Old cast iron bath

[jeep2]

We got a lovely old cast iron bath that is in need of major TLC. It is chipped and has a small bit of rust. Is there anything we can do ourselves, rather than have to pay to get it re-enammeled? Also there are brass taps and a long bar which acts as the plug, whats the best way to shine them up? And another question, the outside of the bath is green, is it possible to paint this?

Thanks!

[Eibhlin ni Sheambrai]

We got a lovely old cast iron bath that is in need of major TLC. It is chipped and has a small bit of rust. Is there anything we can do ourselves, rather than have to pay to get it re-enammeled? Also there are brass taps and a long bar which acts as the plug, whats the best way to shine them up? And another question, the outside of the bath is green, is it possible to paint this?

Thanks!
You can definitely paint the outside of the bath--thats the beauty of them--pick your feature colour and do the bath and perhaps one wall of the bathroom the same (not the wall the bath is against or you wont see it).
There are various re-enammelling kits available. Also I know there is a spray for re-enammelling kitchen appliances. Don't know if this would work. Depends on where the chipped bit is. Below the waterline could be a problem if you are planning long soaks!

You can clean old brass with a paste made of bread soda and lemon juice. Vinegar is good for removing limescale. Cif stainless steel polish (spray gun) works on any kind of metal and really cleans it. Use some very fine steel wool so as not to have big scratches.

[jeep2]

Thanks very much Eibhlin for all that info. Can I just ask is there any type of paint in particular that I should use on the outside of the bath? Or would ordinary wall paint do (that is probably a stupid question!). Will start polishing up the taps tonight.

[vagabond2012]

Hi there i have previously used car filler to fix cracks and chips in old baths and sinks.. metal kind works best and you can then sand and respray the bath using enamel type or car type paints.. you would need to do the whole bath... if your not confident about this ask a local car auto body repair shop they might spray it and put it in an oven to harden... hope this helps regards vagabond