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Scour Power
Grunge may be in, but dirt’s out. Keep your
bathroom company-ready — and still have time to enjoy the weekend — with these savvy shortcuts for tackling tile with style.
1. Fill a spray bottle with a 1:2 solution of chlorine bleach diluted with water. (For showers with a lot of mildew, use a 1:1 solution.) Spray your entire shower — walls and floor — wait 10-20 minutes, then use a stiff scrub brush to remove dirt and mildew from the tile and grout. If mildew remains, spray pure, undiluted chlorine bleach on the stains and use an old toothbrush to scrub between the tiles. Repeat until the mildew is gone. When both tiles and grout are clean, turn on the shower and remove all traces of the bleach by rinsing thoroughly with warm water.
2. Hard water can leave stubborn white alkaline deposits on tile and grout. To remove, saturate paper towels with white vinegar and place them directly on top of the stains. Vinegar is a mild acid and will work slowly but effectively to dissolve water deposits. Check every hour or so to make sure the towels are still wet. After several hours, remove the towels and scrub the stains. If they don’t dissolve, repeat the process with fresh towels. Heavy deposits can take 6-8 hours to completely disappear. The trick is to keep the towels wet with vinegar.
3. Rinse tiles thoroughly with warm water and dry them with an inexpensive plastic squeegee. Give tiles a quick polish with a clean towel, and they’ll shine like a mirror.
Quick Cleaning Tips
Cleaning may not be sexy, but it can be quick with these down and dirty secrets for fighting grime.
Protect your skin by wearing rubber gloves when working with bleach. Treat yourself to a hand treatment while you clean by slathering your hands with Vaseline® and slipping on a pair of white cotton gloves, then the rubber gloves. Your hands and your shower will look amazing!
If you’re sensitive to chlorine bleach, use an oxygen bleach like OxiClean® instead. It may take a bit longer than chlorine bleach, but it’ll remove the stains. When cleaning with any bleach, open the door and windows to keep the air circulating and be careful not to breathe the fumes.
Keep tiles shiny by rubbing them with a good quality car wax after cleaning. It will prevent soap and water buildup, and the water will bead up and dry right off.
The best way to prevent mildew is to clean the shower every week. Use a squeegee to wipe down tiles after showering. Leave the shower curtain open and crack a window, if possible, so tiles can dry quickly. The faster tiles dry, the less chance mold and mildew has to grow.
To make cleaning fun, put on an upbeat CD and pretend you’re doing aerobics as you stretch and bend. Reward yourself by skipping your workout that day — you deserve it!
To keep your bathroom smelling fresh, keep a rosemary plant on the windowsill. The steam from the shower will release the herb’s relaxing fragrance.
