The Secret Weapon to Spring Clean Your Bathroom

We happen to be big fans of the bathroom. It’s an important room in the home that serves an important function. From getting ready for the day to relaxing at the end, you spend quality time in your bathroom and it deserves to sparkle and shine.

And there’s nothing like the change in seasons to inspire a good deep clean. Spring is the perfect time to open up the windows, let in the fresh air and light, and tackle those grimy places that like to hide during the darker winter months.

You can find plenty of advice online about how to get rid of the grime and soap residue that tends to build up, especially in the bathtub. But most of that advice is actually counter-productive.

Why? If you use harsh chemicals to clean your bathtub, it might look clean for a little while, but what you’re actually doing is breaking down the tub’s finish, which is the only thing that keeps it clean.

The same is true for most home remedies, like vinegar and lemon juice with baking soda. Anything acidic or abrasive will break down the finish on your tub, which opens up the pores in the porcelain or fiberglass and causes it to absorb all the more readily those microscopic body oils, soap scum, and minerals that make your tub stained and dingy.

It doesn’t make much sense to make your bathtub even dirtier by cleaning it, right? But that’s essentially what you’re doing when you use abrasive cleaners and sponges that scratch the finish.

In fact, we wouldn’t stay nearly as busy if people weren’t using harsh, abrasive cleaning methods in their bathrooms. Don’t get us wrong! We love to help people restore their bathtubs to their original shine and beauty. But we also think people deserve to have all the facts so they aren’t unintentionally ruining the finish.

So . . . What’s the Secret?

What’s the secret to keeping your tub, sink, and toilet clean without destroying the finish?

Dawn Dish Soap.

Yep. That’s the secret weapon. This simple, inexpensive product is marketed for cleaning dirty dishes but also happens to be phenomenal at cutting through shower grime without harming the surface.

If you use a warm, soapy rag and clean and rinse your tile or porcelain surfaces on a regular basis, you’ll never damage the finish and will get to enjoy the full benefits of the protection—and shine—that a good finish provides.

The same is true for acrylic or fiberglass tubs as well. Anything that has a finish on it needs to be treated gently, and needs to be cleaned frequently.

You might be tempted to pull out the heavy duty cleaners for your spring cleaning, but now you know the downside. Here’s our quick list of bathroom cleaning rules that will preserve the finish and keep away the dirt and grime:

• NEVER use harsh or acidic cleaners (even natural ingredients can be problematic)
• NEVER use an abrasive scrubbing pad
• DO use a mild, soapy cleanser like Dawn Dish Soap
• DO clean with a soft rag
• ALWAYS rinse thoroughly
• Repeat regularly!

By the way, if you don’t have a detachable shower head, we recommend purchasing a removable rubber shower head that attaches to the bathtub tap. Now you can quickly and easily rinse off the suds and not worry about leaving behind any residue.

If the finish on your bathtub has already been eroded, give us a call! We can refinish your tub so that it sparkles like new (and now you know how to keep it that way!).