Mti Baths - The Future of the Bathing Experience

When our local rep reached out about visiting the MTI Baths showroom, I was 100% on board. A weekend taking multiple baths as legitimate research for clients?! They couldn't sign me up fast enough! You may have seen some sneak peeks on our Instagram stories last week, but today is our full recap of our trip to Sugar Hill, Georgia to see the MTI Baths showroom. We have so things to gush about with this company, so keep scrolling if you're in the market for a new bathroom, or you just love home related content like we do!

Employee owned and u.s. based

Sadly, it has become less and less common to see large products manufactured here in the United States, but MTI is one company that is committed to keeping their entire manufacturing process local to Sugar Hill, Georgia. Not only that, but all materials used to create each bathtub are sourced within the U.S. as well!

The company itself is employee owned, with 207 men and women working tirelessly to create custom bathtubs day in and day out. I thought I would see more men in the manufacturing area, but I saw just as many women working, especially in the detail and finish work portion of the process. I will always support a company that supports its employees like that, and keeps important manufacturing work here stateside.

they do 'custom' and 'clean' so well

MTI has always been great to work with because we can actually ask for specific client-centric requests without the fear of being shut down immediately, or told "oh, we don't do that." a majority of their pieces are made to order, so all of their employees lead with a problem-solving mentality and find the right color, size, or therapy to include for each tub.

This might be hard to believe, but even with all of the flexibility of customization that they offer, the turnaround time pre-Covid was 20 days! And now it's still only 30 days, which is unheard of in this age of 6-12 month lead times for appliances or furniture. Remember that these are handmade, handpoured, custom bathtubs - I was completely amazed that they could stick to such a short timeline for that kind of work! And they actually do -- we just ordered one for a client and are receiving it ahead of schedule!

And if the cleanliness of tubs has always bothered you like it's bothered me, you'll love to know that these tubs can fully drain and self clean so you don't have lingering residue that can develop into something more serious later on. They even left disgusting water in one of their tubs for 6 months, fully drained and cleaned it with their system, and testing came back with the tub 99.9% free of bacteria!

material offerings

MTI offers a few different material options for their bathtubs, sinks, and shower pans. Their acrylic tubs are their least expensive line, but are still handmade with forms and coated in a thick layer of fiberglass, resin, and titanium backing for added strength and more insulation. MTI mineral composite tubs are the next option, which are made from minerals mined locally in Georgia from a natural granite and marble resource and cast with high-grade resin.

Our favorite options are their SculptureStone tubs, which are made from a quartz and high-grade resin, entirely built to order. The resin has UV protection throughout the mixture as well, and if the tub is scratched or dinged, you can literally sand it out with 180 grit sandpaper if you have the matte finish. You can also get a gloss finish, but it is a bit more expensive and the tub goes through another four hour process to polish it all up.

The SculptureStone gives it such an organic, natural feeling. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, since I'm so used to glossy tubs, but it was stunning in person, and felt very grounding while soaking in it!

therapy customization

Different therapies can also be incorporated into the tub design. With custom being so common, jets can be placed anywhere in the tub! Think about any chronic conditions you may have, or targeted areas that would benefit from consistent water therapy. It's harder to do, but MTI puts jets on the bottom of the tub so you actually feel the water movement instead of feeling slight movement from side tub jets.

They also have another therapy called micro bubbles, which is essentially a billion tiny little bubbles that go into the water that you can't really feel. These bubbles increase hydration in your skin by 42%, and helps with conditions like psoriasis or eczema. I tried a foot bath with this specific therapy, and the water turns milky simply because of how many bubbles are present! My feet and legs were so much softer after just 20 minutes, so this might find its way into our own bath design (if we ever find the right house, that is). They also have chromatherapy options that work with color psychology (red is invigorating, blue is calming, etc) that can be incorporated into your tub design.

A surprising feature they are working on is Bluetooth capability, so you can listen to your favorite podcast or music straight out of your tub! Another way to use Bluetooth through their phone app would be to start filling the tub during dinner or dish washing so you're not standing next to the tub waiting for the water to fill all the way! They are also working to connect their virtual spout, which replace the need for a physical tub filler, to connect to bluetooth. This would allow the tub to know when it is filled to the water line and will shut off the water to prevent overflows. While I wish these features were already available, i love that they are continuously looking ahead and finding ways for bath design to support new technology, and health and wellness.

MTI used to primarily show product at trade shows, but about nine years ago, they started thinking it would be better to have more real life experiences with the tubs for designers to try. Their idea was to build a show house just down the road from the manufacturing warehouse, and invite designers to stay over multiple days, get a hospitality experience where they could try different tubs and therapies themselves, and learn from the employees firsthand.

I absolutely love their approach and how much they want to hear feedback from all of us about our experience with everything they have displayed in the show house. Not only is it all great Southern hospitality, but they actually develop products based on our suggestions and make decisions that make their offering better.

Are you as thoroughly obsessed with these tubs as we are? I can't recommend MTI enough - as a company, and as a product you will be proud and happy to have in your home! If you're interested in any of their products, feel free to reach out to us.