How to Restore Antique Clawfoot Bathtubs

Refinish your clawfoot tub with care, caution and patience.

Antique clawfoot tubs feature cast-iron bodies coated with porcelain. While the iron may last forever, the porcelain will eventually become worn and discolored. Restoring an old tub to its original shine is a complicated task that involves specialized chemicals, and is generally left to professionals. However, a competent do-it-yourselfer can undertake it with the right preparation, caution and a little patience. Everything you need can be found at your local home improvement store or ordered online.

Things You'll Need

• Household cleanser and sponge
• Screwdriver
• Thick plastic tarping
• Duct tape
• Goggles
• Long rubber gloves
• Respirator
• Brush
• Hydrofluoric acid porcelain etching solution
• Paint sprayer
• Porcelain primer
• Porcelain topcoat (paint and polyurethane)

Instructions

1. Thoroughly clean the tub with a household cleanser. With your screwdriver, remove all fixtures from the tub, including the faucet and handles (if they're part of the tub body) and the overflow cap.

2. Use your duct tape to hang plastic tarping around the walls and floor surrounding the tub. Also cover any part of the tub that doesn't have a coat of porcelain on it, such as the feet and (on some styles) the bare cast-iron exterior of the tub. Make sure to seal the edges of the tarping completely with the tape.

3. Put on your goggles, gloves and respirator. Make sure your arms are completely covered. Use the brush to apply the hydrofluoric acid etching solution over all the porcelain of the tub. Let it sit for 15 minutes, dulling the shine off the surface. Rinse thoroughly, then let the tub dry completely.

4. Still wearing your safety equipment, load your paint sprayer with porcelain primer. This will provide a smooth underlayment for the topcoat to stick to. Spray it very lightly over the whole exposed surface of the tub, keeping the sprayer in constant motion so no drips develop. Let it dry for about 20 minutes, then apply a second coat.

5. Reload your paint sprayer with your paint-porcelain topcoat. Apply it in the same manner as you did the primer, in very light, even passes, keeping the sprayer moving. Apply four to six coats, letting the paint dry for about 20 minutes between each coat. When you're done. remove the plastic tarping and let the tub cure for two or three days before reinstalling the fixtures and using it.

Tips & Warnings

• Hydrofluoric acid won't eat through plastic, but will it corrode just about everything else. Handle it with extreme caution.

References

• This Old House: How to Refinish a Cast-Iron Tub