How often do you clean the bath tub?

[samy23]

how often do you clean it?

and what do you use to clean it?

is it bad/dangerous health wise/bacteria not to do it very often?

[Llyra]

I clean mine lightly after every time somebody takes a bath or shower. By "lightly," I mean I take a clean towel and wipe it thoroughly, inside and along the rim, to get off any soap scum that's left behind. It's easier to keep the scum down if I wipe it while it's literally still wet, and it takes only ten seconds. I find that stuff like mildew is really preventable, if you keep the surfaces VERY DRY and the air well-ventilated. So I always wipe.

Actually, now that my kids are old enough to understand, they have started to copy this, so I wind up only wiping up after my own baths or showers.

Honestly? I don't clean it much more than that. Every once in a while when I get to feeling energetic, I'll toss some baking soda in there and scour it down. Maybe three or four times a year.

I do the tile walls and the fixtures while I'm showering-- just wipe them down with my washcloth after I'm done using it, with only water. Then wipe it down again after my shower, with a dry towel, so it's not sitting wet. And I throw the shower curtain in the wash when it gets nasty.

But I don't like disinfect it or anything. I don't really disinfect anything in my house; I like my living space to be as free as possible of nasty chemicals, and I don't think overly clean homes are healthy. I rely on ventilation and keeping the surfaces dry to discourage mold and mildew, and that's good enough for me.

[sunnysandiegan]

We have one bathroom with a full-size shower stall (same space as a bathtub, but no tub) and one bathroom has a tub/shower. We tend to shower in the first bathroom mostly. I keep a sponge/scrubby in there and toss it on the floor of the shower 2-3 times a week and scrub lightly, using my foot and plain shower water. Of course, the shampoo/body soap is swirling around a bit, so it probably helps. I do it while I am rinsing off anyway. I scrub the shower doors once a month or so. DH squeegees the doors after every shower. I rinse the entire shower stall as I am rinsing. It stays pretty clean like this. For whatever random reason, we do a thorough shower cleaning (walls, doors, floor) with baking soda and a dry rag a few times a year. We keep the shower doors ajar a few inches at both ends and the door to the bathroom fully open 90% of the time. This keeps things from getting too damp.

I clean the tub/shower before I take a real bath, which is about once a month. I lightly spray it with water from the showerhead (rinses most hair and dust and lint down just like that) and then I sprinkle in baking soda and scrub it with a dry rag. When I shower directly after the bath in that tub/shower, I wash down the walls with the rag and rinse clean. DD showers or bathes in here a few times a month. (She uses our shower, too.) We keep that shower curtain open/stretched out with a bit of a gap at both ends (an inch or two) in order for the air to circulate and dry the curtain and walls, etc.

[Drummer's Wife]

Not very often because they don't get used. Everyone prefers to take showers - and we all use the stand alone one in the master bedroom. The other bathroom upstairs has a tub/shower - but I only clean it every great once in a while, or when we have overnight guests (b/c otherwise, it doesn't get used). We also have a jacuzzi style tub, but it also doesn't get used often, lately, so it probably gets cleaned once a month, if that.

I use baking soda/vinegar when they do get cleaned.

[philomom]

I wait till it looks dirty. Then, I cut a lemon in half.. dip it in baking soda and scrub. No problem. Tub is clean and little rinsing is needed. It also smells divine.

[fresh_veggie]

I do a thorough cleaning maybe 4 times a year with baking soda an vinegar, and a little oxygen bleach if it's discolored (we live in an older apartment complex where they've been using harsh products for years that have worn away the tub leaving it porous)...I really like the cutting the lemon in half and scrubbing idea, I'll have to try that instead. Our bathroom vent stays on to keep moisture down and to provide white noise as we live in a complex with lots of people and little kids. But I don't do more than that. I'll have to start wiping the walls down too, as we're getting a tiny bit of pink growing in the grout as it gets warmer.

I just got a crazy urge to clean so I did the entire bathroom, ceiling to floor, last night.

My only problem is that I seem to have to replace the shower curtain liner several times a year from mildew/spots. Does anyone else have to do that? What I wouldn't give for DOORS again. At least squeegee-ing is fun!

[zoebird]

i scrub mine 1-3 times a week depending upon season and use.

[BookGoddess]

The shower/tub gets used daily so we clean it once a week with Bon Ami. Sometimes we clean it twice a week if we feel it needs a midweek cleaning. It doesn't take that long to clean the tub. 10 minutes max.
I am a shower person and so is DH. The only person who takes a tub bath is DD. I just don't like the thought of her sitting in a tub that isn't very clean.

fresh_veggie - yep, I have the mildew spots on the shower curtain liner issue too and it even happens on liners that say they are resistent to mildew.

[jennifercp8]

DH and I take showers, and my kiddos take baths - so I scrub out the tub with baking soda or bon ami pretty frequently. Once a week, I would guess? At the very least, I make sure to hose down the wall tiles, and take my scrub-toothbrush to the caulk joint where the tile meets the tub.

[annarose999]

Originally Posted by fresh_veggie

My only problem is that I seem to have to replace the shower curtain liner several times a year from mildew/spots. Does anyone else have to do that? What I wouldn't give for DOORS again. At least squeegee-ing is fun!

i throw my curtain in the washing machine with a little detergent any time it starts to get mildewy. Works great - just don't put it in the dryer!
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[Manonash]

I'm embarassed. I rarely clean mine, and it can get into a pretty good mess. The shower is pretty awful. It is fully enclosed because we have a steam shower that we use when we get sick or something, so that doesn't help matters. The original installers did a poor job with sealing the grout and the shower is pretty large. I like the ideas of wiping it down after every use, but I wonder how long it will take me, since it's about 6'x6' and gets really wet. I'll give it a try though.

I love the lemon/Bsoda idea - gotta try that!

[Magelet]

I scrub with a scrub brush and baking soda every time i take a bath (a few times a month). we've washed the curtains (cotton outer curtain, polyester fabric liner, I love it no offgassing) once since we got them a year ago? they are stained a little pink from pink mildew, but it doesn't smell, it doesn't look terrible, honestly, I don't care much.

(I'd like to establish a habit of cleaning the tub after I use it, but who wants to take a nice relaxing tub then clean the house?) I like the idea of just wiping it down then though.

[JamieCatheryn]

I scrub our shower/tubs maybe once a month, they're continuous plastic things so nowhere for gunk to build up. I use a retired bath poof scubby thing with baking soda, gets the soap scum right off. I can't imagine bacteria being a problem, the surface gets rinsed multiple times daily and nobody is licking it.

[gentlecowgirl]

We clean our tub every time we take a tub, so up to three times a day. We use the tub all the time because we have an outdoor shower and don't use it most of the year. To clean we use sals suds and a scrubby thing and it takes 20 seconds. The tub is antique so it is very stained but clean enough. it never gets dirty because we always clean and rinse.

If I could figure out how to keep up with laundry............

[rainbowmoon]

before each use. i use a homemade cleaner i make myself. we have a big old clawfoot and the cats like to get in it and lick the bottom after we use it.