Should Your Repair or Replace Your Bathroom Mirrors?

"Mirror rot" is a common experience in older bathroom mirrors. The silver nitrate in a mirror is sealed in with a layer of copper sulphate, and a coat of paint on the back, to protect it from the elements. Over time however the seal can fail, allowing the silver nitrate to react with moisture and particles in the air, and forming black edges around the mirror. There is little that can be done to prevent these marks, but how should you deal with them when they appear?

Repairing

The only way to properly repair a blemished mirror is through re-silvering. This involves buying a kit which contains the chemicals to remove the silvering on the mirror, then applying a new silver, and re-painting the back. There are several drawbacks to this method. Firstly it depends on how strongly you rate your DIY skills; secondly it can be very expensive, particularly if you add in the cost of protective equipment—you will need goggles, a dust mask and gloves, as you will be working with toxic chemicals. The advantage is that the method will restore an old mirror to new.

A simpler method is to put a frame around the mirror. This will not cure the problem—indeed, the marks will probably continue to grow towards the middle of the mirror—but it should give you many more years before the problem re-appears. Again, you have the problem of either building your own frame, or the expense of paying someone else; and if the spots appear in the middle of the mirror, it won't work anyway.

If the marks are in the middle of the mirror and you don't want to re-silver it, you could always try covering them up with mirror decals or stickers; a cheap option, but not a very elegant one.

Replacement

Whether you go for replacement probably depends on what kind of mirror you have. Bathroom mirrors can be bought cheaply from hardware stores, but if your original mirror had any kind of special design, you may find it difficult if not impossible to find a replacement. In general though, this should be more cost-effective than re-silvering a mirror.

Whether to repair or replace depends on your budget, your DIY skills, and the time you have available. And you could always go for neither option; a few marks won't stop your mirror from working.

Still not sure what to do? Contact services that work with bathroom mirrors to make the final call.