Squeeeeky clean!
Posted: January 24, 2012 Filed under: Bathroom, Cleaning & Organization 5 CommentsSo, a sudden weekend bout of sickness has kept this girl off of the project party bus. The things I was hoping to have done this weekend did NOT get accomplished. So while I am working on those things, I have something else for you.
Meet, my nemesis….
Yes that’s right….my shower! From the time we moved in, the shower and I have had a hate/hate relationship! Not only for its lack of space, especially for girl things like shaving ones’ legs (….I have hit my head one too many times on the walls!) but these glass windows are also a NIGHTMARE to clean!! Routine soap scum, coupled with our hard water, made cleaning the shower a chore to be fought over!!
I tried several different cleaning products and up until now, the only things that worked were squeegie-ing the windows daily after showering and using a product that claimed to be free of obnoxious fumes. So as to not give this company away, its name rhymes with HA-DOOM. This spray worked OK in helping to remove the soap scum and hard water, but it did not get rid of ALL of the traces. Not fully satisfied. Also, the fumes were HORRIBLE. The lucky cleaner of the shower had to hold their breath when using the spray, hope it wasn’t too cold out to open the windows, and rush through the entire process.
Breathing this stuff in felt like a herd of elephants was sitting on your chest. I knew there had to be something better out there that didn’t feel like it was asphyxiating me while cleaning! Cleaning should not be hazardous to my health! It should be the opposite….not cleaning is a health hazard! In this case, it was a double edged sword!!
I did some research into natural or homemade solutions to clean shower stalls. I figured someone else out there has to have this same problem! I came across this recipe from food.com…..
and decided to give it a try. The recipe calls for 12 oz of each ingredient, but I only had a 12oz bottle available so I halved everything!
Ingredients:
12 oz white vinegar (I used 6)
12 ounces liquid, blue dawn dish detergent (i just filled my bottle halfway)
Directions:
1. Heat vinegar in microwave until hot and pour into squirt bottle.
2. Add dawn soap. Put lid on and gently shake to mix
Easy enough right??
I used it on my bathroom sinks, the tub, the tiles, and most importantly, the shower…..I am IN LOVE with this stuff!
It is a miracle cleaner! This stuff is UH-MAAAA-ZING!! I first used it on my sinks…..(umm….so embarrassed to be showing you this! But hey, blogging is about being truthful right???)
Just a FEW squirts of the miracle cleaner and wiping with a damp cloth, the grimy sink and mirror were absolutely SPARKLING!
I was hoping the shower would be the same. The instructions said that for tough areas, you could spray and let sit overnight. I was too impatient and spraying this stuff onto the grimy shower, wiping a few minutes later……let me tell you…..the shower has not been that clean since the day we moved in!
It doesn’t photograph well, but take my “singing in the shower” word for it!! It is awesome! And it didn’t even require too much scrubbing! Just a few spots needing more than others. And you don’t need much of this magic cleaner. The more you spray, the more you have to rinse because of the soap in it! A little goes a long way!
Even the tile surround on the soaking tub next to the shower practically glow in the dark. I’m not kidding! I’m like a crazy woman smiling at my clean tiles, even in the dark!
I also gave it a try on the kitchen sink. The house was built with a standard builder-grade sink. Scratches easily and gets TONS of marks. I would love to switch it out, but again, not our forever house, so I haven’t decided if its worth it or not!
Nasty sink before………(hanging my head in shame – although you can’t help it with this stinky sink!)
And after miracle cleaner…….
There is some difference but that’s about all you’re going to get with this sink!! I typically used a scrub with bleach and it didn’t really do much. Again, I’ll be sticking to my new miracle cleaner!
I feel MUCH better cleaning my house with vinegar (edible) and soap that is safe enough to wash dishes with! No crazy bleach or fumes here anymore! Oh, one warning, the cleaner smells a bit like vinegar, but I would imagine adding a few drops of scented oil of your choice would help get rid of that! It was so much better than what I had before, I can deal with a little vinegar!!
HAPPY CLEANING!
I linked up at the Weekend Bloggy Reading party at Serenity Now!
whitepicketbentz.wordpress.com 
If you like also using car wax on the shower walls/doors every 2 months keeps the build up off! I know it is a little time consuming, but SO worth it. We have one of those “lovely” fiberglass plastic things that encases the shower walls (we rent or it would be tile!) and I had a friend who wanted to dye her hair RED (like almost blood red) so I figured why not? I put the wax on the walls and waited till it dried. (go and laugh, you KNOW I started doing it in little circles like on the car) Wiped it off after, by the time I got to the front wall the back was dry. It kept water spots off for 2 months!!! Works GREAT!! and we have HARD nasty water here.
Jenn that’s an awesome idea to cut down on some “elbow grease” when cleaning regularly! I will have to give it a try!!!
~Tiffany
Forgot to warn you, if the wax is the green kind (brand name of an animal that lives in its shell that isnt a snail) you might stain the grout.. so to make it a bit easier, smear petroleum jelly on it. I did that here where there was grout, left that on too, and it kept that clean for a while too!! No more mildew in the corners that seems to get there no matter what I do 😡 Now if I could manage to keep the shower curtain looking clean…
Even more awesome tips!! The petroleum jelly for the mildew corners would be great! Do you have any tips for busting it all out of there to start?? I used to have the shower curtain issue, but now it’s the windows! Dont know which is worse!!
I am definitely going to be trying out the Dawn/vinegar solution. We have an old, old tub that never seems to stay clean, but I’m betting that it would do the trick. I also plan to whip up some easy laundry detergent one of these days to see if cleans better than my usual stuff. Thanks for the tip!