Our bathtub is original to our home, which is about 50ish years old. When we moved in the tub was covered in soap scum and water spots (mineral deposits? we have extremely soft water) and the tiles on the walls are ever more gross. I’ve cleaned it with regular bathroom cleaning products but nothing has ever cut through the years of accumulated spots and soap scum, leaving the tub and tiles looking …well … nasty!
Is there ANY product, formula or technique out there that will cut through all of the crud to restore some sort of shine?
If you can find it, try a product called ‘The Works’ in my experience, its the strongest stuff out there. Stronger than CLR and even stronger than ‘Lime Away’.
This is expensive and time-consuming advice, unfortunately, but after living in several places with brutally hard water, here’s my method:
Apply product according to package directions.
Scrub with a brush.
See if it’s working.
If not, apply more product. Scrub a bit more.
Is it working? No? Then you need to try a different product.
Elbow grease is not the answer (as you’ve probably discovered). If you’re using the wrong stuff, you can scrub until the cows come home and not make a dent in it. I think that the sort of deposits you have, and thus the best product, depend on the exact combination of stuff that’s in your water. If you look at the active ingredients in CLR, Limeaway, Kaboom, etc., they’re all different. It’s not a matter of finding the “strongest” one, but the one that matches your problem. I used to swear by CLR. Then I moved to a new place, and CLR didn’t do diddly. I despaired, until I tried Kaboom, which worked so easily I nearly wept.
Another product to try (which is mercifully cheap!) is Bar Keeper’s Friend. It’s a powder; make a thick paste with a bit of water, smear it on, and scrub with brush. I’ve found that it is very excellent on soap scum and rust, and it’s great for shining up metal.
BTW, wear gloves with all of this stuff, because it can mildly irritate your skin.
I’ve had success by slathering on really cheap shampoo and letting it sit for a couple of hours. Came up with this after one of my kids knocked a bottle over in the shower one day and didn’t bother to pick it up, and when I got to it later I noticed that wherever the shampoo ran the tub was shiny and spotless. Scared me out of washing my hair with it, but it sure works good on the tub.
Ditto. This stuff is amazing. It is by far the strongest over-the-counter stuff around. It actually smokes when you pour it on a really dark, heavy rust spot.
Use in well-ventilated area. Keep away from children and animals. Use gloves. And DON’T splash any in your eyes. This stuff is like oven cleaner or somethin’.
I don’t normally recommend specific stores, but Dollar General Store carries The Works, if you have them in your area. I live in a hard water area and it is the best thing I’ve found so far.
What finally ended up working for me (after trying all the above-named chemicals) was a pumice stone. Or several, actually.
It took the layers of yuck off and left the tub looking clean, but took the shine too. Since I’m going to have the tub resurfaced anyway, it was worth it to me.
Thanks very much for your replies. I bought CLR today and if that doesn’t do the trick, I’ll go down the list of other suggestions. I also bought a new scrub brush, some clorox bleach pens for the grout lines, and a good pair of gloves. Wish me luck!
I have found that some of that hand cleaner they sell in stores like Home Depot with pumice in it will clean just about anything. The kind I use is a ctrus, pumic kind in an orange bottlel. That stuff restored my shiny black stovetop with scorch marks that had been there for over a year and impossible to remove otherwise. It might take some scrubbing but I am pretty sure that stuff will clean it and leave it shiny.
You may have to try different products but I like kaboom for soapscum that is created in water with lime deposits. I think different water types require different products. Don’t mix anything unless you’re a chemist.
I’ve had good results with Tile Juice. On the same page, they also refer to Scum Bum, and how you may need one or the other, depending on where you’re at and what’s in your water. Silly names, but then, so is Kaboom.
