Have Your Clawfoot Tub Painted in the Colors of Your Favorite Team

By Alan Knight

A number of years ago we got an unusual call from a young lady in Atlanta, Georgia who wanted to purchase an antique clawfoot bathtub. After giving us the size she needed, she added that she wanted it refinished in the colors of her favorite college football team, the Georgia Bulldogs. She actually drove down to watch the color process. True to our word, we refinished the tub in red and black, and she loved it. Instead of having it shipped home, she wanted to take it herself in the back of her SUV.

It Started with a Customer who Loves the Georgia Bulldogs

Not long after that, we decided to refinish a clawfoot tub in the colors of the Auburn Tigers. The inside was done in navy blue and the outside was in orange. We took the tub to a game and set it up outside at a tailgate spot. We filled it with ice and loaded it with beer and other beverages. Everyone that passed by (and it must have been thousands) loved it. That's a great way to advertise.

Clawfoot Tub in the colors of the Jacksonville Jaguars
(Photo Credit: tubking.com)

Spring practice is going on for most college football teams across the country. Soon they will have a scrimmage game called the A-Day Game or the Spring Game, and tens of thousands will attend. Football is already in the air, and we're still officially almost five months from the first kickoff of the season. If you're a college grad, you probably have your own pride and affection for school colors.

Clawfoot Tubs Come to us From All Over for Refinishing

The antique tubs that we refinish are often brought to our warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida from customers in various states. We even had a father and son that brought a tub to us from Canada. They left it at one of our bay doors and proceeded on to south Florida. On the way back they picked it up, completely refinished in their colors of choice.

Additional Product Lines

In addition to custom coloring clawfoot tubs, there are many different things that we do in our bathtub business. We sell

The Artisan Series Clawfoot tubs

“new” reproduction cast iron and porcelain bathtubs that we import from other countries. That would include the Slipper series, the Double-ended, Traditional Roll Rims, and Pedestal tubs. Often, customers request that we refinish the exterior of the new tubs in a color other than white. The legs of the tub offer several options. They can come in chrome, brushed nickel, oil-rubbed bronze, or any one of five hundred colors. The inside of the tub (the porcelain) is normally left as the original porcelain (white). In recent months, we have also created an Artisan Series such as the hammered copper or the hammered silver finish on the exterior.

Safe Senior Walk-in Bathtubs are High on Baby Boomer List

One of our Boomer-approved Walk-in Tubs
(Photo Credit: tubking.com)

We also sell the senior Walk-in Bathtub. This has been one of our most popular introductions to date. The senior market, with the massive baby boomer population, has given us their own request, and that is for a tub that is safe (to remove the fear of falling in the bathroom) and therapeutic (to help with aches, pains, and the treatment of many medical conditions). We sell and ship them all over the world.

Introducing Our Newest Product Line

Our newest product line is Safety Suite Showers. They

One of our Safety Shower Suite

are designed to expand any bathroom with an open concept and a more modern design. The shower is fully tiled and reaches (with walls and floors) to over six feet. The additional safety fixtures including the stylish grab bars, some which double as paper roll stand, towel rack and shelving, as well as sinks, and toilets to complete a beautiful picture. A major feature is being able to step or roll into the shower, without stepping over a tall threshold. The low- and/or zero-threshold even makes it wheelchair accessible.

Refinishing to Create a Family Heirloom

This tub will outlive most of us.

Normally, the antique tubs that we refinish are brought to us by families who have had them in the family for a long time. They have a certain sentimental value. Many of these old tubs have been around for a hundred years. We take them and carefully restore them to their original beauty. That means we not only refinish the outside of the tub in the color choice of the customer, but also the interior. That part is a little more complicated. It means doing a lot of repair work on the porcelain since the old tubs often have chips, scratches, cracks and even missing porcelain. The process used to restore it involves not only spot repairs, but also creating a new surface. This is done by applying proprietary cleaners to both clean the tub and etch the tub. After making the surface more porous, an aerospace primer is used to attach itself to the surface and make it more receptive for the topcoat. If an interior color other than white is requested, the primer must be tinted to match a shade of the requested color. After two coats of the primer are applied, using a high volume, low-pressure spray system in our special spray booth, the unique color choice is applied using the same spray system. The topcoat color is a special mix of polyurethane acrylic enamel with industrial colorants to make a perfect color match. The surface is extremely durable, chemical, and stain resistant. The finished product is a remarkable reproduction of the original, with your favorite color choices. The exterior, which is cast iron, can be done in the same color or a different one. The same is true for the legs of the tub.

Short testimonial on a refinishing job.

The great thing about the refinished antique approach is the cost. For just a few hundred dollars, you can have a true family heirloom restored in pristine condition. All the memories associated with the tub are now enhanced. Instead of a tub lying in a field gathering rust, you now have something to be proud of and a family heirloom for the next generation.

Watch this short testimonial video.

Colors can make a huge difference in your bath choices. Whether you want to introduce your school or favorite team colors to your bathtub or just decorate a bathroom with a matching colored tub, have some fun with this. If you want to change the color in a few years, that's another option you have.

In this article, I shared information about the ease and usefulness of being able to color antique and new Clawfoot tubs in your college, NFL team or designer colors. This process is long lasting and can ensure that your family heirloom Clawfoot tub can be passed on to the next generation.

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Alan Knight is the owner of Tub King, Inc., and SeniorBathtub.com in Jacksonville, Florida. He has many years of experience in the antique and senior bathtub industries. HIs companies not only provide superior products, they are also award winners, receiving the “Best of Jacksonville Chamber Award” four years running. If you’d like to contact them, call (800) 409-3375 or (800) 843-4231; or send an email to alan@tubking.com.