Restoring Antique Bathroom Fixtures

Antique bathroom fixtures are beautiful and unique additions to any home. They provide a distinctive feel and atmosphere to your bathroom and to the rest of the house as well. Unfortunately, these fixtures may become tarnished and worn with time, and their rarity makes them quite difficult to replace outright. Rather than replace your worn or damaged bathroom fixtures, you can restore them to help improve and maintain their appearance. This procedure is relatively simple and can be done as a short do-it-yourself project at home. Follow the instructions below to restore your antique bathroom fixtures.

Step 1 -- Collect Your Materials

• Adjustable wrench
• Newspaper
• 200 grit sandpaper
• Oil
• Putty knife and plumber's putty
• Spray primer, paint and lacquer for the color and type of metal of your fixtures

Step 2 -- Turn Off the Water

Before beginning any work on your bathroom fixtures, carefully turn off all water at the supply source in your home.

Step 3 -- Remove the Supply Tubes

To refinish the bathroom faucet and sink, remove all of the supply lines to the faucet using your adjustable wrench. Be careful not to strip the screws in the process, and use oil if you have any difficulty loosening the screws that attach the supply pipes.

Step 4 -- Remove and Sand the Faucets

Carefully remove any portions of the metal faucet or other parts of the sink that you wish to refinish. Lay them out flat on a newspaper. Next, use a medium grit sandpaper to gently sand down the entire surface of the faucet and any other piece that you plan to restore and refinish. This will help to remove any existing stains or leftover paint from the surface of the metal itself. Once you've done that, wipe the metal surfaces down with a damp cloth and allow them a few minutes to dry completely.

Step 5 -- Prime, Paint and Lacquer the Metal

Follow the instructions on the metal primer to coat the metal surfaces completely. You'll need to allow plenty of time for the primer to dry before applying the paint. Once the primer has dried, apply a coat of paint according to the manufacturer's instructions. After that coat dries, apply a second coat of paint and allow it adequate drying time. Finally, apply the metal lacquer to the faucet and any other fixtures that you are restoring. This helps to protect the paint against water and other types of damage that may occur.

Step 6 -- Reconstruct the Faucet and Fixtures

Finally, after the lacquer has had adequate time to dry, carefully reinstall the faucet and any other fixtures that you've removed and refinished into their appropriate places in the bathroom. This process is essentially the reverse of the procedure in Step 3 above.

If you have any questions about restoring a particularly delicate fixture in your bathroom, do not hesitate to speak with an expert or an antique restoration company for more advice.