What is AcrylX, and how does it compare to regular acrylic?

AcrylX is acrylic, not a different material. The difference is in how it is applied: AcrylX is a long lasting acrylic finish laid over a fiberglass-reinforced shell, while the acrylic on an Ella walk-in tub is a solid sheet formed into shape, and Ella's own documents compare AcrylX not with other acrylic but with the older gel coat finish, as What is the difference between gel coat and AcrylX Ella shower finishes? explains. This page describes what the AcrylX surface is, how it sits on the layers beneath it, how it compares with sheet acrylic, gel coat and fiberglass, and how to care for it.

AcrylX Is Acrylic, Applied a Different Way

When one shower is described as acrylic and another as AcrylX, you are looking at two acrylic surfaces. The published description of AcrylX is a high gloss, truer white surface that resists scratching, cracking and chipping, and that is less porous, so it stays easier to clean. Ella's care instructions treat AcrylX exactly like any other acrylic fixture, which is the clearest sign that the surface belongs to the same family of material as the acrylic you already know from bathtubs and shower bases.

What sets AcrylX apart is the way it is built. A sheet acrylic surface, like the bathing surface of an Ella walk-in tub, starts as a solid acrylic sheet that is heated and formed over a mold. AcrylX is an applied acrylic finish: it is laid over a fiberglass-reinforced shell, so the shell gives the unit its shape and the AcrylX layer is the surface you see, touch and clean. Because the published documents never draw a line between AcrylX and other acrylic, the question that matters for an Ella shower buyer is not AcrylX versus acrylic. It is AcrylX versus the gel coat finish on the older units, and that comparison is where the real differences in gloss, porosity and printed warranty show up.

How an AcrylX Shower Is Built, Layer by Layer

Ella's made-in-the-USA shower stalls, multi-piece kits and barrier-free roll-in bases are built in layers, and each layer has one job.

• The fiberglass reinforced shell. This gives the unit its shape and strength. It is the structure, never the surface you touch.
• The AcrylX finish. The applied acrylic layer over the shell. This is the bathing surface, the part that gives the unit its gloss and its white color and the part you clean.
• Armorcore reinforced walls. Behind the surface, the walls are reinforced on all sides so grab bars and seats can be mounted anywhere on the wall, which matters when a bather's needs change after the shower is in. What Is Armorcore Reinforcement on Ella Shower Stall Walls and Why Does It Matter? covers that layer on its own.

Features such as the seat are part of this same construction rather than separate parts. On the one-piece and three-piece stalls the seat is molded as a shape in the shell, so it is the same fiberglass shell with the same AcrylX finish as the walls and floor, and it is hollow underneath. No weight rating is published for it, so contractors add framing under that hollow space for a heavier bather, as Is the Ella Shower Stall Molded Seat Hollow, and What Is It Made Of? describes. Knowing that the seat is AcrylX over fiberglass also tells you how to clean it: the same way as the walls.

AcrylX, Sheet Acrylic, Gel Coat and Fiberglass Side by Side

Every figure in this table appears in a published Ella document or in the team's own description. Where no figure is printed, the cell says not listed.

The table makes the real split clear. AcrylX and sheet acrylic are two forms of the same acrylic surface, one applied over a shell and one formed from a sheet, and both are backed by fiberglass for strength. Gel coat is the different finish. It is the thin sprayed layer on the older units, and it carries the shorter printed warranty term. Fiberglass appears in every row because it is the structure, never the surface, so a shower or tub described as fiberglass is really telling you about its gel coat finish rather than about a competing surface material.

What the Difference Means for Your Bathroom

• Choosing between acrylic and AcrylX. If one Ella shower is described as acrylic and another as AcrylX, you are choosing between acrylic surfaces, and the construction behind them is what to compare. The current AcrylX stalls and kits add Armorcore reinforced walls on all sides, so grab bars and seats can go anywhere later without planning blocking into the wall framing first.
• Choosing between AcrylX and gel coat. This is the comparison Ella's documents actually draw. The AcrylX one-piece stalls print a Lifetime Limited Residential Warranty and a 30-Year Commercial Warranty, while the gel coat ESM series and gel coat multi-piece showers print a 3 year limited warranty.
• How the surface wears. AcrylX is published as resisting scratching, cracking and chipping and as less porous. In the dealer video on this page, a walk-in tub dealer explains the same contrast for tubs: a solid acrylic surface can be buffed if it ever dulls, while a gel coat finish is brittle, expands and contracts with hot and cold water, and chips and cracks, which then calls for a full fiberglass repair followed by refinishing and polishing.
• Showers and tubs together. If you are pairing an Ella walk-in tub with an Ella shower, both bathing surfaces are acrylic. The tub uses a formed sheet, and the shower uses the applied AcrylX finish, so they are cleaned the same way. Fiberglass vs acrylic bathtub: what is the real difference? covers the tub side of that story.

Caring for an AcrylX Surface

Because AcrylX is acrylic, care is the same as for any acrylic fixture. Use warm water and liquid detergent, or a non-abrasive cleanser made for fiberglass bathroom fixtures. Never use scouring powders, scouring pads or steel wool, because an abrasive takes the gloss off the surface you are trying to protect. The molded seat, the walls and the floor are all the same finish, so one routine covers the whole stall. The less porous surface is what keeps soap film from taking hold, so a regular wipe with a soft cloth is usually all it takes to keep the truer white looking the way it did on the day the shower was installed.

Watch: Acrylic Over Fiberglass: The Better Walk-In Tub Choice | Voted Safest/Best 2020 | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• What the Ella Acrylic Shower Base Is Made Of and How It Is Installed

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