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How to paint plastic bathroom sink?

Dean10
Just Starting Out

How to paint plastic bathroom sink?

I’m wanting to paint a plastic sink in our bathroom. What product would be suitable for this? Ideally I’d like to use a spray paint but not sure what will adhere to plastic and be hard wearing enough for the bathroom.

MitchellMc
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: Painting plastic bathroom sink

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Dean10. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about painting a sink.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t a product I'm aware of that’s designed to reliably do what you’re after. The sink and bath refinishing products we stock are made for porcelain, ceramic or steel only. Those materials don’t flex, which is why those coatings work. Plastic does flex, even if it’s only slightly, and the coatings designed for wet areas are quite rigid. On plastic, they’re very likely to crack, fail to adhere properly, or peel away, especially around the bowl where water sits, and cleaning is frequent.

 

Spray paint isn’t a great solution either. One of the big challenges is that plastics vary a lot, and many of them are very difficult for paint to bond to at all. Some paints will stick to certain plastics, others won’t bond in the slightest and will just scratch or peel off. Even if you manage to get good initial adhesion, durability in a bathroom sink environment is the big unknown, as constant moisture, cleaning and wear are pretty harsh conditions.

 

If this is very much a last resort and the sink is already in poor condition, the only thing you could realistically try is lightly roughing up the surface with around 240-grit sandpaper and using a standard spray paint, possibly with a plastic primer first. Just be aware that this wouldn’t be manufacturer-recommended, and there’s no guarantee on how long it would last. It may look good for a short time, but it could fail fairly quickly with regular use.

 

If you’re happy to share a photo of the sink and let us know what condition it’s in, that can help with advice on whether it’s worth attempting or if replacement might be the more practical long-term option. Let me know if you need a hand uploading images.


Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

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