my bathroom is yucky-please help

[HappyLamb]

Title says it all....my bathroom is yucky and needs a good, deep cleaning. I am willing to put the time, effort (and some money, if needed) to get it clean.

Specifically, the tub /shower could use some TLC. I am pretty good about keeping the sink area, mirrors, and toilet clean. But the tub is yucky...

first off, there is black grime (mold) in the grout in some places. Some of it comes out easily, some of it not so much.

second, the shower has sliding glass doors. No matter how I clean them, they still always look kind of grimy. There is always yucky grime in the metal tracks that they fit into.

Also, the faucet knobs are gross. They are an old fashioned clear plastic, and look like there is grime and mold inside of them (not sure if that makes sense).

I rent my house. I do plan on being here for a while, so I don't mind spending some money (under $100). For instance, I have no idea how much it would cost to replace the faucet knobs. I guess I could take off the the skiding glass doors and put up a shower curtain (my landlord wouldn't care).

Any suggestions/tips would be welcome. would appreciate techniques, cleaning supplies, equipment, etc...

[nichole]

subscribing....i can never get my bathtub clean enough with natural cleaners or baking soda. a good scrubbing brush helps. i can't wait to see the responses.

[dantesmama]

I use oxi-clean and a scrub brush in my bath/shower. I know what you mean about the plastic knobs - we have the same things, and although the outsides are clean they always look grimy. I have no idea how to replace those!

[Mama2Jesse]

Good scrub brush, absolutely.

Completely non crunchy, but when we bought this place the guest bath was beyond nasty. I bought The Works. It, well, worked. Wonders.

Horribly caustic and toxic and awful. But for a one time thing I caved.

Growing up, my family used Tilex and that stuff does wor against everything from mechanic grease to soap scum.

Oh, and perhaps a Mgic Eraser?
Especially if you have small children, I'd replace the door with a curtain. Much easier to supervise bathtime.

[bigteamug]

we used to have a faucet like this...and I was able to clean it inside...maybe you have the same type or similar?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053


For the knobs, try this first - the "top" that has the hot/cold or whatever label in it usually pops off, if that is where the grime is...take a slender screwdriver, usually there is a slot on the underside for it, and pry it gently off - scrub inside with a good cleaner (maybe borax powder?) and rinse/wipe. do the same for the cap thingy, and if there is goo under the little metal label thingy, it usually comes out, too. they usually just snap right back on, but make sure they are COMPLETELY dry before reassembling.

If this might not work, well, they are cheap.

On the door - um, some of those have screws into the tub, on the sides or the rim of the tub - if so, you'd HAVE to make sure they were filled, or you'll get water in there and have real yuck where you can't clean it. I'd check with the landlord first....if you caused water damage they could nail you for it later.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Is your tub cast iron covered porcelin? If so, you can do what we do. I use borax and a very fine sanding sponge. It works wonders. AFter the first few times, you'll be able to take it down to once a month with a sponge and just a rag in between. You should also be able to use it on the metal parts of your door.

Do NOT try this if your tub is plastic, though!

[noobmom]

You can kill the mold with variety of methods: tea tree oil, steam cleaner, etc., but you won't get rid of the black stain without bleach. It's just the way it goes. Cheapest way is probably diluting bleach and soaking a cloth with it. But if you don't have a lot to do, those Clorox pens should work.

It sounds like the tub has a layer of soap scum in it? We used a Magic Eraser on our shower doors and it worked pretty well. Our normal routine is to clean with baking soda and vinegar, but once in a while we break out the Magic Eraser.

[Contrariety]

I had the nasty black mildew on the caulk of my first apartment when I left home. Clorox cleanup was the only think that worked, but it did work. I just squirted it and left it to soak a few times for a day or two and it was gone. Worked amazingly well, actually. I rarely use it, but clorox cleanup can work wonders

[RiverSky]

I think in this case, you probably need to do a bit of a toxic clean up to remove the crap, then go to natural cleaners to maintain. In the bathtub/shower area, I suggest using CLR Bathroom/Kitchen spray (in a yellow bottle). We had these weird stains and soap scum buildup in our plastic shower (and dark built in grime on the floor) and I sprayed it all, let it sit for an hour and when I came back and showered it off, it was all gone. I did have to use a scrubby sponge on some of the yellow calcium/rust or whatever stains, but seriously, within 30 seconds it was all gone. I did that on our faucet knots and around the faucet, too, and voila, like new, with a little rub. I bet it would remove all the soap scum on your shower doors, too.

If you have black caulk anywhere in your shower area, scrape it out with a screwdriver, and re-caulk. You can do that for numerous places, and you will have nice shiny new white caulk. Don't just covered the mold/mildew, though, as it will grow through. As for black marks you can't remove from grout (try hydrogen peroxide and a scrub brush, if the CLR doesn't work), you can actually do the same thing, remove some of the offending grout and regrout. Those are both fairly cheap options.

As for the shower head and any other faucet heads that might be yellow, green, or whatever, fill a large ziplock bag with white vinegar, then faster it onto the shower head or faucet, and leave for as long as you can, 24 hours would be good. Then remove, use a scrub brush to brush off the last bits of crud, and it will be like brand new.

As for the toilet (if it's porcelain, only), if there are any stains inside, you will want rubber gloves (of course) and a toilet scrub brush, try the CLR spray again, and get a "toilet stone" (can find it in some grocery stores or in hardware store, it's just a blue pumice stone), or a "pool stone" (sold in pool supply stores) or a plain old pumice stone and scrape off any gross stains or mineral build ups with the pumice stone. Seriously, you'd be amazed that it will take everything off of the porcelain.

If you have porclein tile on the floor, pouring hydrogen peroxide on the grout and leaving it for 15 minutes, then scrubbing with a brush, should really help lighten/whiten the grout.

If your faucets don't get clean, btw, bathroom sink faucets (the simplest kind) are super cheap at Home Depot, like sometimes $29, and surprisingly, not hard to install. If you don't feel up to installation, then ask around amongst your friends to see if anyone will do it for you. You might be surprised. The landlord might even install it for you, if you pay for it.

Potential costs:
$29 for new faucet
$5 for CLR kitchen/bath spray
$10 for a couple of scrub brushes
$2 for large bottle of vinegar
$2 for a bottle of bleach (if you want to try that on your black grout)
$10 for caulk
$10? for grout mix
$5 for a couple pairs of rubber gloves
$10 (?) for a new mop?
$2 for a scrubby sponge
$5 for a bottle of windex or more natural window cleaner
$2 for a roll of paper towel (perhaps?)

Total $92, perhaps

remember, once you get it clean, work on it every day, or every two days and then it won't get that bad ever again, right?

Or perhaps pay for a housecleaner to come in once a week? LOL!

[artemis33]

Originally Posted by MissMommyNiceNice

Is your tub cast iron covered porcelin? If so, you can do what we do. I use borax and a very fine sanding sponge. It works wonders. AFter the first few times, you'll be able to take it down to once a month with a sponge and just a rag in between. You should also be able to use it on the metal parts of your door.

Do NOT try this if your tub is plastic, though!

I second the Borax if you have a porcelain tub! It is amazing. I just use it with a regular rag or sponge, make a thick paste of it that is just slightly damp and scrub. It doesn't even take a lot of elbow grease.

If you have any rust stains on the porcelain, barkeeper's friend is great for those. I use it on my kitchen farmhouse sink since my cast iron pans sometimes leave marks. Like the Borax though, you can't use this on plastic!

For the mildew in the grout, I tried everything natural and only had luck with removal/replacement or bleach I used a small peri type bottle and diluted the bleach about half with water (so still pretty strong) and used this to squirt it right on the problem areas. Open the window or turn on the fan, shut the door and leave it for as long as you can.

Good luck!

[UptownZoo]

Originally Posted by RiverSky

I think in this case, you probably need to do a bit of a toxic clean up to remove the crap, then go to natural cleaners to maintain.

Bingo. If you have littles, just do it sometime when they're not around, then be really thorough with the rinsing and air it out well. But I definitely think that the natural methods are great until you have a serious mess, then you have to go for the big guns.

When my bathtub get really grimy, I fill it with hot water and add a cleaner with enzymes (any kind will do: laundry detergent, dish detergent, whatever) and let it soak for several hours or overnight. Then I use a scrubby sponge and all that soap scum and hard water comes off with only a little scrubbing.

For the best cleaners, don't go to the discount stores. The best stuff is at janitorial supply stores, and most of them that I've been in will sell to retail customers in retail quantities. If you can't find one of those, you can find much better cleaners at the home improvement stores like Lowe's and Home Depot than the discount places, and often better prices.

Oh, I forgot about your shower doors. That grimy look comes from hard water and soap scum that builds up in layers. It's a beast to get rid of and the only way I've ever found is to use the specialty cleaners especially for hard water and soap scum. Ventilate well; those cleaners are stinky! After you've rinse very thoroughly (so you don't risk making a toxic mix), use some glass cleaner to polish them up. If you squeegee on the doors after every shower/bath (or even just wipe them up with an old towel), it probably won't build up again. Ugh, I had glass shower doors in my old house and they gave me fits. It's much nicer now to have only curtains!

[SquishyKitty]

Magic eraser works well for grout, but I prefer brillo pads or SOS pads for soap scum in the shower/sink, it comes off quickly, and there's no smell and it's shiny and clean afterwards.

Truthfully, I would bleach the crap out of everything, remove the old caulking and re-caulk (but make sure you know what you're doing or you'll end up in the same boat with mold).

The shower doors should get really clean with some lime remover like CLR, and also a Magic Eraser. I love those things. I am not a big fan of shower curtains because they always seem to smell mildewed to me, but that's a personal preference. If the doors look that bad, I'd probably replace them with a curtain.