Bathworks Refinishing Kit Review: My Honest Opinion Of Reglazing A Bathtub

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Last updated on February 24th, 2024 at 02:52 pm

What Is A Bathworks Refinishing Kit & How Do I Use It To Change The Color Of My Bathtub?

Wondering if the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is the right kit for you to use on your bathtub or shower? Well, look no further because I have your answer!

The Bathworks Refinishing Kit is a budget-friendly, easy-to-use commercial-grade resin paint mixture that changes the color of a bathtub, repairs small knicks/dents, and adds a protective coating to a tub in just a few hours without any demolition.

It rolls on like paint and hardens to a porcelain-like texture providing an easy and inexpensive solution to updating an outdated bathtub or shower. For a tub or shower that is still in good shape, but you want to change the color, the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is the perfect product.

Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s break into the details a little further so you can decide whether this refinishing kit is right for your refinishing project or not.

Let’s dive in!

Quick Navigation: Bathworks Refinishing Kit Review

  1. What Is A Bathworks Refinishing Kit?
  2. Key Features Of The Bathworks Refinishing Kit
  3. Benefits Of Using The Bathworks Refinishing Kit
  4. Drawbacks Of Using The Bathworks Refinishing Kit
  5. When To Use The Bathworks Refinishing Kit
  6. Where Can I Buy A Bathworks Refinishing Kit?
  7. How To Use The Bathworks Refinishing Kit
  8. Other FAQs About The Bathworks Refinishing Kit
  9. Final Thoughts
  10. Related Bathroom Articles

What Is A Bathworks Refinishing Kit?

The Bathworks Bathtub Refinishing Kit found at Amazon is a commercial-grade 2-part resin paint mixture that doesn’t easily chip, peel, crack, or yellow.

Many bathtub refinishing kits use epoxy paint that might seem durable at first application, but over time, will discolor and peel.

Instead, the 2-part resin in the Bathworks Refinishing Kit coats the tub with a thick, porcelain-textured coat that will last 2-6 years without discoloring or peeling making this a superior refinishing kit.

In addition, the kit includes almost everything you need to fully clean, sand, and paint a standard 60-inch bathtub base (more on what else is needed below).

Many other refinishing kits supply the paint, but none of the other supplies. The cost of these other kits might seem lower, but when added together with the other supplies, they easily surpass the cost of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit.

We personally used this kit on the hideous yellow bathtub in one of our rentals to refresh it and extend its life for several more years.

(If you own some rental properties and want to learn how to manage them better with less time and headache, check out my other blog, DIY Rental Manager.)

From this experience, I quickly realized all of the things I liked and didn’t like about the kit.

I’d love to share them with you so that you can decide if this product is right for you too!


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Key Features Of The Bathworks Refinishing Kit

Short on time? Here’s a highlight of the several key features worth mentioning:

  1. Durable/Made For High Water-Concentration Areas – adds a protective coat to older tubs, doesn’t easily chip, peel, crack, or yellow, can be cleaned easily with any household non-abrasive/bleach-free cleaning product, made specifically for use in bathtubs & shower pans
  2. Can Be Used On A Variety Of Materials – can be used on porcelain, fiberglass, and plastic bathtub, bathtub surrounds, shower pans, and shower surrounds
  3. Easy To Use – the resin mixture is easy to mix, rolls on easily for a smooth, even finish, and dries fully in 24 hours. You can complete the entire DIY project by yourself in a single day
  4. Comes With The Majority Of Supplies/Tools Required For The Job – comes with the resin mixture, sandpaper, a cleaning solution, paint roller & tray mixing containers, and more. The only other supplies needed are scrubbing pads, painters tape, drop cloths, razor blades, paper towels, and trash bags
  5. Multiple Color Options comes in several colors to fit any bathroom color scheme and it easily coats any color bathtub (pink, blue, green, yellow, etc) with 2 coats

Now, let’s further break down these key features into a good, old pros and cons list for this Bathworks Refinishing Kit review!

Benefits Of Using The Bathworks Refinishing Kit

To start off with this Bathworks Refinishing Kit review, let’s discuss the benefits I’ve found since using the kit in our rental bathroom.

More Durable Than Other Refinishing Kits

The first benefit of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is that is significantly more durable than other refinishing kits (specifically epoxy paint refinishing kits).

This is true because of the 2-part resin mixture. It is much more durable than epoxy paint and will last for years without cracking, peeling, or yellowing.

In fact, Bathworks is so durable that it is used in many large hotel chains around the world to extend the life of the bathtubs and help keep them looking new and in pristine condition.

It will last for years if you stay on top of the soap scum and only use cleaners that do not have bleach or abrasives in them.

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You can even feel how thick and durable this product is once it dries because it hardens and feels just like porcelain. (Epoxy paints tend to be thin and don’t feel as thick as the resin does.)

We chose this product because we needed something that will be durable enough to make it through multiple tenants without needing to be refinished, and after a year of regular use, it is doing exactly what we wanted.

Because of this, we were able to keep the yellow bathtub in the rental unit (that was still in good shape, just ugly) and give it a full refresh for just under $100. No demo required.

Easy To Use/Get A Smooth Finish

The next benefit of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is how easy it is to apply and get a smooth, professional finish.

Before we used it, this refinishing kit intimidated me. I knew I only had one shot to get it right otherwise we were going to have to live with the imperfections.

But the instructions were so clear and all of the materials were labeled well, so it was extremely easy to use.

Plus, the resin mixture rolls on just like paint, so it was so easy to get two coats on the entire bathtub base. The resin mixture is a little thick (almost like a runny Elmer’s glue), but I really liked that because I could feel that I was getting a thick coat rolled on.

It also settled as it dried, so no brush marks were left behind! I was impressed with how little effort I had to give to make it look like the tub was bought in this color instead of repainted.

Comes With The Majority Of Supplies/Tools Required For The Job

The final benefit of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is that it truly is a full kit with the majority of the supplies you need!

Other than a few of the preparatory items that you probably already have laying around the house such as a scrubbing pad, household cleaner, trash bags, paper towels, and a mask, the kit comes with everything that you need.

The Bathworks Refinishing Kit includes:

  • Paint tray and roller
  • Refinishing Paint: 1 pint
  • Liquid Primer 1 ounce
  • Hardener: 4 ounces
  • Non-Slip Additive
  • Tack Rag
  • Stir Stick
  • 120 grit Sand Paper
  • Etching Cleaner
  • 4 Rubber Gloves

Some other kits may appear to be cheaper, but they don’t include ALL of the supplies needed.

When I was trying to decide on what brand to use, I priced out another kit & all of the supplies needed to complete the job, and it was more expensive than this kit.

Plus, it was much more inconvenient to gather the supplies on my own for the other kit. This kit had it all for me, so I knew I’d be set up well for the job!

P.S. I highly recommend you get the kit with the non-slip additive. The main thing that will ruin your refinished tub is a bathmat with suction cups.

The non-slip additive is a powder that you add to a little bit of the paint and roll onto the tub base so that the bottom isn’t slippery when you’re using it.

Definitely worth the tiny bit more money to protect yourself from a slip!


Still not sure if this product is right for you? I get it, it’s hard to choose which product would work best for you when you’re spending a good chunk of change on a bathroom renovation.

So don’t just take my word for it! Check out all of the five-star reviews on Amazon to help you make your decision.

They have some awesome pictures there as well to help you choose a color easier. (We chose white, and that seems to be the most popular color. It goes awesome with all colors and looks super clean!)

Of course, a Bathworks Refinishing Kit review is useless in my opinion without covering the drawbacks of the product, though, so let’s dive into some negatives!

Drawbacks Of Using The Bathworks Refinishing Kit

This is probably the part you’ve been waiting for in this Bathworks Refinishing Kit review. Is this kit truly right for YOU?

Well, these were the major drawbacks we ran into (and others ran into as well).

You Need A Second Kit To Do Both The Tub Base & The Surround

The first drawback of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is that it only comes with enough paint to put two coats on a standard 60-inch bathtub base.

If you also want to do the bathtub/shower walls that do not go all the way up to the ceiling, then you will need this second kit found at Amazon as well. (It’s a standard kit that does not have all of the tools, just paint and primer, so it’s a little cheaper.)

And if you have shower walls that go all the way to the ceiling, or a sink that you also want to paint, then you might need a third kit.

These extra kits might quickly add up to make this project not as cheap as you initially think it will be. Oftentimes, you can hire a company to professionally refinish a shower or tub for $300-$500.

So just be aware that if you’ve got a lot to paint, you’ll probably need a second kit as well.

The Prep Work Is Tedious

The next drawback of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is that the prep work is tedious.

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Honestly, the longest part of this entire DIY project is the prep work. If you don’t take the time to fully remove any existing soap scum or residue, then the finish can fail and peel off after only a few uses.

While the prep work is mostly just scrubbing and cleaning the tub thoroughly, it is tedious and can take a while to complete depending on how filthy the tub is to begin with.

Also, this project needs to be completed all at once, so if you can’t spend at least 6 consecutive hours on it, you should wait to start it.

I was impressed that I could complete this entire project one night after work, but it did take us from 4 PM to 11 PM that night to finish.

Then we had to let it cure fully for over 24 hours before it could be used.

While this is not a giant problem, it could be if you only have short bursts of time to work on projects.

Mistakes Are Hard To Fix

The next drawback of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is that painting mistakes can be hard to fix.

For the most part, the resin rolls on super smoothly and easily. But if you do happen to mess up during the painting process (such as the paint getting smudged or a giant drip being left behind), then it’s not that easy to go back and touch it up.

You’ll use pretty much all of the paint in the kit, so there won’t be any paint leftover, and if there is any, it will need to be thrown away once you’re done using it because it is extremely potent and will harden soon.

So if you aren’t a very patient painter, then you might find using this product to be a little difficult.

(Speaking from experience, the majority of people won’t have this problem though because it dries pretty evenly as long as it’s left alone for at least 24 hours.)

The Fumes Are Strong

The next drawback of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is that the fumes are STRONG.

The kit gives a warning that the paint fumes are potent, and it is recommended to wear a mask and ventilate the room as best you can.

They are not messing around with this. The paint fumes were much stronger than I was anticipating. You will have some issues painting for a long time if you don’t have a mask on.

In addition to our masks, we also opened the window in the bathroom, left the door wide open, and had a box fan helping to pull the fumes out of the tiny bathroom while we worked.

Once the paint was dry, however, the fumes were not as strong and after a couple of days of leaving the bathroom door open, not noticeable at all.

So this really is only a short-term drawback while you’re using the resin mixture. It goes away once the paint is dry and the bathroom is being used regularly again!

Bath Mats Destroy The Finish

The final drawback of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit is that bath mats with suction cups will destroy the finish.

Over the years, Bathworks got smarter and added the non-slip additive to the kit to help prevent the one thing that will ruin the finish: a bath mat with suction cups.

The bath mats trap mold, mildew, and moisture underneath them, so over time, they pull up the paint on the bottom of a bathtub. This is true for bathtubs that have been painted with Bathworks AND for bathtubs that have been factory finished.

So, in general, it is better to avoid using bath mats with suction cups to help make a bathtub or shower last longer.

And with the Bathworks Refinishing Kit, the non-slip additive adds a texture to the bottom of the tub, so it is not as slippery when you’re using it.

As long as you avoid bath mats and use cleaning solutions that don’t have bleach or abrasives, your refinished bathtub should last for years and still look brand new!


That’s a wrap on the drawbacks of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit.

I always find the negative reviews more helpful than the positive ones, and I think you will too.

So I highly recommend that you check out all of the one and two-star reviews on Amazon before you make your final decision.

When To Use The Bathworks Refinishing Kit

After all of that, I’m sure you’re wondering, who would find the use of the Bathworks Refinishing Kit the most beneficial?

The Bathworks Refinishing Kit is perfect for any DIYer who:

  • Wants to change the color of their bathtub or shower without doing a full demo and installation,
  • Wants to have all of the supplies easily purchased in a single kit,
  • Wants a coating that will last for several years, and
  • Desires a fast, easy installation

When I was looking for products to use during our rental bathroom renovation, I fit that description to a T. If you do also, then this refinishing kit would be a good fit for you too!

Where Can I Buy A Bathworks Refinishing Kit?

Whew, we’ve covered a lot so far. All that’s left to do is to cover where you can buy this refinishing kit.

The Bathworks Refinishing Kit can most easily be bought through Amazon, but I’ve also found it at Menards, Home Depot, Lowe’s, The Build Club, and Bathwork’s main website (bath-works.net).

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Amazon has the full refinishing kit that you can purchase, and it will supply you with the majority of the tools and materials you will need to finish a standard bathtub base! That’s pretty handy.

And if you also want to refinish the bathtub/shower surround, then there is a standard kit that comes with the resin mixture & primer only (not the other supplies) for a cheaper price so you can finish the rest of the tub area as well.

How To Use The Bathworks Refinishing Kit

The written instructions that come with this product are pretty thorough and easy to follow, however, I always find picture tutorials to be more helpful, so I wrote an entire tutorial to help you avoid some of the mistakes we made!

You can find my picture tutorial on changing the color of our bathtub using the Bathworks Refinishing kit here.

Other FAQs About The Bathworks Refinishing Kit

Here are some other frequently asked questions about the Bathworks Refinishing Kit to help you easily change the color of your bathtub or shower!

What Other Supplies Do I Need Besides The Bathworks Refinishing Kit To Paint My Bathtub?

The Bathworks Refinishing Kit comes with the majority of the supplies you need. The other supplies you will need that are probably already around your house include:

  • Trash bags
  • Paper towels
  • Scrubbing pads
  • Large sponge
  • Bucket
  • Painter’s tape
  • Drop cloth
  • Large box fan
  • Face mask

How Long Does It Take To Use The Bathworks Refinishing Kit?

The Bathworks Refinishing Kit takes 4-6 hours to apply (including cleaning, sanding, etching, and painting 2 coats) to a standard 60-inch bathtub base and requires a full 24 hours of dry-time before use.

When Can I Use My Bathtub Again After I Use The Bathworks Refinishing Kit?

A bathtub or shower that has been refinished with the Bathworks Refinishing Kit can be used after the tub has had 24 hours to fully dry and harden. Until then, cover all faucets with a rubber glove to prevent water from dripping on the new finish.

How Many Bathworks Refinishing Kits Do I Need To Paint Both The Bathtub Base & The Bathtub Surround?

To paint both the bathtub base and bathtub surround that stops short of the ceiling, two Bathworks Refinishing Kits are required (one full kit and one standard kit). To also paint a bathtub surround that goes all the way to the ceiling, a third kit (second standard kit) might be required.

What Type Of Roller Cover Should You Use With The Bathworks Refinishing Kit?

The Bathworks Refinishing Kit should only be applied with a very fine-textured foam roller cover. Foam roller covers will prevent roller marks from being left behind and help provide a smooth finish. The kit comes with the best roller cover to complete the job.

What Cleaning Products Can You Use On A Bathtub That Has Been Refinished With The Bathworks Refinishing Kit?

Bathtubs that have been refinished with the Bathworks Refinishing Kit can be cleaned with any standard non-abrasive household cleaner that doesn’t have bleach in it. Some of the manufacturer-approved cleaning products include Scrubbing Bubbles, 409 (without Bleach), Fantastic, or Liquid Ajax.

Can You Use A Bathmat On A Bathtub That Has Been Refinished With The Bathworks Refinishing Kit?

Bathmats will ruin the finish on a bathtub that has been refinished with the Bathworks Refinishing Kit. Bathmats trap mold, mildew, and moisture underneath them, and over time, that eats away at the tub finish. Eventually, the finish will peel up where the bathmat has been. It is best to avoid bathmats in tubs and showers altogether.


For more frequently asked questions, you can visit Bathworks’ main FAQ page here.


Final Thoughts On The Bathworks Refinishing Kit

There you have it!

Overall, we had a positive experience using the Bathworks Refinishing Kit in our rental bathroom, so I feel pretty good recommending others to use it.

Whenever a bathtub needs a change of color and we don’t want to do a full renovation, we will definitely be using this product again!

Now you have everything you need to decide on whether this is the right product for your bathroom renovation or not.

Regardless of what you decide to use, it’s amazing that you are taking it into your own hands to create the bathroom of your dreams!

Nothing is more empowering than creating the home you love for the people you love (and getting to show off your awesome handy skills if I might add!)

Catch you in my next post!

Love this post? Share it with others so they can easily refinish their bathtub using the Bathworks Refinishing Kit!



Bathworks Refinishing Kit Review: My Honest Opinion Of Reglazing A Bathtub

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