Quite some time ago, I was re-caulking inside a shower. I was using denatured alcohol to clean up the area where I needed to apply the caulk. I made a cool discovery. Denatured alcohol and a rag will remove years worth of soap scum and misc. icky buildup from tile or fiberglass with very little elbow grease.
Last week My wife asked me to “help” her with the house cleaning…( we actually share pretty equally, but she likes to pull out the “help me” line just to guilt me into getting off the couch and getting it done that much faster.)
I used my denatured alcohol trick to clean the bathtubs. It took me less than 5 minutes to obtain the supplies, clean both tubs, put away said supplies, and go back to whatever creative loafing I had been engaging in. She saw me back on the couch and began to chide me about when was I gonna get started on the bathtubs….I told her I was already done. She naturally did not believe me… “it’s only been a couple of minutes! It takes at least ten or fifteen minutes to scrub each tub! There’s no way you could be done yet.”
I told her to inspect the tubs… she did… There, staring her in the face, were two shiny spotless tub-showers…
“Oops!”
Now I’ve permanently inherited the “tub-cleaning” task.
Anyway, just thought I’d let you guys in on one of my many labor saving techniques. Just remember to wear your breathing aparatus, and turn the vent fan on. Those fumes can be pretty powerful.
Replies
LOL.. My dad always used to say : "never tell anybody what you can do or they will have you doing it all the time.!!"
"never tell anybody what you can do or they will have you doing it all the time.!!"
Yep.
Made the msitake of criticizing the wife some years back over the way she cleaned the toilets.
Open mouth, insert foot.
Toilets are cleaner than the day they were bought.....but I've never critiqued her cleaning methods since.
Mark,
Enjoy your new chore.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Long before we were married, my DH made the mistake of criticising my cooking - I never cooked again until he was too sick -
I hope he's a decent cook.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
He became a really good cook...I have other talents!
heehehehe...Remember the female comedian(her name escapes me right now) who told her husband to pick the one room in the house he wanted her to excel in? Guess which room he picked?Ah, remember now, it was Totie Fields...
thanks, that job was on my long list of things to do tonight
Should have waited til a day she was gone for several hours abd did it then. You could have "slaved" over them all day and come away looking like a hero for saving her fro the task. Not that I wold ever do such a thing, but I know a few guys that might take advantage of the situation like that.
TOmW, no good deed goes unpunished. My Wife don't buy the "slaved all day stuff". Clean the bathroom and you get, "when ya gonna clean the ... whatever". LOL.
And TomW you do know that with women the scoring is: Bring her a rose = 1 point, Clean the tub = 1 point, take her to Europe = 1 point. Buy her a rose.
Hey, I never said I used that system.
WHAT ABOUT MOLD ON GROUT?
My DW thanks you for the alcohol tip, but wonders what you have to get the mold off the grout.
Never satisfied. Never.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
ttell her that any woman worth her weight, would not allow mold to accumulate on the grout!!!
Slackers, all of them!!!
;p
Peace
hahaha
A product called X-14, they sell it wherever they sell all the other cleaning supplies, (k-mart, supermarket, etc.)
It's basically just conscentrated chlorine bleach. Spray it on and let it sit for an hour or three, then rinse it off. Sometimes takes a couple of applications." If I were a carpenter"
I had discovered that when trying to recaulk a really scummy customer tub - just tried what i had; alcohol worked best!
Forrest - scummy tub; nice customer
Mark,
clearly you must have just got married a week or so ago.
any man married longer than that is smart enough to grab a couple of beers a sports illustrated and lock himself in each bathroom for at least 30 minutes per tub cleaning----
man are you newly-weds stupid LOL :>)
you will learn-best wishes next time, Stephen
Only thing he can do now is run the cable tv in there, install an undercounter fridge and hide a seat pad in the vanity. Then he can hide out and complain about how long it takes next time. Funny how cleaning the tub/showers always has to happen when the ball game is on though.
isopropyl alcohol is also FANTASTIC for getting ink out of clothes!
My wife left a pen in a pocket before washing a load of good clothes... and blue ink was ALL OVER everthing!!
I thought for sure those clothes were all trashed.
Did some reading online and then tried the alcohol as suggested on a few sites. Even the worst stuff, just soak over night and then wash... came out like new.
When you're this good, EVERYONE wants a crack at you!
http://www.petedraganic.com/
Dummy.
If you'd done it badly enough, you'd be off the hook. Now it's your job for life!
did
Donate Online!
he should have done the bathroom and then gone out for a beer....Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Dummy.
If you'd done it badly enough, you'd be off the hook. Now it's your job for life!
Thats why I dont know how to make the bed .
Tim
Shrink just one sweater and you'll never have to do laundry either.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Ive been there and Im not allowed to wash her clothes
. Im tellin it like it is the raymond show was great!
Tim
Been there done that as well... was instructed to not touch her clothes in the future... and that I would be sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future.
Well, if you can't touch her clothes to take them off, you might as well be sleeping on the couch
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Guess I forgot to mention that is the EX DW
I just throw something red in with the whites.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
i've had luck using a product called "bartenders friend".it's a powder available at grocery stores and linens and things.takes a bit of scrubbing, but it took off 10 yrs of scum from the bathtub in the house i moved into.i'm going to try the alcohol and see how that works.
Not allowed to wash clothes, touch the bleach, run dryer!
If I could just figure out how to screw up cutting the grass, I'd be golden!
LOL
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Managed that 25 years ago!
My hero.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Here is another version of that for tile. Tile surrounds get that ick and mildew thing on the grout lines. I always did the bleached cleanser routine with a small kitchen broom. Learned it in college where the bathtub was toxic. A broom is a far superior tool, you can do it standing up.
are there any lasting negative effects on fiberglass or acrylic tubs?
I made a similar discovery....
but I aint dumbenuf to use it at home :)
I was removing a scale encrusted drain assembly from a tub at work and was having troulbe so I sprayed it liberally with some Super Penatrant.
didn't help with the drain but the scale on the tub lifted off slicker than weasel $hit....
Peace
Friend of mine told me that a short time ago and I havent tried it yet .
He said use wd 40 to clean a set of faucets and the grime from sinks and tubs .
MisterT,
Political commentary belongs in the tavern. you might want to reconsider using such a large and potentially offensive political illustration in the rest of Breaktime threads.
When you're this good, EVERYONE wants a crack at you!
http://www.petedraganic.com/
MisterT, pretty funny cartoon on your post. Seriously though, I have been reviewing all of the Iraq plans and am still trying to figure out which one I like best.
A) The Democrat withdrawl, enbolden IRan to build nuke without fear from gutless Americans, and by default give Iran control of the Mid-East. I forget what the Democrats are calling that plan.
B) The Democrat surrender plan. Pretty basic.
C) The Democrat give Iraq over to total chaos and controlled by Al Quidia.
D) Some other attempt at victory.
Hmm?
Dudley, you would be advised by some here to keep your political posts in the tavern.
but not me...
actually you espousing the favored view of the tagline police so you are good to go.
sorry for any inconvenience...Peace
Happy
ya
Freakin'
Cry
Babies!!!
I will try denatured alcohol, because everything else I have tried simply cannot cut through the soap scum and calcium-based muck in one tub and in another shower. In fact, we've stopped using one showertub combo because we could not get it clean without dynomite.
I have found that there are other types of alcohol that will help you to forget about the dirty showers.
OK, now this wife knows!
Will alcohol work on walk in shower doors or the shower pan? I'm tired of buying shower glass cleaners and the pan is starting to look pretty scummy...
Carole...
Yes it should. Just remember you're in a very small enclosed area. If you don't have a painter's breathing apparatus, (they sell them at Lowes, or any paint store, less than $20.00) you need to at least open the windows and turn on the exhaust fan." If I were a carpenter"
Thanks, Mark (That's my son's name)I will try it...We have an exhaust fan and a window...Or maybe I can get my husband to do it...:)
Don't tell anybody but it also works great for removing scuff marks off walls and floors.
You know how I keep my tub clean?
Don't bathe.
bill-