Helping you find your ideal bath

After talking about shower enclosures last week, it only seems right to address the rest of the nation who prefer to bathe rather than take a shower, after all there’s no right or wrong way to wash!

As with the rest of the bathroom suite, baths have several main styles to choose from. Your choice will be dependent upon the size of your bathroom and its style, it is good to choose a theme and be continuous throughout the room. The most common bath ranges include Baths with Panels, Shower Baths and Freestanding Baths.

Baths with panels

The first and most common are baths with panels which are generally made from acrylic. These baths aren’t usually highly expensive and feature a slope at one end with the taps opposite, or a double slope with taps central along one side of the bath making it more comfortable for two people to bath together. This means that no one has to sit at the tap end where they would dig in your back which is rather unpleasant!

Shower baths

The next range is very user friendly and accommodating. The shower bath otherwise known as the P-shaped bath combines the bath with an overhead shower to fulfill the needs of the whole family as no doubt there will be different preferences. What teenager wants to admit they shower like their parents? One disadvantage of this range is that they do occupy more space than the traditional bath, and considerably more than a shower enclosure. These baths can be right or left handed to suit.

Freestanding baths

Classed as one of the more luxurious ranges are the freestanding baths which usually occupy a centre focus point in a larger bathroom due to their elegant and eye catching design. They look best away from the wall and require feet to stand on which are available in a wide range of styles and colours.

Slipper baths are an impressive type of freestanding bath which gets its name from its appearance. This bath actually provides the benefit of added neck support because the ends are much higher than those of standard baths also making it more comfortable to lean against.

Carronite

Carron offer a unique range of Carronite baths which have an extra spray on coating outside the bath which enables it to retain water temperatures for longer than normal baths, Roca offer a similar range of Supersteel baths. Steel baths are stronger and more rigid than acrylic but are more susceptible to impact damage especially on installation, it is worth checking the product thoroughly before installation. Cast iron, copper and quarry cast baths are also available but these are much heavier and very expensive materials.

Safety

One final thing to consider about your new bath is whether you want an anti slip coating. It is very important that your bath is safe for everyone to use, especially the young and elderly. Therefore if you dislike using bath mats it may be worth having an anti slip coating on your bath. This is a rough sand coating on the area of the bath where you will stand, it is a good idea not to put this all over especially where you will be sitting or you’ll find that you are over exfoliating which is never comfortable! Carron offer this safety feature in the form of patterns on the bath through roughening the acrylic during manufacture instead of using sand.