Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Homemade Soap Scum Remover (This recipe will change your life!)

I hate scrubbing the shower. Hate it. So much, that the floor often has black marks and there is a literal tub ring of.... I'd rather not think about it.
Part of the problem is that I have yet to find a cleaner that actually works. Comet powder used to be my standby, but now it and any other commercial cleaner immediately make my lungs hurt - not to mention that they just flat out don't work the way they claim to. (Although, I did find out recently that the secret is to spray on and let it really soak and work before you scrub. Which will allow plenty of time for the fumes to fully permeate your house.) Years ago, a friend suggested Magic Eraser sponges, and they do a great job, but it will require lots of elbow grease and will shred through a full box (4) when the buildup is really bad.
I'd heard to use vinegar, peroxide, alcohol.... Nothing worked in that effortless way I wanted. (Because cleaning really should be effortless!)
And I'd let it get bad. So much that dysentery was a real concern when I saw Elsa drinking the bathwater.
And the day came. Something must be done.
It took me all day of procrastinating while deep cleaning the rest of the bathroom. Finally, it came to 5 o'clock. The rest of the bathroom was sparkling and fresh. I'd done enough, right? Let's just pull the curtain on the shower and save it for another day when I had time to do it properly.
But..... Sigh. So gross.
So I Googled how to easily clean shower scum. And found a recipe that will change my life!
And it's so simple! Seriously - 1/4 cup blue Dawn dish soap, to 2 cups of vinegar. That's it! Put it on a spray bottle, spray down your gross shower, let it soak, and then just rinse it away. Yes, rinse! No scrubbing required!
I had an empty Windex spray bottle, so that's what I used. Sprayed all the black marks, and the nasty ledges where water sits around the bottles. I knew it was bad, so I came in and sprayed it about every 10 minutes to keep it wet and let it soak for closer to an hour. (Our winter air is very dry and it was evaporating quickly.)
I turned on our shower head, and used the removable nozzle to spray hot water over the entire shower, and I'm not kidding, that gunk just melted off! The floor is gleaming clean! Happy life!
Now - full disclosure - this didn't seem to work as well on the vertical surfaces. I'm guessing that those are more of hard water/calcium buildup, and may require something different. (Or may simply require scrubbing, and I think you know my opinion of that.)
Sorry I have no before/after pics, but when I'm working on a project, I don't think of things like that. And besides, I'm not sure I want photo evidence of what "before" looked like!
And, in trying no find the original post I read in order to give credit, I did see another recipe that used a 1:1 soap/vinegar ratio, so apparently it's the magic combination, and exactness in amounts doesn't matter.
So..... Happy cleaning!