Simple. Efficient. But I–at a recent date I’m too embarrassed to admit to–had no idea of this. Bleach seemed…scary. Like if I touched it, holes would burn through my skin and ruin my clothes. (I did accidentally ruin the bathroom rug, but whatever, it was old anyways).
However, the bane of my home-keeping existence was this black, slimy (shudder) mold that grew on the caulking on our tub. COULD NOT get this stuff off, and I even tried non-free, not-on-sale cleaners to see if they could get the job done. The best actually turned out to be Target’s Method Shower Cleaner, but even that just turned it some unappetizing shade of gray.
It was so bad that I would warn people before they would go into the bathroom that yes, I cleaned, it just wouldn’t go away (our shower can be seen, since it’s a wrap-a-round with no wall. Don’t ask me why.)
Enter in my brilliant husband, who’s like “Have you tried bleach?” I, in my infinite wisdom, was like “yeah, it was in some of the products I tried.” Apparently, these are NOT the same things. Because he bleached that tub, and my goodness, if it didn’t turn out all…normal-looking. And Clean.
Since then, I’ve discovered that this can also clean our shower curtain, substitute for toilet bowl cleaner when I have none on hand, and other excellent cleaning uses. I know this is nothing new, but for someone raised on bottled products, it was a pretty big step. And now that I see how easy it is, well, I just might have to start making my own cleaners at home. We’ll see!!
See more Works for Me Wednesday here.
That’s a great idea, I have the same problem in my bathroom. I usually use x-14 but MAN that stuff smells! I will have to try straight bleach and see if it works for me!
Ah, bleach is my friend. My Grandmother who would have been 98 taught me a lot about using bleach for many many things, like stains, cleaning, mold, etc. The only thing is, it kills everything so it’s not great to use when you don’t have to… some people won’t use it at all because of the environment, etc.
I’ve done the same thing — use products with bleach but not use straight bleach on my caulking. Do you just spray it on undiluted?
Faith, We used that too! Not that bleach smells that much better (to me), but if it does the job, I’ll take it!
Kara, that’s a great point…I really don’t much at all about bleach, so that’s something I’ll definitely look into.
Jerri, my husband just put it on straight with a bunch of paper towels. Our caulking was already disintegrating because of the mold, so we didn’t feel the need to be too cautious. Since then, however, I’ve maintained it with a diluted bleach mixture.