... in their OWN bathroom.
So here is the story.
We moved into this house 4 months ago. Prior to moving in I spent two entire days scrubbing from floor to ceiling. It was pretty dirty when we first move in, but it was nothing that a good vacuuming and a little elbow grease couldn't fix. However, there was one area of the house that never got cleaned... the kids/guest bathtub. I had attempted to clean it during those first two days but after spending an hour scrubbing away with no luck I decided the kiddos could just use the master bath until I had more time to spend cleaning it. A few short days after moving in I decided to tackle the tub again. This time I tried some Simple Green. I used simple green on the floor to clean up some old paint and dried glue and the stuff came off like magic. I figured if it could clean up paint and glue, it could certainly take care of a little soap scum. After 6 hours and an entire bottle of Simple Green, I realized I was fighting a loosing battle. I hung up a shower curtain to hide the hideous tub until I could come up with another solution.
To give you an idea of what I was working with... our house was built in 2005. Although it is not very old, I'm pretty sure the tub had not been cleaned once since it was built. What should have been a nice white tub and shower surround was now dingy brown, yellow and even black in a few spots. After the Simple Green didn't work, I made a few more attempts at cleaning the tub. I tried a few store bought products as well as a few recipes I found online. One of the recipes I found online was similar to what I used to clean my oven door. This actually worked fantastic on the floor of the tub but since the baking soda/water mixture is runny and you're suppose to let it soak for a few minutes before scrubbing it off, it didn't work to well on the walls. About a month ago I finally decided to give up. Hubby and I agreed that we just needed to buy a new tub and shower surround. We have a few other priorities on the list (such as a new dishwasher and oven) so it was going to be a few months before we would be able to get the tub. I was ok with this since we had already gone 4 months without it, what was a few more?
That was until some friends informed us that they would be coming for a visit this weekend. And staying the WHOLE WEEKEND!! I was fine with having guest use the bathroom when they came to visit since the ugly tub was covered up with a pretty shower curtain. However, these guests are not just coming over for a day's visit. They are going to want to take a shower and with two little kids, I'm sure they will need to use a bathtub as well.
I thought about just letting them use the master bathroom, however, I've been bathing our kids in the master tub for the last 4 months and it's not that easy. We have one of those large corner tubs which my two year old like to curl up in the very corner so that I have to practically crawl in the tub just to wash her. Since our guests' kids are a little younger that my own, I didn't think it would work out to well.
After searching the internet, I found a new idea and I decided to take one more crack at cleaning the tub. (forgive me, I can't find the original link anymore. I believe I found it on Martha Stewart.com but I am not sure.)
I filled a spay bottle up with vinegar, no diluting just strait up white vinegar. Then I set a timer to go off every ten minutes. Every time the timer went off I would take the spray bottle and soak the entire tub and shower surround with vinegar. The idea here is that you want to keep the area wet but not so wet that the vinegar just runs off.
{Ten minutes worked great for me however if you want to try this you may need to go longer or shorter between sprays depending on how hot it is and the airflow you have in the room.}
I did this for about 2 hours and used a bottle and a half of vinegar. Then I mixed together some baking soda and water {about 2 tablespoons baking soda to 8 oz water}. Using one of those green kitchen scrub pads, I dipped it in the mixture and then started scrubbing away at the tub and shower. {I had to stir the mixture a few times since the baking soda kept settling at the bottom of the container}
So here is the story.
We moved into this house 4 months ago. Prior to moving in I spent two entire days scrubbing from floor to ceiling. It was pretty dirty when we first move in, but it was nothing that a good vacuuming and a little elbow grease couldn't fix. However, there was one area of the house that never got cleaned... the kids/guest bathtub. I had attempted to clean it during those first two days but after spending an hour scrubbing away with no luck I decided the kiddos could just use the master bath until I had more time to spend cleaning it. A few short days after moving in I decided to tackle the tub again. This time I tried some Simple Green. I used simple green on the floor to clean up some old paint and dried glue and the stuff came off like magic. I figured if it could clean up paint and glue, it could certainly take care of a little soap scum. After 6 hours and an entire bottle of Simple Green, I realized I was fighting a loosing battle. I hung up a shower curtain to hide the hideous tub until I could come up with another solution.
To give you an idea of what I was working with... our house was built in 2005. Although it is not very old, I'm pretty sure the tub had not been cleaned once since it was built. What should have been a nice white tub and shower surround was now dingy brown, yellow and even black in a few spots. After the Simple Green didn't work, I made a few more attempts at cleaning the tub. I tried a few store bought products as well as a few recipes I found online. One of the recipes I found online was similar to what I used to clean my oven door. This actually worked fantastic on the floor of the tub but since the baking soda/water mixture is runny and you're suppose to let it soak for a few minutes before scrubbing it off, it didn't work to well on the walls. About a month ago I finally decided to give up. Hubby and I agreed that we just needed to buy a new tub and shower surround. We have a few other priorities on the list (such as a new dishwasher and oven) so it was going to be a few months before we would be able to get the tub. I was ok with this since we had already gone 4 months without it, what was a few more?
That was until some friends informed us that they would be coming for a visit this weekend. And staying the WHOLE WEEKEND!! I was fine with having guest use the bathroom when they came to visit since the ugly tub was covered up with a pretty shower curtain. However, these guests are not just coming over for a day's visit. They are going to want to take a shower and with two little kids, I'm sure they will need to use a bathtub as well.
I thought about just letting them use the master bathroom, however, I've been bathing our kids in the master tub for the last 4 months and it's not that easy. We have one of those large corner tubs which my two year old like to curl up in the very corner so that I have to practically crawl in the tub just to wash her. Since our guests' kids are a little younger that my own, I didn't think it would work out to well.
After searching the internet, I found a new idea and I decided to take one more crack at cleaning the tub. (forgive me, I can't find the original link anymore. I believe I found it on Martha Stewart.com but I am not sure.)
I filled a spay bottle up with vinegar, no diluting just strait up white vinegar. Then I set a timer to go off every ten minutes. Every time the timer went off I would take the spray bottle and soak the entire tub and shower surround with vinegar. The idea here is that you want to keep the area wet but not so wet that the vinegar just runs off.
{Ten minutes worked great for me however if you want to try this you may need to go longer or shorter between sprays depending on how hot it is and the airflow you have in the room.}
I did this for about 2 hours and used a bottle and a half of vinegar. Then I mixed together some baking soda and water {about 2 tablespoons baking soda to 8 oz water}. Using one of those green kitchen scrub pads, I dipped it in the mixture and then started scrubbing away at the tub and shower. {I had to stir the mixture a few times since the baking soda kept settling at the bottom of the container}
Guess what happened after an hour of scrubbing?
I HAD A WHITE TUB AND SHOWER!!!
Yes, it did take quite a bit of scrubbing but it was nothing compared to the 6 hours with the Simple Green. Not to mention that I saved us a few hundred dollars since we no longer have to buy a new tub and shower!!! I just wish I would have tried this method sooner and saved money on the all of the cleaners I bought that had no effect.
I was able to give the girls a bath in their new-to-them tub last night for the first time ever and I was actually able to wash my youngest without having to practically crawl inside the tub just to reach her.
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