Wash Basin

Wash Basin Styles: Counter, Art and Pedestal

A wash basin is the bathroom sink, and the word covers more than one shape. This category holds three: thin-edge counter top basins in coloured glazes, an art basin shaped as a feature piece, and free-standing pedestal basins that hide the pipes in a column. They suit different rooms. A coloured or art basin makes a guest toilet memorable; a pedestal suits a classic bathroom with no cabinet. Decide what the room needs from the basin before you decide how it should look.

Buying guide

Choosing a Wash Basin for a Malaysian Bathroom

Pick the wash basin by what the room lacks, storage, floor space or a focal point, and let the style follow.

Which Wash Basin Style Fits the Room

A pedestal or free-standing basin stands on the floor with the trap and the supplies hidden inside the column. No counter and no cabinet, so it suits a classic look and a room where a cabinet would block a door. It needs a floor fixing and the pipes brought up inside its footprint.

An art basin is a shaped bowl meant to be looked at, usually on a counter in a powder room or a guest toilet where it is the one thing a visitor sees. Give it a plain counter and a tap that does not compete.

A coloured thin-edge basin is the same shape as the ultra-thin edge basins with a black, golden yellow or rose gold glaze. Match the tap finish to the glaze rather than to the tiles; the basin taps page shows the finishes.

If storage is the gap, none of these solve it. Look at a basin cabinet instead.

Care, Cleaning and Coloured Glazes

Hard water marks show on colour. A pale scale forms on any glaze in Malaysian tap water. On white it is invisible; on black or rose gold it is not. A quick wipe after use keeps a coloured wash basin looking new.

No abrasives. Scouring powder dulls a glaze over time and the dulling shows first on a coloured basin. Mild cleaner and a soft cloth are enough.

Pedestals need the floor finished first. The column stands on the tiled floor and is fixed through it, so the tiler goes before the plumber's second visit. Check the trap will fit inside the column with the pipe positions you have.

Wastes and overflows. Check whether the basin has an overflow before buying the waste; a basin without one takes an unslotted waste. The wider bathroom basins category has the mounting guide if you are still choosing between counter, wall and pedestal.

Common questions

What is the difference between a wash basin and a sink?

In everyday Malaysian usage a sink is in the kitchen and a wash basin is in the bathroom. The plumbing is similar, but a wash basin is smaller, usually ceramic, and takes a basin tap rather than a kitchen mixer.

What is a free standing basin?

A basin with its own column to the floor, also called a pedestal basin. The column hides the trap and the pipes and carries some of the weight, so no counter or cabinet is needed. It is fixed to the wall at the rim and to the floor at the base.

Is a coloured wash basin harder to keep clean?

Slightly. The glaze cleans the same way as white, but water scale and soap marks are more visible on a dark or metallic finish. A wipe after use solves it; if that will not happen in your household, white is the safer choice.

How do I match a tap to a rose gold or black basin?

Match the tap to the basin's finish, not to the tiles. A rose gold basin with a rose gold tap reads as one piece; a chrome tap on it reads as an afterthought. Bring the basin model code when choosing the tap so the finishes are compared side by side.

What is an art basin?

A basin shaped or finished as a feature piece rather than a plain bowl. It is meant for a room where the basin is the focal point, such as a guest toilet or a powder room, and it usually sits on a counter with a simple tap.

Finishes on coloured basins are hard to judge on a screen; the showroom is the place to compare a basin and a tap side by side.

Visit the showroom