Bathroom Care

Of all the rooms in the home the bathroom has to be the one that gets more people to scratching their heads wondering how to solve a dilemma.

My primary rules of thumb:

1- Give your product time to work
2- Prevention; prevention; prevention!

A few simple changes in the bathroom will save your hours of work each month.

• Soap scum is one of the most difficult problems to solve that can be eliminated just by switching soap. The talc in bar soap caused that buildup. Switch to liquid or a glycerin soap to avoid the problem altogether.
• To remove heavy buildup, use Bi-O-Kleen full strength and apply it with a light cloth. Wait at least 30 minutes to give the Bi-O-Kleen time to dissolve the soap. Finish by dampening Our White Scrubbie Pad with water and scrub to remove. For weekly maintenance, dilute the Bi-O-Kleen one half ounce per quart spray bottle.
• Squeegee your shower and glass shower doors after showering to avoid water spot damage. Our brand new Erase It for Bathrooms quickly and efficiently removes hard water spots from shower doors.

It’s green and growing in my bathroom: To reduce mold and mildew buildup problems in your bathroom, take a shorter, cooler shower. Keep a window or door cracked open if possible.

• Remove mold on walls and ceilings by spraying them with straight hydrogen peroxide. Be sure to tuck away all towels and cover any carpeted areas with plastic. Peroxide is bleach and can remove the dye from fabric although this is unlikely to happen.

  Spray the mold, wait 20 to 30 minutes and spray once more. Then wait an hour, if the mold is not diminishing you may need to spray a third time or perhaps find a stronger solution that the 3% found in grocery or drug stores. Some medical supply stores carry 20% peroxide. It will be more expensive but you only need 1 cup per half gallon of water, which should treat the entire area.

• Moldy caulking: Mold does develop behind caulking in the shower. Spraying straight hydrogen peroxide (I do not like bleach due to the toxicity) on the mold will help but it’s going to come back. Mold must be killed to eliminate it. Since it grows from behind the caulking that area needs treatment.

  Remove the caulking, clean the surface thoroughly with Bi-O-Kleen then spray with hydrogen peroxide. Spray a second time with the peroxide an hour later. The next day apply new caulking.

• Clogged Drains: Keep all the drains in your home clear and running smoothly by pouring one-half cup of Bac Out down the drains monthly. Bac Out is an enzyme and bacteria product that is 100% safe for city sewer systems, septic systems, holding tanks and the environment. It does an excellent job removing pet and food stains and odors from furniture, carpet and clothing. Safely with no toxic after affects.
• Vacation time: When you leave home for any amount of time, pour one cup of distilled white vinegar into your toilets. Then place a piece of saran wrap over the bowl - not the seat that lifts but the bowl itself. This prevents the water from evaporating and hard water marks from forming.
• Hair spray: Remove hair spray buildup from mirrors and counter tops with straight rubbing alcohol. Keep both surfaces coated with a bit of Advantage to make this job faster and easier. Do not use Advantage on Corian, marble or any stone surface.
• Enamel fixtures: Most enamel fixtures will come back to life if rubbed with a freshly cut lemon. A paste of borax and lemon makes an excellent cleaner for enamel or brushed steel fixtures. Do not use on brass or gold plated faucets.

Answers to your questions:

1. Help, all I see are rings around my toilet bowl. Nothing I’ve used works and company is on the way. What can I do?
   Our Erase It for Bathrooms is the handiest tool to remove both hard water ring marks and iron deposits from toilet bowls and around faucets without scratching like pumice stones. Rings, including those made by iron deposits are gone in a wink.

   Now do yourself a favor and pour a cup of white vinegar into the toilet once a month to prevent hard water rings from forming. Let that set overnight then scrub with baking soda the next morning. Note: Vinegar will not prevent the rings made from iron deposits.

   Here is a trick that will quickly become one of your favorites. After you have removed those rings from around the toilet, apply some Advantage to the inside of your toilet. The polymers in Advantage that do such a wonderful job protecting your vehicles leaves a slick coating on the surface. I don’t think I need to tell you how easy it is to clean toilets when nothing sticks!

2. I know I should not have let my cabinets go for so long. They have a white marks on them that looks like water splotches. What can I do other than sand and refinish them?
   Bathroom cabinets need to be deep cleaned and conditioned twice a year to prevent the steam or water spots from drying the wood which causes the cracking and peeling. Our one step Wood Cleaner and Conditioner keeps them in top conditioned if applied three to four times a year depending on bathroom usage.

   If the wood has begun to crack, it won’t restore the wood. If that is the case you will need to sand and refinish them. Our Wood Cleaner and Conditioner will remove the whitish water marks and bring them back to life. It may take a treatment or two depending on the severity of the damage.

3. My shower curtain really needs a good cleaning. I just can’t see spending hours scrubbing it down. Do you have an easy trick to getting them clean without all the elbow grease?
   Yes there is an easy way to clean them. Most shower curtains can be machine washed even the plastic ones. Put them in the washer with a few bath towels. The towels will help scrub the curtains. Just do not overfill the basket or nothing will come clean. Add your laundry soap as the washer begins to fill, then add the towels and allow it to finish filling. Shut off the machine and let the curtains soak for an hour to help loosen the soap residue. Finish laundering and air dry.
4. My little boy is just now learning how to go like the “big boys go.” Unfortunately his aim is not so good and the area around the toilet is beginning to smell. What can I do to get rid of the odor?
   First of all this is a difficult area to treat. The urine has probably penetrated into the sublayers of the flooring. It may be that you will need to replace the flooring around the toilet to get rid of the smell.

   Try pouring about a fourth of a cup of our Bac-Out on the area. Just let it penetrate the wood. The Bac-Out is made from enzymes that “eat” and dissolve the bacteria causing the odors. It does not mask odors like most chemical treatment, it gets rid of the cause of the odors so they cannot return. If this does not solve the problem, then I’m afraid you will need to refinish the floor.

   Here is a little trick I did with my son when he too wanted to be like the big boys. Lay a piece of toilet paper flat on top of the water in the toilet. Have him aim for the paper. Most boys love the game and their aim gets pretty good!

5. It seems the day after I remove the water spots off my glass shower doors they are back again. Is there anything I can do to prevent them from returning?
   Water spots are tricky and stubborn. Remember once water spots are allowed to set on any surface, glass or otherwise, the alkali literally etches into the surface. You can remove the whitish part of the water spot but the etching is there to stay even though it may not show up. The surface will still feel rough.

   I cannot stress how important prevention is to care of a home. Purchase a squeegee making sure it is plastic so if you drop it, the metal channels won’t damage your shower. After you have removed them, squeegee down your entire shower after each use. Yes I know it takes extra time but not when you consider the time and elbow grease it takes to remove water spots. Then once every four months apply Advantage to your shower walls and glass doors. Advantage although it is made for vehicles contains a polymer that leaves a coating on surfaces making them slick as well as protecting them. The water slides right off the walls and will help prevent those spots.

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