Lame question

[rammstein]

My wife does almost all of our "chores". I rarely do the dishes, never do laundry, and generally don't pick up the daily stuff.

I got out of this by electing to be the "once every 2-3 weeks housecleaning guy". I prefer this because it condenses everything I hate into 1 instance. Like pulling a bandaid all at once.

Here is the lame question:
Cleaning the bathtub. The fricken soap film $hit is like bonded on some sub-atomic level. The way that I currently get it off is by scrubbing that crap for like 1/2 hour. I've tried a few cleaners, and for all I can tell they suck.

I need to know- is there some magic trick you know for this? Like, soak it in kerosene for an hour? Spray holy-water? Buy an orbital sander and use it? Seriously- any suggestions of things that have WORKED for you, no matter how weird.

Also- I need to mention that I need to do this today.

[Oh Haha]

Might want to have HER do it more often?

I just use any common household cleaner and the toilet brush,
What does help is an after-shower misting product. Just spray after you exit and it does it's magic.

BTW-I just cleaned the house today. Wifey is gone huntin' and the 911 is apart for repairs.

[widebody911]

Originally posted by Oh Haha
BTW-I just cleaned the house today. Wifey is gone huntin'

I'm scared to ask what she's hunting...

[scottmandue]

Have you tried CLR?

[fintstone]

If it is that bad in a couple of week...it sounds to me like you need a water softener.
My wife recently started using a cleaner called "Scrubbing Bubbles" and swears by it. It seems to work better than the industrial strength stuff on soap scum....but I do not know how it would fare with mineral deposits as we have a top-of-the-line water softener.

[Don Ro]

CLR (calcium, lime, & rust) is good...also Lime Away in the plastic lime colored bottle...both are acids.
I use Klean-Strip Phosphoric Prep & Etch from Home Depot for ~$12/gal.
Small pump spray bottle or old Windex-type bottle, etc.
Good for removing super hard mineral/soap/gunk stains on all...I'm on a private water supply - hard water.
By the time you finish spraying the inside of the tub, you can just wipe it down/rinse.
I don't even bend over to clean a tub and/or shower stall.
Spray acid, wipe down with a brush on a 4' handle/rinse.
Zip, zap, zop.

[tabs]

Here in LV U don't need to be Geezus to walk on the water. Its HARD..with a Capital H...and it will fk up your shower glass pronto...I have sen wrought iron gates rust through after a coupla years like they were being driven on Salted Roads in the Mid-west. Block walls tend to disengrate, the water here is JUST BAD.

[scottmandue]

Originally posted by tabs
Here in LV U don't need to be Geezus to walk on the water. Its HARD..with a Capital H...and it will fk up your shower glass pronto...I have sen wrought iron gates rust through after a coupla years like they were being driven on Salted Roads in the Mid-west. Block walls tend to disengrate, the water here is JUST BAD.

But I though it was the promised land?

[fintstone]

It is. I'll make you a great deal on a house here.

[slakjaw]

brake kleen

[gr8fl4porsche]

Try miracle erasers from Mr. Clean. They will remove the scum - you will have to work at it but they will do the job.

[Joeaksa]

CLR or the same stuff sold in the .99c stores. Works wonders...

[azasadny]

Bar Keeper's Friend is the best cleaner I've ever found for everything except glass....

[notfarnow]

Originally posted by rammstein

I need to know- is there some magic trick you know for this? Like, soak it in kerosene for an hour? Spray holy-water? Buy an orbital sander and use it? Seriously- any suggestions of things that have WORKED for you, no matter how weird.

We have very hard water, and get lots of deposits in the tub. Tried all the cleaners, they all sucked.

Finally found the solution: Wet the tub, and then sprinkle baking soda all over it. Use a plastic scouring pad and a bit of hot water. Comes right off. Nothing else out there works as well, not even CLR.

I'm in the same boat with housework. Mrs Notfarnow does all the housework & cooking. I'm off the hook when there are house projects on the go. We have a ~140 yr old house, so there are pretty much always projects

[Aerkuld]

Simply remove the light bulb in the bathroom.
You won't see the soap line, I guarantee it!

[cashflyer]

We had the same problem - atomic bonded tub scum.
I tried bleach, scrubbing bubbles, 409, etc, and all to not avail.

Then my wife tried this stuff that a friend of hers recommended.

The stuff WORKED. She sprayed it on, let it soak a while, and the tub rinsed clean.

[legion]

My wife and I use liquid shower soaps--no soap scum.

When I moved into my apartment in college, I kid you not, it looked like the shower had not been cleaned in 5 years. (The slum-lord college apartment companies did not clean between tenets.) It was a dirty flat off-white/tan color. I had to scrub it for close to 3 hours, no chemicals helped. When I was done, it was a glossy white.

[MRM]

Since I make a respectable income (at least for now while the practice is going well) but my wife still makes considerably more than me, we have always had a relatively modern division of labor. Laundry and kitchen belong to her. I load the dishwasher and do the heavy stuff. I worked my way through college in the kitchen of a hospital, so I got to know industrial cleaners on a first hand basis.

Ring around the bath tub is not a problem. You're just not using the right product, and believe me, there is a perfect product out there for every cleaning issue. If the ring is hard water, then CLR (calcium, lime, rust) is the perfect product, as stated earlier. If the issue is every day grease, oil and grime, then use a bleach product. The Chlorox spray bottle product works wonders. It works in the toilet, tub, tile, etc.

As far as the best all around bathroom cleaning product, Scrubbing Bubbles (a brand name) is really incredible.

Really, the household cleaner manufacturers are working over time to make housework easier. If you have to work too hard cleaning anything, experiment and find a product that works. There is something out there that will do the work for you.

[rammstein]

Update- I used CLR, and it was FAR better than the Lysol Bathroom stuff I used to use. It sort of gelifies the scum and then a stuff bristle brush, it was done. I used the CLR on my floor too, and it was clean as it has ever been. For giggles, I tried the brakekleen on the tub too- it DOES work, but with no windows in there, I felt the fumes might put me on a flight I can't afford.

SO- for my type of scum, whatever it may be, CLR works fantastic.

[lendaddy]

I think you'll find that if you eat enough pie you'll not have to do these chores at all.

What is this "soap film" you speak of?