Ceramic soap dishes applied to shower or bath walls look terrific. They give the tub or shower a feeling of permanence, and they leave you more room on wire racks for shampoo and other bottles. When you adhere your soap dish to the wall, you will not be using tile mortar or a mastic. Instead, you will need to purchase an epoxy adhesive.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 2 hours
Here's How:
- With a piece of sandpaper, roughen up the back of the soap dish and the ceramic tile wall. Be careful when sanding the tile wall, so that you are not extending your scratches beyond the soapdish’s future “footprint.”
- Depending on the epoxy directions, you will probably have to spread the adhesive on both the soap dish and the tile surfaces. Place the two together.
- Pull the soap dish back again. With most epoxies, the prime time to stick the pieces together is when the epoxy feels nearly dry. Yes, it seems counterintuitive, but this is the best time to do it.
- Press the soap dish back in place.
- With a rag, carefully wipe away the excess epoxy, and do it quickly.
- Keep the soap dish firmly in place using multiple strands of painters’ masking tape. Even though the soap dish may feel like it is securely in place without support, over a period of an hour or two it will slowly slip down.
Do not use duct tape, as it will leave adhesive behind. While painters’ masking tape is really not made for holding heavy items like soap dishes, you can mitigate the problem by criss-crossing many strands of tape across the dish.
- After two days, remove the tape. Apply bathroom caulk around the edges of the soap dish where it meets the wall. This not only prevents water from leaking in behind the soap dish, but gives it a much cleaner, finished appearance.
Tips:
- Be careful: epoxy is unforgivable stuff to work with.
- Keep the bathroom clear of human and animal visitors after application. The odor is strong.
- Make sure your caulk is labeled for "kitchen and bathroom."
- Watch a great video about applying painters' tape within a room for painting.
What You Need:
- Soap dish
- Epoxy
- Cloth rag
- Kitchen or bath caulk
- Painters' masking tape
