Alright, so I've been thinking about posting over the past couple of weeks but either I was too lazy to do it or else had nothing to say, which I still kinda think, but I guess I can share a confession...
It's about...our tub.
It's the regular square tiles/grout kind of tub and you know what happens when it doesn't get a really good scrubbing for awhile...well actually, we've scrubbed the regular tub part and even the grout part, but just with "regular" scrubbing stuff (we especially like "Zud")...But as I've been on this kick of trying to finish all of our "harsh" cleaners and transition into more natural type or homemade products, I haven't been keeping up with the purchase of new cleaning supplies...
Okay, so the grout had turned a nice shade of, hmmm...black (I hang my head in shame) (but the toilet bowl is always sparkling!) I did some research and referred back to various recipes I had been saving to remove mildew/mold from grout and mixed my concoction of borax, baking soda, and white vinegar into a paste. I applied the paste and scrubbed whole heartedly with my new grout brush and earth friendly homemade cleaner...but for naught. Still dark mold all around the edges. Travis said not to worry because it was at least clean mold. That didn't do it for me.
So the next day I stopped in at the grocery store to pick up veggies for dinner and I somehow found myself strolling down the cleaning product aisle (funny how that happens). I see one scrubbing product called Bon Ami which I had read that people recommended because of it's earth friendly ingredients. I picked it up, then put it down. I already tried earth friendly without success. So I kept going until I spotted what I was looking for...Mold and Mildew Remover With Bleach. I have also read that bleach is not the cure all for mold/mildew because it only wipes out the surface mildew but you can count on it growing right back, but since I'm not about to dig the grout out (yet), I needed the next best thing...
So before going to bed, I took a deep breathe and sprayed the perimeter of the tub and let it set for 5 minutes while I opened the window wide and left the room to brush my teeth...When 5 minutes was up, I took a deep breathe and began to scrub...magically, the mold was going away! I so value a sparkling clean tub, and while the grout still has some battle wound/gray areas, it is sooooo much better off now. The only problem I had after the big scrub was that all I could smell for the rest of the night was bleach...even not thinking I was breathing it in, it managed to get up in my nose because even when I went outside for air, all I could smell when breathing through my nose was bleach...yuck! Then in the bedroom, we had to keep the window open because it was so bleachy too...bad bad. That's kinda why I was hoping to "go green" with the cleaning products because all that bad toxic stuff gets inside the body and accumulates...I don't know, maybe there's another active ingredient in the spray I bought? Otherwise, I might as well make my own bleach mixture if that's what it's going to take to keep the tub clean...
How sad that I'm blogging about mildew...yup, this is what happens when writers run out of material...Please share your remedies for keeping grout clean...yeah, I know, keep the shower curtain open when done showering, squeegee the excess water, window open, fan on, yadda yadda...any other magic bullets???
I'm a dork who hates to scrub the tub...
That's what you get for an update...
5 comments:
I have the same hatred of mold/mildew- luckily our tubs now are the one piece design but our last house we had a good deal of tile and I went through the same stuff.
Sadly the harsher the cleanser the better the job, but I hated smelling bleach on my hands even when I wore gloves. There was one product that worked well...I don't remember the name but it was in a dark blue container and the nozzle was bright orange.
Eventually I bit the bullet and re did all the grout myself one afternoon. It's not as hard as you'd think, just a pain and time consuming.
Good luck!!
We have the same problem with the caulking in our tub. We have a one piece tub but the caulking can get pretty nasty. The only thing that seems to work for the mildew is the stuff with bleach. If you find a gentler but effective cleaner let me know. I hate using the harsh chemicals around the kids.
Bon Ami is amazing. I swear by it. It works wonders. You should really try it.
I am having a Yellow Doors flashback with the stench of bleach. Remeber when Tex would bleach her hair the shade of platinum and it would stink up the entire apartment? *puke*
Wow, Beck, you can smell my bleach all the way from there!! Ha!
Post a Comment