Not me. At least not this time. But finding (and more importantly USING) this tip has definitely moved my dial toward genius classification.
I recently shared this tip in email with my sisters and niece...basically those with whom I share not only DNA but also complete abhorrence of all things related to cleaning. In my email I referenced this blog (which I know they almost never check) - telling them they really missed out on a fabulous tip.
When my sister asked for more details because she couldn't find it on my blog, I figured it really was because she couldn't find it on my blog. As it turns out, I apparently had better things to blog about that day.
I will immediately remedy that oversight! If you actually enjoy scrubbing bathrooms,
STOP READING NOW!
So if you're still reading it's because you share my extreme distaste for cleaning bathrooms. Basically I don't think I really enjoy cleaning anything (except vegetables) but I really think that scrubbing bathrooms is on the very bottom of my list.
So unless I can find someone else to do it, I'm always on the look out for a better/easier way to accomplish this dreaded chore.
Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest? I've got an entire board dedicated to "genius tips" (mostly so I can actually find them again!) And thanks to Pinterest I've come across the greatest discovery since...I don't know...what came BEFORE sliced bread?
Are you familiar with Myth Busters? Those crazy guys that go around testing even crazier ideas to see if they are really true (can you get better mileage if you "draft" your car behind a semi truck - yeah, don't try that one at home kids!)?
Steph is a "pin buster" - she tries out that seemingly too-good-to-be-true tricks on Pinterest and reports on which ones work and which ones don't. The In-Shower Cleaning trick is a keeper!
So easy - you just get one of those fillable scrubbing wands from your local grocery store and fill it 2/3rds full (that's pretty important - any fuller and it will leak soapy residue which is not helpful) with a simple combination of 1 part Dawn dish soap (I used the apple green version too - what I can say? It was on coupon at Costco that month) and 1 part basic distilled vinegar. That's it - how much greener could you get? Then, and this is double genius, you wipe down your shower
WHILE YOU'RE IN THE SHOWER! I mean how great is that????
Now my bathroom tile/grout is
BLACK. I so don't recommend that. I figure some bachelor guy built it and figured nobody would ever notice how dirty it was getting. The problem with black is exactly that. You think it's getting clean when you spritz it down every day or so with
TILEX but it turns out that it's not. And you can't see that....
...until...you use this scrubbing wand. I was afraid that the scrubby pad portion was going to damage tile and/or grout but it doesn't. What it did do was clean out that black moldy stuff as well as the
TILEX sludge that had worked its way to the floor of the shower. Initially I was doing the scrubbing part for about five minutes every time I showered - sometimes I would only get one wall in that time.
But now, just a couple of weeks later, I can report that I just use the gadget to wipe down the wall every 2-3 days and takes only a minute or two (no scrubbing required - and yes, I do "spot check" the grout areas with the edge of the scrubber to see if I pick up anything that's not supposed to be there...I don't). Be sure to rinse the walls thoroughly (I keep a small cup in the shower and just fill and toss at a wall). My polished brass fixtures look like they were just installed. My glass door is so clean one might accidentally walk into it and my black tile absolutely sparkles!
Save yourself a return trip to the store - buy some extra scrubby "heads" while you're there. We pretty much tore through one the first week (okay that might have something to do with the fact that I went with the cheaper store brand of scrubby wand instead of the name brand one) but they are pretty cheap and will make scrubbing your shower a chore of the past!
You're welcome!
~later, tw
Sign up for BookBub and you can specify your category preferences. They will email you a daily list with deals found in those particular categories.
Bookperk is a promotion service of HarperCollins Publishers. Sign up is free and they email me a daily listing of a few books (usually 3-4). I think everything is under $5, most are ~$2 and some are free.
I like Pixel of Ink. They email me a listing every day (it's a combination of their morning list plus their evening list of deals and steals). Their website has even more to choose from (like free kindle books and hot deals) and you can browse their lists by genre.
And of course you should be subscribing to the Amazon Kindle Daily deals. I receive a daily email highlighting at least five books (the daily deal, a romance deal, a science fiction & fantasy deal, and then another two - bio/memoirs, kids', military, history, etc.)
For those of you with Amazon Prime, you can also sign up for Kindle First Program. (Tricky to find - once you've logged into your Amazon account, under "Your Account" go to "Your Prime Membership" and under Kindle Books you will see that you can choose one featured early release book for FREE every month with Kindle First) You can choose from four different, about-to-be-published books each month from a variety of genre (this month I selected the historical fiction Helen of Sparta).
And finally, for those of you with Nooks (and yes, I've actually got/read both), you should check out The Nook Blog on Fridays (I check mine on Fridays ~ 7:00 PT) to a weekly free book as well as a week free app/game for your Nook (I think they only run on the Nook Color or higher). There is an ongoing list (so you can see what's been featured on past Fridays) so be sure to check that you are "purchasing" this week's FREE book/app/game but there have been some really great finds to be downloaded here.
It's the most fabulous place - you can order stamps (including holiday stamps) and all kinds of packaging supplies (like those fabulous Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes - "If It Fits, It Ships!") and they'll even send you a supply of those plastic sleeves for customs forms for mailing internationally!
Postal rates are scheduled to go up soon so you might want to stock up on those FOREVER stamps at $.46 while you can because these are going to cost you $.49 come January 26, 2014.
Now I use these little wonders that I happened to see when visiting Jenny: Flip and Tumble Reusable Produce Bags. Travis had seen them on Amazon and thought they would be useful for Jenny. I totally agree! They are a lightweight mess material that can be easily tossed in the washer to refresh. They are a nice size (12" x 14") and are "color-coded" (though I haven't figured out what that would be useful for - I mean, I'm pretty good at figuring out what's in each of them so far).
Another great idea from Travis was this set of Reusable Shopping Tote/Grocery Bags. These come in a four-pack and in lots of bright colors (I got an assortment of four). They fold up into themselves and have a carabiner that can easily hook onto purse, backpack or belt loop. When stuffed into their pocket, it easily fits into YOUR pocket (or purse, backpack, etc.) meaning I always have it with me in my bag instead of stuck out in the car where I'm most likely not going to run out and get it. It holds a ton (okay not exactly one ton but it does hold at least 25 lbs. which is more than I could easily carry anyway).
So easy - you just get one of those fillable scrubbing wands from your local grocery store and fill it 2/3rds full (that's pretty important - any fuller and it will leak soapy residue which is not helpful) with a simple combination of 1 part Dawn dish soap (I used the apple green version too - what I can say? It was on coupon at Costco that month) and 1 part basic distilled vinegar. That's it - how much greener could you get? Then, and this is double genius, you wipe down your shower WHILE YOU'RE IN THE SHOWER! I mean how great is that????