The short answer
Short answer: use waterproof ABS in any bathroom, shower room or utility, and either ABS or a wipeable painted finish in a kitchen depending on how close the window is to the hob and sink. Fabric blinds and painted MDF are the two things that fail in wet rooms.
- Bathrooms
- Waterproof ABS, no exceptions
- Bathroom price
- £420 to £600 fitted
- Kitchens
- Café style over the sink
Why painted MDF fails in a bathroom
Steam gets into any unsealed edge, most often at the machined louvre tips and around the hinge screws. The core swells, the paint film lifts, and within a couple of years the panel looks tired. It is the single most common shutter complaint we are called out to.
What ABS does differently
ABS is a solid polymer, so there is no core to swell. It handles direct water, bathroom cleaners and mild bleach, and it can be scrubbed rather than dusted. In a shower enclosure it is the only material we will fit.
- Family bathroom: full height ABS, tilt for daylight
- Shower room or wet room: ABS, face fit clear of splash
- Utility: ABS, easy to wipe down
- Ensuite with a small high window: ABS café or full height
Kitchens: heat, grease and the sink
A kitchen window is rarely wet but it is greasy, and anything above a hob picks up a film. Café style over a sink keeps the panel above the splash zone and out of the way when you are leaning over. Wipe-clean finishes are worth specifying in any kitchen that gets used properly.
Privacy without losing the light
Bathrooms are usually the most overlooked window in the house. Tilting a louvre upward gives you daylight from the sky while blocking the sightline from the street or a neighbour's landing, which obscured glass alone does not do.
Common questions
Can I have wooden shutters in a bathroom?
We would not fit them. Hardwood can survive a well-ventilated bathroom but ABS is the material designed for it, and it costs less.
Do bathroom shutters go mouldy?
ABS does not absorb moisture, so mould has nothing to grow into. A weekly wipe keeps limescale off the louvre edges.
What about a shutter right over the bath?
Fine in ABS. We usually face fit slightly clear of the reveal so water runs off rather than sitting in the frame.
Are ABS shutters obviously plastic?
Not at a normal viewing distance. They come in the same whites as our painted range, which is why they work alongside shutters elsewhere in the house.