Dear Home-Ec 101,
I’m hoping you or your readers can help me with this household problem. Our bathroom has a plastic-inserted bathtub, and it seems as if no matter how much I clean and scrub away at it, the tub still has this scummy ring around it that won’t go away. I’ve tried several commercial bathroom cleaners and scouring powders, all to no avail. Can you or anyone out there let me in on the trick to a white, dingy-free bathtub?
Signed,
Ring Around Rosie
Heather says:
The phenomenon of which you speak is the dreaded bathtub ring. Every time someone takes a bath, all of the dead skin cells, grease, and oils wash off their body and float in a layer on top of the water. Add soap to the mix and theses lovely little particles are trapped in a sticky residue that clings to the side of the tub.
The simplest way to prevent a ring is to rinse the tub after a bath. This is why in some older children’s books you’ll see a reference to a parent nagging a kid to rinse out the tub and wring out the wash cloth. Prevention is the best cure, keep this in mind in the future.
You mention a plastic insert. I’m going to assume you’re referring to an acrylic tub liner. These are quite easy to scratch with abrasive cleaners. Do not use any type of scouring powder. When the acrylic scratched, those sticky bathtub ring bits of goo have even more surfaces and crevices to cling to. This makes the already tenacious bathtub ring extremely difficult to clean. It’s going to take some elbow grease, chemicals, or a combination to tackle your problem.
If you want to take the least toxic route grab a box of baking soda. Use a damp sponge or rag to generously apply it to the ring in a thick paste. Then spray with white vinegar, this acid base reaction will help get to the dirt down in the tiny scratches. Wipe the tub down, rinse it well, and then tackle remaining problem areas with Bar Keeper’s Friend. This oxalic acid cleaner is mild, but should never be mixed with bleach or other household chemicals.
A second technique is to grab an old bath pouf and baby shampoo. Load the pouf up with baby shampoo, get it nice and foamy and attack the ring. It may take a few rounds of scrubbing and rinsing, but your ring didn’t get there overnight, either.
An intriguing trick, that I have not tried is using a damp dryer sheet to wipe away the ring. If you have dryer sheets on hand, it can’t hurt to try. If you do try this trick, please report back. I don’t use dryer sheets as the perfumes make me sneeze, but I just might invest in a box if it works as well as teh Interwebz claim.
If the bathtub ring has been around a while, it has many layers of dirt and soap. In that case, I may take the chemical route and use a commercial cleaner. I personally like Scrubbing Bubbles, but I live in an area with soft water. If you have hard water, this adds mineral deposits to your mix and something along the lines of CLR may work better. Again, it may take several applications / rinses to notice an effect. Do not use scouring powders on your acrylic tub, it will create new scratches and make your bathtub ring more difficult to remove in the future.
If your water is hard, it’s especially important to wipe down the tub after each use. A weekly wipe with dilute vinegar, lemon juice, or even rubbing alcohol will help keep things looking good.
Good luck!
Send your domestic quandaries to helpme@home-ec101.com.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I get great results using a mixture of Dawn dishwashing liquid and baking soda. This mixture is very slippery, though, so I always make sure to rinse very well.
I didn't have a ring around my tub, but staining on the bottom where the non-slip stuff is. I tried everything, and then one day I was cleaning the toilet with the no scrub vanish toilet cleaner (it is a foam) i sprayed it on the tub, because I was disgusted by the stain. It was gone, and I didn't have scrub. LOL You never know what might work.
I had a heinous ring around my tub and, like lotte, used a combo of magic eraser and Comet. It cut right through the ring. Bath oils are the devil!
Just make sure Comet is safe for your surface. Comet can't be used on some plastics or imitation marble.
I'm still having bad luck with the water spots on my glass shower enclosure doors and frame, tried several things. even went with magic erasure, clr, and other products.. any suggestions?
Best water spot trick ever… Pour baby oil onto a soft cloth, and rub over the spots. It takes a little scrubbing, but they will come right off, and they will be much slower to return. (Just be careful not to drip any on the floor of the shower.)
Are you saying the spots won't come off at all or that they return? (They will always return unless the doors / walls are wiped down after each shower. It's just the nature of the beast.
I have had some success using a Mr Clean Magic Eraser on my bathtubs
I will second (or third) the Mr. Clean eraser. Works on those horrendous white formica countertops as well.
the one tip I dont see mentioned is that to make it the EASIEST to clean – take a bath first! (or at the very least – fill the tub up with warm, sudsy water – over the ring area.
This does two things – first – it warms up the gunk – and if we think about it – when oils are warmer they are softer and easier to srub (think about your dishes- dont you soak them first??) and secondly – it also puts some cleaner/soap/detergent onto the problem to help you out.
My favorite cleaner for this (and many other applications) is Greased Lightning. Spray it on and you really don't even need to scrub just wipe it around and the ring/soap scum comes off.
I have a secret, tried and true with my construction worker husband and grimy little boys. After you get the tub clean, take a paper towel and wipe on a coating of Spray N Wash or JetDry onto the sides of the tub. DO NOT do the floor, just the sides or you'll slip and kill yourself.
Tub rings will never stick again! You'll need to redo it once in awhile.
We use Shaklee Basic H instead of bubble bath, it's safe, cleans the kids, AND the tub!! Seriously, then after I make sure to rinse it in hot water. I use basic H for everything!! I'm sure I've seen a shaklee link on this site, contact me if you are interested in Shaklee products! malaik114athotmaildotcom
Otherwise, the baking soda and vinegar sounds pretty safe for the environment,and the tub. good luck!
KaBoom and magic eraser.
A very good solution for this problem is to mix juice with baking soda. Once you have mixed this spray it all over the tub and let it sit there for about 15 minutes. Then scub it down. The next step is to mix a little bit of Dawn dish washing liquid and baking soda. Spray this solution to the tub and scrub again. Since the dishwasing is very slippery make sure you rinse very well. If this doesn't work nothing will.
Good luck!
My recent post Limestone Tiles – Creativity with Unlimited Horizons
A very good solution for this problem is to mix juice with baking soda. Once you have mixed this spray it all over the tub and let it sit there for about 15 minutes. Then scub it down. The next step is to mix a little bit of Dawn dish washing liquid and baking soda. Spray this solution to the tub and scrub again. Since the dishwasing is very slippery make sure you rinse very well. If this doesn't work nothing will.
Good luck!
My recent post Limestone Tiles – Creativity with Unlimited Horizons
I have had issues cleaning my tub as well which is a plastic material, I can't replace the tub because I am renter. My husband is a mechanic and brings in so much grease and grim so. So what I tried was mr. clean magic erasers they worked but it took so many to do the job they were to time cosuming and costly, so I tried lime a way no sucess, crl helped some but wasnt quite doing the job, recently i found spray power made by crown it works great and costs about 3 dollars at my local walmart. I do recommend when using to buy a good scrubbing sponge and use hot water to loosen gunk and rise with ofter use.