The first thing I do is run a hand along the inside edge and check the slope of the base. Too flat and you're sliding around like you're in a canoe, too steep and the water pools weird at one end. I also knock on the side, a dull thud means it's solid, a hollow rattle means it's thin acrylic that's going to flex under you and maybe crack at the corner in five years. Weight matters more than people think, both the tub's and whether your floor can take it full of water and a grown adult.
If you've got nothing to go on, start with a straight sided alcove tub in a plain white or off white acrylic. I know, I know, I'm the color person, but a bathtub is not the place to get brave first. It fits into almost any bathroom layout, it's the easiest to reglaze or replace later without redoing tile, and it won't fight the rest of the room while you figure out what you actually want on the walls around it. Where it does go wrong is when people try to match it too closely to a trendy tile color, a pale blue tub with pale blue subway tile reads like a hospital room, and a stone colored tub against warm wood vanities can look muddy rather than cozy. Freestanding tubs in bold shapes, copper, matte black, that stuff is gorgeous but it wants a bathroom with enough floor space to breathe around it, not a cramped rental bathroom where it just becomes something you bang your shin on. My mother has a beige bathroom with a beige tub and she will tell you it's restful. I think it's just beige. But she's never once had to think about whether it clashes with anything, so there's an argument there too.
Cast iron with enamel ages beautifully and basically forever, acrylic scratches if you're rough with abrasive cleaners, and both yellow a little under hard water if you never seal or clean properly. Wipe it down after use so soap scum doesn't build into a permanent ring, use a nonabrasive cleaner, and refinish or reglaze every decade or so if it's starting to look tired rather than replacing the whole thing, which is expensive and disruptive for no reason. Check for hairline cracks around the drain every so often, that's where leaks start first. Before you buy anything, measure the rough opening width, length and depth, and measure your doorway and stairwell too, because a bathtub that won't fit through your hallway is a very expensive thing to find out about on delivery day.
Aisha's pickBathtubs with Door Pulled From Dozens of Stores
Aisha's pickThe Large Bathtubs Worth Your Cash
Aisha's pickTraditional Bathtubs That Make a Small Bathroom Work
Aisha's pickBathtubs with Feet You Won’t Regret Buying
Aisha's pickLarge Shower Tubs at Every Price Point
Aisha's pickVintage Bathtubs That Are Easy to Keep Clean
Aisha's pickShopping for Bathtubs with Shower? Start Here
Aisha's pickLuxury Bathtubs That Stand Up to Steam
Aisha's pickWhite Bathtubs We’d Put in Our Own BathroomAlso worth a lookBathtubs & ShowersYou can tell a good bathtub from a bad one before you even get in, just by looking at the edge of it.See the collections →
Aisha's pickBird Bathtubs That Stand Up to the Weather
Aisha's pickLuxury Shower Tubs That Look Better in Real Life
Aisha's pickWhite Bathtubs with Shower From Stores Big and Small
Aisha's pickShopping for Black Bathtubs? Start Here
Aisha's pickLuxury Spa Bathtubs Hunted Down So You Don’t Have To
Aisha's pickWhite Shower Tubs for a Bathroom Refresh Without a Refit
Aisha's pickBlack Shower Tubs That Make a Room Feel Finished
Aisha's pickModern Bathtubs That Make Mornings Easier
Aisha's pickWooden Bathtubs That Look Good Next to Old Tiles
Aisha's pickBlue Bathtubs That Make Mornings Easier
Aisha's pickPink Bathtubs Pulled From Dozens of Stores
Aisha's pickCompact Bathtubs With a Bit More About Them
Aisha's pickRound Bathtubs That Make a Small Bathroom Work
Aisha's pickCream Bathtubs for When the Old Ones Give Up
Aisha's pickShower Tubs You’ll Still Like in Five Years
Aisha's pickDeep Bathtubs That Make a Room Feel Finished
Aisha's pickSilver Bathtubs Pulled From Dozens of Stores
Aisha's pickDouble Bathtubs We’d Put in Our Own Bathroom
Aisha's pickSmall Bathtubs for People Who Know What They Like
Aisha's pickShopping for Extra Large Bathtubs? Start Here
Aisha's pickSpa Bathtubs We’d Put in Our Own Bathroom
Aisha's pickGold Bathtubs That Look Good Next to Old Tiles
Aisha's pickSquare Bathtubs for a Bathroom Refresh Without a Refit
Aisha's pickAcrylic Bathtubs That Look Good Next to Old Tiles
Aisha's pickWhere to Start With Gray Bathtubs
