Monday, January 5, 2009

Happy New Year!

So I went back to the East Coast, visited with family and friends (miss y'all!), and have no returned to the Land of La. And boy, what a homecoming.

So I no longer have a roommate. This is not terribly upsetting since I'm pretty content to live alone right now. AND this means I have a spare bedroom/bath. (Anyone want to visit?) However, the bathroom, until now, was not in a usable state. by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm quite sad I didn't take pictures, but it looked something like this:

My Google Fu has failed me. I found no comparable photo on Google. Just imagine your pretty white bathtub. Not paint the bottom green and black, with a smattering of red, and an almost florescent green around the edges. Yeah, that's what it looked like. We've been living here a year and a half, and I'm fairly sure she's never cleaned it.

So what to do?

Well, I started off with a bleach solution: 2/3 bleach to 1/3 hot water. Now, for those of you who know anything about mold/mildew, you're probably all filled with angst right now going "But bleach doesn't kill mold! Or make it go away!" Yes, thank you, I know that, but the bleach made me feel better. And the top layer of gross went pouring down the drain.

Next was a gallon and a half of white vinegar/hot water solution. I let it sit over night, and the second layer of filth went merrily down the drain; the water was swirling black. YUMMY.

And the bottom of the tub? No white to be seen.

So at this point, I need to bring in the big guns. Time to head to the store.

I buy three different kind of cleaners: heavy duty, foaming, and after-shower. I'm currently on application five of the heavy duty (and a pass with the foaming to spice things up). The first application was...nothing short of awe-inspiring. Truly phenomenal. The grossness just...washed away. I could suddenly see white! THERE REALLY WAS TUB UNDER THERE! (I'm more shocked than you.)

All the next coats have rinsed away the rest of the gross, though there are still areas of discoloration. I'm giving myself a few days off from scrubbing/cleaning, then trying again. If it still doesn't work, I'm going to see if bleach will restore the rest of the white coloring.

My house is so clean now! I've even cleaned out the vacuum cleaner so that it vacuums at maximum efficiency. I am a happy hommemaker :)

Next post: My Sister stories!