Cleaning.
Seriously, I just completely suck at it. I don't know how other people do it; I don't know how people keep things clean or figure out where to keep stuff or whatever. I never have enough places to put all the things I own to keep them off the floor. I can't get into the habit of hanging up clothes the minute I take them off, no matter how hard I try, I run out of hangers, I don't have room in my drawers, I don't have anywhere to put my yarn. I just don't get the discipline it takes to keep things clean-- or the mentality of where to put things. I feel like it's the one thing that I'm really bad at that I should know how to do better.
So, anyway, I have been trying. I've been cleaning my bathroom once a week. I have got the sink and the toilet all right, but the bathtub, I have trouble with. And that is why I bring you this survey!
Note: if you have a spouse, roommate, parent, or household helper who does these things and you know what their answers would be, answer as if you are answering for them.
The following color swatches are for the last question:
| Swatch 1 | Swatch 2 | Swatch 3 | Swatch 4 | Swatch 5 |
How often do you clean your bathtub or shower?
Every day
1(2.6%)
More than once a week
0(0.0%)
Once a week
5(13.2%)
Once every two weeks
7(18.4%)
Once a month
4(10.5%)
Whenever it looks dirty
21(55.3%)
I don't actually "clean" it but I use one of those mildew sprays when I get out of the shower
0(0.0%)
Clean? What?
0(0.0%)
I live in a residence with shared bathing facilities/don't have bathing facilities in my home
0(0.0%)
Do you feel like you clean:
Not often enough
27(71.1%)
Too often
0(0.0%)
Just often enough
11(28.9%)
What cleaning supplies do you use in your bathtub or shower?
Do you use a...
Scrub
1(2.6%)
Spray
0(0.0%)
Bleach
0(0.0%)
Powder
2(5.3%)
Foam
0(0.0%)
Soap
1(2.6%)
Steel Wool or Plastic Scour-er
0(0.0%)
Sponge
0(0.0%)
Cloth/Paper Towel
0(0.0%)
I just use water, nothing else
0(0.0%)
How long does it take you to clean your tub/shower on a regular basis?
Less than five minutes
5(13.2%)
Five-ten minutes
15(39.5%)
Ten-twenty minutes
12(31.6%)
Twenty-thirty minutes
4(10.5%)
between a half-hour and an hour
2(5.3%)
More than an hour
0(0.0%)
In between cleanings, I:
Use an anti-mildew or anti-soap scum spray
1(3.0%)
Rinse the tub/shower out with water
3(9.1%)
Wipe soap residue out with a cloth/paper towel
0(0.0%)
Clean hair out of the drain
12(36.4%)
Something else I will tell you about in the comments
1(3.0%)
After a shower or bath, the water drains out:
Almost immediately
25(65.8%)
Within five minutes
7(18.4%)
Within ten minutes
2(5.3%)
Within a half-hour
1(2.6%)
Within an hour
0(0.0%)
It takes more than an hour
0(0.0%)
It is still there when I get up in the morning if I shower at night/ when I get home from work if I shower in the morning
0(0.0%)
I don't know, because I always go to bed or to work or school as soon as I've showered
3(7.9%)
Look at the color swatches above. On "cleaning day," my shower or bathtub appears to have grime/a ring closest to:
Swatch 1
5(13.9%)
Swatch 2
12(33.3%)
Swatch 3
11(30.6%)
Swatch 4
5(13.9%)
Swatch 5
1(2.8%)
Darker than swatch 5
2(5.6%)
Your input is much appreciated and will help Tea become a better domestic whatever she is!
Before that, the bathtub in our house and the bathtub in our prior apartment were essentially un-cleanable, no matter WHAT we did. It was horrible and probably contributed to my husband's past history of depression/lack of giving a damn about personal hygiene - the bath itself was so unhygenic that it could easily seem pointless.
It's also really hard to answer the swatch question because the bath fixtures we now have are not white. The prior tub was supposed to be white, but was pretty well permanently around 2-3 with spots of 5 (or other discolorations) even IF just cleaned.
Oh! And the process itself: wet bathtub surfaces, apply Ajax/Comet, allow to sit 3-5 minutes, scrub with scrubbing brush, rinse off, repeat if needed.
Edited at 2009-03-26 04:51 pm (UTC)
I'm actually pretty good at cleaning in the sense that I know how to do it--I've worked several housekeeping jobs (private home, nursing home, inn). The problem is that I'm horrible about cleaning my own home. I understand the principles and all of that. I'm quite good at organization, even. I'm just bad about applying all of it to my own life and personal environment. On the other hand, my workspace is fairly tidy and organized.
Once a week is a really good plan.
My bathtub is like a usual 2/3, but if it gets worse I use a sponge.
Jon uses soap that just... melts. He goes through it like MAD and won't change it out. So it turns into grey crud in the tub. EEeew. But that will go away if sprayed with comet.
If you have a clog, I'm told that you should pour baking soda down the drain, followed by vinegar, then stuff the hole with a rag. After half an hour or so, pour boiling water down. Hey hey presto!
And use a thingie over the drain to catch hair in the future if you don't already.
Since then, I've used sprays fairly often with the occasional short scrub, which seems to at least keep it from getting as bad as it was. We also now have dehumidifier crystals in the bathroom, which seem to help somewhat.
which is to say, it just may be stained. When I was in new york, you could tell grime/film, but after you cleaned a tub, it looked dirty but you couldn't feel the grime... (you could *&feel* it was clean with your toes, but it didn't *look* clean.)
I would guess that there are products which could get your bathtub "white/clean" but I would almost guarantee they'd be bad for the environment.
I'd do a little online research abotu how to clean old bathtubs.
and good luck! hang in there! breathe! (I really enjoyed your poll, by the way...) loves & supports.
I'm blanking on the name right now, but there's a drain cleaning product that I love-- you dump a certain amount of solution down the tub drain, let it sit for about 30 minutes, and then let the water run for a minute or two-- it dissolves hair and any other goop that's got stuck in the pipe beneath the drain really well, with the added bonus of not having to pick out lumps of nasty drain hair with your fingers!
I think my drain is okay-- I have a feeling any backup is because I live in a large building and I shower at popular times. I already have a hair trap, although oddly enough, I dumped some drain cleaner down it a few weeks ago-- one of the drain uncloggers like the one you mentioned (There's Liquid Plumr, Mr. Plumber, and Drano)-- and the next few days it would not drain at all. Now it's back to normal.