when it comes to choosing an acrylic bath.

The main reason for this is that acrylic is a synthetic plastic and is much easier to mould and shape than steel. This means that the design options are much more wide-ranging and suitable for all types of living spaces.

Consequently, acrylic baths are much more popular amongst our customers than steel ones.

Large price difference

As you might expect, steel is a more expensive building material than synthetic plastic and so everything involved in the process costs more.

The steel pressing machines that shape the steel and the transportation costs involved in moving this heavier material are just two examples of extra expenses involved in steel bath manufacturing.

In short, acrylic baths are cheaper than steel ones.

Stronger than you think

In the early days of bath-making, it's true that acrylic was a weaker and less durable material than steel.

However, this is no longer the case with modern manufacturing advances meaning that acrylic baths are very strong and durable with long-lasting guarantees.

The fact that they're reinforced with glass fibre and wooden baseboard simply adds to their already impressive rigidity.

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