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4 places to find recessed soap dishes and ceramic bathroom fixtures — including both vintage and new

pam kueber - Updated: April 1, 2019

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

recessed ceramic soap dishHere is another source to check for recessed soap dishes: Deabath.com, which has maintains a rotating selection of both  of New Old Stock and salvaged ceramic tile accessories on their website. Above: A Hall-Mack “Chinavogue” soap dish from 1958, still in its original box. Gosh, I want to get all gushy about how beautiful this is… Deabath.com — aka Bathroom Machineries — also has ceramic tile-in toothbrush holders, toilet paper roll holders and shelves… not only in white, but also in a catch-as-catch-can variety of vintage colors.

dispose of used razor blades
deabath even sells a tile with slot to dispose of used razor blades — so old skool!

Recessed soap dishes are a pretty popular topic. I now have a list of several places to find them, along with other recessed and tile-in ceramic accessories — including both vintage New Old Stock (NOS) and made-new:

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31 comments

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  1. Ellie says

    My question is actually about cleaning vintage ceramic bathroom accessories. I found a 1930s soapdish to go with the colored Kohler fixtures I’m installing in my bathroom (yay ebay!), but it has some hard water and soap stains. Any suggestions for removing them?

    Soaking in warm water with baking soda and ammonia and scrubbing gently hasn’t worked. The guy I got the bathroom fixtures from seems to have used muratic acid to clean those. Is that what’s needed here, too?

  2. Kathy Cutforth says

    I found the motherload of ceramic toothbrush holders, towel bar holders, shower nitches and shelves, TP holders, ect… in over 100 colors! Not the easiest webste to navigate, but the prices are reasonable.

    http://www.eclectic-ware.com/Eclectic-ware/ACProducts/acproducts700/acproducts700.html

    Also carries replacement white and clear plastic spring-loaded 3/4″ square towel bars to fit old ceramic towel bar holders:

    http://www.eclectic-ware.com/Eclectic-ware/Lenape/Re-Place-A-Bar/re-place-a-bar.html

    Incidentally, you might want to mention that your friends at DEA Bath stock white and clear glass towel bars, and they apparently have some metal square ones as well. Here is the link for the glass ones:

    https://deabath.com/Original/Or_Bath_a/Or_Batha2/or_batha2.html

    Couldn’t find a list for square metal ones–you have to call.

    Rejuvenation makes a great set of ceramic light fixtures and such for a period bath, and they are 30% off right now. Might be able to get a square metal replacement bar there, or scavenge for parts from a cheap modern towel bar.

    I’m wondering if those spring-loaded plastic ends from Eclectic-ware/AC Products could be retrofitted into a metal bar.

    • pam kueber says

      Thanks.Yes, Eclectic Ware and Lenape seem now to be the same thing — see our 4th bulleted resource.

      Thanks for the tip on the spring-loaded towels — I’ve never seen those before!

  3. Lois says

    I would like to buy the recessed toilet paper holder with the door.Where can I buy it?

  4. Regiane Benko says

    Hi I need to buy one ceramic wall tile bath shower soap dish I think is the series 800 sleek series – alm. I saw one model in your website, how can I buy this ?

  5. Jess says

    Hello!

    I am looking for a 20inch glass bathroom shelf with white porcelain brackets and I am having alot of trouble finding one. Please help!

    Jess

  6. Thomas and Maureen Bob says

    Hello from Dallas Tx. We have been searching for a replacement recessed soap dish,which my grand son tried to stand on and broke the grab/washrag handle off of.Should anyone be able to help us,it would be greatly appreciated.The dimensions are 91/2 X 41/4. The tile size is the 41/4X41/4 so it takes up two tile area,The color should be white or somewhat off white. Thanks a million. Thomas and Maureen Bob 😉

    • pam kueber says

      Thomas and Maureen — check all the resources I have in this story and in my Bathrooms / Tile and Bathrooms / Accessories sectons. GOod luck

  7. Jeffrey from Village Green says

    Hello, I sent you a blog about the bathroom remodel I,m doing on my 1941 National Historic Landmark. We’ve made our decisions, and now we are ordering what is needed. This article came just in time for the pieces we need. The Hal-Mack Chinavogue will be perfect! And the towel bars, soap dish, and cup holder at Rejuvenation is just 5 minutes away. What great solutions! Your site has been a big help so far. Thanks! We will keep you updated and send you some pictures soon.

  10. Joe says

    Too funny about that blade disposal tile. I’ve heard stories where contractors go in to remodel/repair a bathroom and they open up the wall and a mountain of safety blades comes pouring out at them. I guess that is a “I’ll let the next guy worry about it” kinda thing.

      • pam kueber says

        Yup. However, I think it would take like 1,000 years to fill up a wall. And: the world moved to disposable razors soon enough – so it became a non-issue