Innovations Bathroom

Innovation that Matters

At Pelham & White, bathtubs and tub fillers are our only business. Through research, we have perfected our products and are pleased to present the highest quality clawfoot and freestanding tubs on the market today. Our innovations have made us an industry trend-setter and have defined new standards for the production of vintage tubs.

As we looked to develop a better bathtub, one of our highest priorities was the material construction. Cast iron is frigid cold and chips if anything heavy is ever dropped into the tub. And while acrylic is a phenomenal material that is warm and will never chip, the hollow acrylic tubs found in the marketplace lack the solid, permanent “feel” we liked of cast iron. We wanted a material that offered the best of both worlds.

Only the Best Materials

Acrylicast: The Best of Both Worlds

Acylicast is comprised of high-end (cross-linked polymer) acrylic that is reinforced with a proprietary fiberglass & resin compound. Then, the center chamber is filled with another proprietary composite that resembles concrete, but is significantly lighter in weight. The resulting material construction is therefore three materials in one, offering the brilliant finish, superior heat retention, and inviting warmth of acrylic, with the strength we like so much of cast iron. At 110 to 150 pounds, Acrylicast bathtubs are indeed heavier than standard acrylic tubs, but no where near as heavy as cast iron or stone tubs, making job-site transport and install just a two man job.

EnduraClean™

MIRROR-LIKE FINISH FROM DESIGNER ACRYLIC , Years of Cleanliness and Sparkle, Equally important to us as the material construction was the finish on the tub. If you think about it, bathtubs are permanent fixtures that must withstand varied uses, chemicals, and (perhaps most importantly) years of indirect and direct daytime sunlight that shines in through windows. So our goal was to create an anti-microbial, impervious finish that is not only high-gloss, clean, and bright-white when new, but high-gloss, clean, and bright-white when not-so-new.

Not all grades of acrylic are equal.

As we set out to create the most beautiful and durable finishes, we didn’t have to look far; by simply choosing to use high-end acrylic, we had our solution. Here’s why the right acrylic matters (not that you asked!):

Standard Acrylic: Polymer Chains

The ubiquity of standard acrylic cannot be understated. Used for inferior tubs, and countless other products, standard acrylic is pretty easy to produce. Monomer (single molecule) PMMA pellets are the only ingredient, and as a catalyst is applied, the monomers become polymers (linked strands) of PMMA molecules. The polymer strands are strong, but they could be even stronger… A stronger molecular makeup matters when it come to creating a truly impervious material with an ultra-rich sheen that can stand the test of time. Think of children’s toys after a couple years of indoor/outdoor use – they become brittle, and faded. Not what you want for a bathtub!

EndurAClean Acrylic: Cross-Linked Polymer Chains

At Pelham & White, we build our tubs exclusively with cross-linked polymer acrylic. Cross-linked polymers are created using a cross-linking agent during the production process to permanently bind polymer chains together. This creates a continuous molecular web – which against individual strands, means a MUCH stronger product. It’s also a blast to work with. As we apply our refining and buffing techniques, the bathtub comes alive with this remarkable sheen. We call it EnduraClean. You’ve never seen a cleaner-looking tub… and best news yet, it stands up to the test of time!

Total Immerse™

DEEPLY SATISFYING BATHING EXPERIENCES , The Restorative Respite, After material and finish, the next challenge we set before ourselves was design. Times have certainly changed since the original clawfoot tub was introduced 250 years ago. Humans have gotten larger, but arguably more important than this is that tastes have changed. Bathtubs used to simply be a fixture to contain water for bathing. But as the rat race has consumed most of us, the desire and use of a stand-alone bathtubs has emerged as less of a fixture for cleaning and grooming, and more as a retreat from the exterior world. Accordingly, our goal at company inception was to create a true luxury item that goes beyond exterior beauty. The experience should be a restorative respite, something that tantalizes and exposes our inner beauty.

TOTAL IMMERSE: EXTRA WIDTH WHERE IT MATTERS

A luxurious bathing experience begins with more room, and in particular, more side-to-side room. But to simply increase the width of the tub by ~2″ increases the amount of water required to fill the tub by more than one might expect. Further, as we tested various designs we found that extra room isn’t really needed at the shoulders… it’s needed down where the tush is! So that’s what we did. By straightening the side walls out, we were able to add an extra 2″ at the basin floor without changing the overall width of tub, and without significantly increasing the amount of water (and time) required to fill the tub.

TOTAL IMMERSE: Sit back and Relax

As simple as it may seem, you might be surprised how many tubs on the market are uncomfortable to lie in. In nearly every sample we tested, and in our subsequent designing phase, we found that more often than not, the reason tubs are uncomfortable is because the back-rest is too vertical. Total Immerse tubs therefore have a more-gentle, rolled-in slope designed into the tub. To keep the same overall length of tub, this means slightly less leg room, but trust us… it’s worth it!

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