Baths have the same long history as civilization itself, because even ancient people loved to wash and luxuriate in the water. The first were the Romans, who began to build the thermae, the huge baths used by the whole population in the city. Today, we have opened so wide a choice of bathtubs of various shapes and materials, which can be confusing to anyone.
Gathered to buy a bath, you will learn that today they are made of cast iron, steel, acrylic, quarry, faience and even wood with a waterproof layer. However, most manufacturers focus on the production of steel and acrylic constructions. Which one do you need? We propose to solve this issue by comparing the advantages and disadvantages that the steel and acrylic baths possess.
Steel Baths
Over time, fashion and trends are changing. There are new technologies that expand the range of everyday products and devices in our homes. For many decades, cast iron was the only material used in the manufacture of bathtubs. However, with the advent of steel, they almost ceased to be in demand.
Steel is and always will be one of the most reliable materials for the production of bathtubs, and this is its main advantage over more modern acrylic or plastic bathtubs. In addition, steel baths are more trusted, because this material is already familiar and even, it can be said, traditional, while not everyone actually has an idea of what acrylic is.
Classic Steel Bath
Furthermore, reliability The steel bath is not its only advantage over other modern materials. Baths from steel are better spent heat, чем акрил. Другими словами: если вы из тех, кто любит часами лежать в heatй ванной, то подливать горячей воды вам чаще придется в акриловой ванне, чем в стальной.There is also an opinion that shine The surface of the steel remains much longer than any of the acrylic bathtubs, so if you are looking for a bath for frequent use for a very long time, the steel bath is ideal for this.
Steel bath Roca Swing
Disadvantages of steel baths
The first noticeable drawback of steel baths compared with acrylic is weight. A reliable steel bath requires no less reliable support from below. You may have seen old movies in which a bath falls through the floors? This has actually happened many times in houses with insufficiently reinforced beams.
Another disadvantage of steel baths is that they are usually covered with enamel finish, which can crack from hitting the surface with anything heavy. Of course, this is a reparable matter, but we warn you right away: enameling baths is a rather expensive procedure, so try not to drop anything in the bath.
Finally, it can be mentioned that many people simply do not like touching the steel surface with their bodies. Before the warm-up, steel is colder than most of its alternatives.
Now, having discussed the steel baths, let's look at what the acrylics offer us.
Acrylic bath: advantages and disadvantages
As we have already said, one of the disadvantages of steel baths is that they are heavy, while any acrylic bath is much lighter, it is much easier to transport and it is not so demanding to the reliability of support from below.
However, the main advantage of acrylic bathtubs is not this, but wide design possibilities, which opened in the production of baths with the advent of acrylic. Before this happened, there were no swimming pools with hydromassage or spa baths in the world.
Acrylic bath
Acrylic is polymer material, often in the form of a fine powder, which, when combined with a special liquid, solidifies in the desired form. Such flexibility in the process of manufacturing baths with acrylic means that from it can be obtained all kinds of shapes and designs, which creates truly limitless possibilities for bath manufacturers.Acrylic bath
Although the acrylic bath can not keep its original shape for as long as steel baths do, it is highly unlikely that cracks appear on it, and in case of a scratch, it can be polished. It is also worth noting that some particularly aggressive detergents can damage the steel bath, but it does not degrade the appearance of the acrylic surface.Acrylic bath
As you can see, a clear answer to the question "Which is better: a steel or acrylic bath?" does not exist. If you choose between them, you can only be guided by personal preferences, and we hope that it will be easier for you to do this now that you know all about the merits and demerits of both these types of baths.Steel Baths чаще всего выбираются традиционалистами и, как мы видели, они достаточно ограничены в плане дизайна. Но останется ли стильная акриловая ванна такой же привлекательной спустя много лет, когда потеряет свой shine?