Are acrylic bathtubs durable?

Acrylic bathtubs are characterized by their novel styles. Due to their simple production, they currently have a large market share in the bathtub industry.

The most prominent feature of acrylic is its style, various shapes and sizes. High-end ones are often used with audio-visual equipment, massage equipment, etc.

But acrylic also has many shortcomings:

First of all, it is not durable, the surface is easy to scratch, and scratches are easy to attract dirt. As a plastic material, acrylic is easy to age and discolor. The best materials can only guarantee that they will not change color for 3 to 4 years at best.

Secondly, acrylic has poor thermal insulation capabilities. This aspect is a misunderstanding that people have. Although acrylic itself is relatively heat-insulating, due to its insufficient strength, the bottom of the bathtub to the ground must be filled with sand and gravel. These fillers have extremely strong thermal conductivity, so the insulation ability of acrylic bathtubs actually used after decoration is very poor. of.

Third, acrylic bathtubs are not environmentally friendly. This is also a misunderstanding that people have. The surface of an acrylic bathtub is PMMA, which is a recyclable plastic material. However, PMMA is very soft and is not suitable for bathtubs, so the back of acrylic is reinforced with glass fiber. Once these reinforcements are combined with PMMA, they cannot be separated, and these materials cannot be recycled. Therefore, discarded acrylic bathtubs have no other way out than landfilling or completely crushing them as fillers.

Finally, as a personal opinion, I think it is best not to use an acrylic bathtub for a long time. Although PMMA plastic itself is non-toxic and harmless, various additives must be used when making any plastic. These additives are very easy to precipitate in hot water, and in very serious cases, you can see bubbling on the surface of the bathtub. Because there are tens of thousands of additives that may be used in the plastic production process, it is unclear whether they will affect the human body. (For example, artificial stone bathtubs may use the polydiformate additives used in the Taiwan plasticizer incident)