Best cleaner for grimy tub

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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amother

Ecru

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 5:29 pm

Bathroom is clean, tiles are clean. So is toilet, floor, sink... problem is tub. WILL NOT STAY CLEAN. And by now it is utterly disgusting. I've tried various soaps, bleach, etc. I'm wondering what the best cleaner is for such a task? Maybe one of those cleaners that sprays on and you leave it overnight? Do they work? Which is the strongest?

Anon because I don't want you to know how gross my tub is. ;-)

amother

Ecru

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 5:31 pm

And my color is "ecru?!" I googled it. Same color as my tub. How lovely...

ven

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 5:35 pm

It probably died a good few years ago, u may need a new one if u can not get it clean with regular elbow grease.

amother

Ecru

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 5:40 pm

What do you mean? I rent an apartment in a very old building. So I don't doubt that the age of the tub could be making it harder. Do you think it's just badly stained? Anything else I can try to make it look nice?

browser

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 6:50 pm

Kaboom is definitely the winner for cleaning the bathtub

zaq

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 8:08 pm

Lye-based oven cleaner does a great job. I don't recommend it, though, as it is extremely corrosive and something that no sane person would want to spray into her home environment. It works by eating away every bit of organic material (hair/soap/skin cells/body oils/dead bugs, also hair/skin/clothing/eyes) in its path.

A product called Whink works equally well, has the advantage of removing rust and is equally corrosive. I don't recommend it.

I have never tried spray- on tub and tile cleaner but I would think that that would work given sufficient contact time. It's also not exactly healthy but at least it's not as catastrophically hazardous as oven cleaner. Most are bleach based so don't wear your new cranberry-red apron.

OP, the problem is that the glaze has worn off your tub. What you now have is bare porcelain, which is in FACT impossible to keep clean because it absorbs everything that touches it. Even the minerals in your water will build up and look dirty. Since a great deal of the "dirt" is mineral scale and soap scum, mild acid like vinegar will eat it away. If you lay a cloth like a big old bath sheet on the bottom of the tub, pour a generous helping of plain white vinegar over it, and let it sit overnight (you may want to add some more vinegar now and then) your tub should be pristine by morning. You may need to scrub a few stubborn spots.

I don't recommend doing this too often as I think the vinegar also eats away at the porcelain.

If you absolutely MUST have a sparkling tub for some major event, you can refinish it with epoxy. However: the epoxy, which looks like enamel paint, will eventually discolor, but even worse, it will eventually peel off. Worst of all, it will peel off in patches, and some stubborn patches will cling till the end of days.

You know the "Desiderata" prayer about G-d granting you the serenity to accept the things you cannot change? Right.

out-of-towner

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 8:35 pm

My tub was nasty recently, and I cleaned it with Fantastic and paper towels. I sprayed and let it sit for a bit before scrubbing it clean. It took effort and a few coats of the Fantastic, but it did work. It's great exercise...it basically put me into Labor!

PinkFridge

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 9:57 pm

zaq wrote:

OP, the problem is that the glaze has worn off your tub. What you now have is bare porcelain, which is in FACT impossible to keep clean because it absorbs everything that touches it. Even the minerals in your water will build up and look dirty. Since a great deal of the "dirt" is mineral scale and soap scum, mild acid like vinegar will eat it away. If you lay a cloth like a big old bath sheet on the bottom of the tub, pour a generous helping of plain white vinegar over it, and let it sit overnight (you may want to add some more vinegar now and then) your tub should be pristine by morning. You may need to scrub a few stubborn spots.
.

Zaq, this is amazing. You are amazing.
Now how does this work for the sides of the tub?

PAMOM

Tue, Jul 14 2015, 10:15 pm

Zaq, can I use vinegar to get rid of mineral deposits on a kitchen spigot and on the Corian behind it?

etky

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 3:07 am

I'm a big vinegar fan for removing limestone but I have a feeling that mineral deposits are not the problem in your tub. I think you might have a soap scum buildup which is much more difficult than limestone to remove. Finally- after trying many different types of cleaners as well as vinegar and baking soda - I found that the very gently abrasive cleaner that I use on my ceramic stovetop (I won't bother giving you the name b/c I'm in Israel) + a lot of elbow grease got rid of most of the scum. It's a pleasure to have it finally gone.

etky

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 3:22 am

PAMOM wrote:

Zaq, can I use vinegar to get rid of mineral deposits on a kitchen spigot and on the Corian behind it?

You can tie a plastic bag filled with vinegar to the spigot and keep it immersed in it for a while. I don't know whether the vinegar might damage the Corian or not.

etky

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 3:29 am

amother wrote:

Just thinking - you can diagnose the problem by seeing where the dirt is. I find that mineral deposits form at the bottom and in crevices on the side - anywhere where water might stand for a while, whereas the soap scum is usually more of a problem on the sides of the tub. Also depends what type of soap you use. Real bar soap leaves scum while liquid soap not as much.

Iymnok

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 3:46 am

at the end of a bath, before draining the tub I rub my hand over the tub rubbing at anything slimy feeling. Under water it comes right off, once dried it starts to look yellowish and feel hard and rough. If this is your problem, it's easy to fix.

Notsobusy

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 9:39 am

I use the Mr Clean Magic Eraser Bath Scrubber. I spray first with Fantastic or 409, let it sit for a bit. Then I scrub with the magic eraser, and it comes off so easily. Best part, my kids think it's a lot of fun, so I let them do it and then I just have to do some touch ups.

amother

Hotpink

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 11:29 am

I use dish soap and a scrubby. It works great. If it's stained or really gross, I take a little comet or ajax and a lot of dish soap and a scrubby and it comes right off. It doesn't even take so much elbow grease and it's not terribly toxic.

After all, your dishes are porcelain. If dish soap works on them, why not your tub?

amother

Ecru

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 9:04 pm

OP here with an update and lots of thanks!!!

I tried the vinegar and baking soda approach today and it actually worked!!! Tub is not perfect, and I think it is probably old and permanently stained to some degree, but it is WORLDS better now!! After I let the baking soda and vinegar soak for a little bit, I scrubbed it off with a rough sponge and the grime actually lifted. Thank you ladies, I am very thankful for your help! :-)

zaq

Thu, Jul 16 2015, 2:29 pm

PAMOM wrote:

Zaq, can I use vinegar to get rid of mineral deposits on a kitchen spigot and on the Corian behind it?

You sure can. Cover the area with an absorbent cloth and pour on the vinegar. Let set for a bit, then scrub a bit and rinse well.

zaq

Thu, Jul 16 2015, 2:32 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

Zaq, this is amazing. You are amazing.
Now how does this work for the sides of the tub?

Same way: Take a big cloth and use vinegar to make it cling to the sides. You have to check on it every so often because the cloth does tend to slide down. A spray bottle will help you apply the vinegar where you want it to go.

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