Clean your tub

The house is finally coming together and projects are slowing down around my house. However, I was helping one of my friends move today and volunteered for clean-so-you-get-the-full-deposit-back duty.  Helping today made me realize it might be helpful to share my three-ingredient trick to getting a perfectly-sparkly-clean bathtub.

When I clean, I mean business.
You could eat out of this tub, and I'd bet it's probably cleaner than the tables at most of the restaurants you've eaten.

Ingredients:

• Clorox concentrated bleach
• Dawn dish soap
• Baking soda

You may also need:

• Green kitchen scrubby pads (NOT steel wool)
• Rubber cleaning gloves

I tend to have all of this on hand, so it usually doesn't cost me anything. If I had to play price is right, you could probably get it for $15 or less.

I personally like to mix this up in a disposable cup, but all the ingredients are common household items, so it's not necessary. I just find it makes it easier clean up. Be sure to wear gloves and make sure it's well-ventilated. You don't want to breathe too much of these fumes or get this on your skin.

Start out with a small amount of bleach. Don't skimp here, you want the good concentrated Clorox stuff. How much you will need will depend on a number of factors, including how gross you've let your bathroom get. I usually do less than 1/8 cup. You can always add more later if you need it.

Next, mix in a generous squeeze of Dawn dish soap (I like the blue kind). This is again a place where you don't want to cut corners. I've tried this with other brands, but Dawn seems to work best.

Finally, you take baking soda and mix it in to make a thick paste.

Start by coating the bottom of the tub and any mildewy areas with the paste. Let that sit while you work on the other areas of the bathtub. 

At this point, unless your bathroom is super nasty, you should be ok to water down the remaining paste into more of a liquid. If you've let it get away from you, you can wipe the paste on the tile too. 

Once you've done all that, you're ready for the bottom of your tub. A normal tub will just need a wash cloth or old terry cloth rag to wipe down. A dirty tub will need one of those green kitchen scrubby pads. You don't have to go brand name here, I like to get the ones that are 5/$1 at the Dollar Tree and cut them in half to get 2+ uses out of them. 

Rinse well with water.

A word of caution - I use an every day vinegar-based spray. If you're like me, make sure that is TOTALLY gone before you ever put bleach in anything. Bleach and vinegar together make chlorine gas and can really eff you up.  

If you're wondering how I learned this trick, well once upon a time, apartments in Denver were super affordable and they would run specials to entice you to rent from them. That's how my roommate and I in law school ended up with a once-a-month housekeeper as a leasing incentive. It's also how I probably super weirded out the cleaning crew by taking study breaks from 1L classes to ask them questions about how they make the house look so amazing.

That's all for today! Stay tuned for the kitchen countertops - we're getting those templated next week!

If you like the cleaning tips, let me know and I'll keep them coming!

~K