Can I Paint My Shower Door Surround? - Experiment Results..dun, dun, dun

Disclaimer: This post is for everyone who has asked about spray painting shower door surrounds. I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s a little boring. So if you don’t give a flying fig about shower door surrounds I apologize…really :).

Remember a few weeks ago when I published a post about how I was going to do an experiment to see if it would work to spray paint your shower door surround? Well, I did spray paint my shower caddy and it has held up well…but shortly after I published my post I realized a little, itty bitty, teeny tiny snag in my experimental plan….it could take YEARS to get the full results. Ha! Oops, minor detail (slapping forehead with hand).

Now, I’m willing to wait a few years to see how well the paint on my shower caddy holds up, but I doubt you are. Sooooo, one of my lovely readers (who probably realized my dilemma before I did) sent me a link to blog where a lady actually painted her shower door surround a little over a year ago (you can see her post here). I contacted said shower door painter (Jan) and told her enquiring minds wanted to know how well the paint on the shower door had held up. Here’s her response:

"When I scrubbed the inside of the shower with a scrub brush
at first, the finish did come off in spots. I switched to using a rag, and it
has been fine since, and the rest of the finish looks as good as it did the
first day. "

Thanks so much for your help Jan. Oh, and it turns out she has a lovely Etsy Store by the way (I thought it was the least I could do to give her a shout out).

Many of you lovely readers also left helpful comments to my experiment post, and it looks like the overall consensus is that if your spray paint your shower door surround it’s likely to hold up for 2-4 years.

CONCLUSION:

So in conclusion, if I had an awful shiny 80’s brass shower surround that I couldn’t stand to look at another day….I would paint it…in a heartbeat. If it ended up peeling a little bit in a few years, I’d just paint it again. But that’s me…I’m the same girl that painted her laminate countertops because she couldn’t stare at burgundy Formica for one more day. To me the peace of mind is worth the risk...and work.

Again, I’d recommend priming first (any spray primer should be fine), doing at least 2 coats of your spray color, and then a topcoat of spray polyurethane. Not everyone has recommended those extra steps, and they may not be necessary…but if I were painting my shower surround I’d do it just to be safe…but again, that’s just me. I’d also be careful not to scrub it too harshly.

So that’s it. Experiment over. Lab coat coming off…cardigan and canvas sneakers going on (ahh, I miss Mr. Rogers...get it? Cardigan and sneakers?...nevermind).

Experiment: Can I Spray Paint My Shower Door Surround?

I can't tell you how many emails and comments I get asking this question....and I haven't responded yet (I feel really guilty about that btw...I'm so sorry), because I simply don't know the answer. Can you do it? Of course! Will it hold up?....I honestly don't know.



So, here's what I will do for you (because I love all of you BFF, suburbanite, squeezies so much), I am going to spray paint my metal shampoo holder thingy that hangs in my shower just to see how well it holds up. I will then report back to you with the results (like the good scientist I am...even though I'm not really a scientist...I just play one in bloggerland).



Why am I painting my hangy thingy instead of my surround?: A) You smarty party pants guessed it....I'm too cheap to take replace it if it ends up being a horrible mistake; and B) If it works on the metal hangy thingy it will work on the surround, right?

The (highly technical, superly scientifical) Methodology?

Step 1: Prime

Step 2: Paint (2 coats)

Step 3: Spray a Clear Coat of Polyurethane

Step 4: Keep Fingers Crossed :)

Stay tuned for the results!