How to Paint Shower Tiles White

Time needed: 2 days

Learn exactly how to paint outdated shower tiles white by following these steps!

1. Remove any glue or caulk from your existing tiles.

   First you need to take off any glue and caulk that is touching the tiles you are going to paint. We decided to remove our whole glass shower door and use a curtain in the future, so there was a lot of glue to peel off the wall. Using an X-acto knife, utility knife, or flathead screwdriver with a hammer, get all the glue and caulk out so the paint will seal well. This part took me a good exhausting few hours, so you might want to do this ahead of time. Others pointed out that this would be a good time to fix any broken tile and grout if you want.

2. Clean your tiles thoroughly.

   Next, you will be following the instructions on the paint can on how to use your cleaning supplies to prep the tile surface. They are tough chemicals, so I put on my respirator and gloves, and turned on the fan before completing all of these cleaning steps.
   – Vacuum the tub of dust and hairs. Rinse.
   – Apply bleach, scrub, and rinse thoroughly (I totally pulled my garden hose through the window to spray down ALL the tiles, including the ceiling)
   – Next, spread Comet across the tiles and scrub away. Rinse thoroughly.
   – Finally, spread LimeAway across the tiles and let sit 5 minutes. Scrub. Rinse thoroughly.

3. Let your tile dry completely.

   Let your tile dry for at least 90 minutes before painting.

4. Ventilate the area as well as possible.

   This is when you need the best airflow going, but if you can, set it up so that the fumes don't get into the rest of the house. If I moved my respirator to wipe my nose while in the bathroom, I could feel my heart rate shoot up. This is really potent (and possibly dangerous) stuff. Consider that well before starting this project.
   
   We kept the bathroom door shut with the fan pushing the air towards the open window. It helped to have the rest of the house's windows open (but the bedroom doors closed).
   
   It'll stink it up bad for a few days. Some people even said they were glad they did it just before going on vacation. I didn't think it was unbearably bad so long as the bathroom door stayed shut and fans stayed running (for about 3 days).

5. Prepare the products.

   Keeping your gloves and mask on, shake the activator and base cans up to mix well and then pour them into your paint tray. When mixed, the paint looks very watery, but it goes on like solid glue.

6. Paint!

   Use a paintbrush and/or roller to apply the paint to your shower tiles and grout. The grout is tricky to cover; that's where I used a brush the most. Using your roller, go in one direction, consistently feathering your edges. If you allow a paint dribble it will not look great when it dries. This paint dries fast. You can touch up spots easily in subsequent coats.

7. Allow the first coat to dry, then recoat.

   In between the first and second coat wait about 2 hours for it to dry. Wrap your paint and brushes super well with plastic wrap in between coats. The can says to wait a day before the 3rd coat, but do not let your mixed paint sit out for more than 6 hours.  
   
   If you're not sure how much paint you'll need, the can shows the ratios to mix if you want to leave some unmixed in the can for a later day.
   
   For all my tile, I did 3 coats + 1 touch-up session and used almost 2 full kits. Layer three ultimately covered up the previous tile color.
   
   After painting the tiles we realized that the tub was biscuit rather than white, so I bought another kit and used half of it's contents to repaint ~2 coats on the tub.