Entries Tagged as 'shower'

Funky shower smells and other fun stuff

July 25th, 2007 5 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I have this nasty smell in my bathroom. It is very hard for me to describe, but I’m OCD and it is driving me nuts. I think I have it pinpointed to the shower stall. I have totally scrubbed it however, I’m very anal about cleaning so it was already clean. I had my boyfriend look in the drain for hair clogs, but still no luck. I poured bleach down the drain and it still smells. It is so bad, I worry that everyone can smell it! I noticed it is very bad right after we shower, too. Do you have any idea what this is and how to get rid of it? We are very clean people, I dont get it. I’m totally freaking out, and I lay in bed at night obsessing over it, haha. Then I sniff it and think about it even more.

Please help me!

Signed,

Desperate in Dayton

WinkIvy says:

Man, I hate when you just cannot figure something out. I have some suggestions that might work. It sounds like you either have something really funky in your drain somewhere, or have mold behind the shower stall. If it’s a sewagey smell, it might be your drain. If it’s a rotting, moldy smell, my money’s on the mold.

If it’s a drain problem, first I would try flushing the drain with boiling water. Do NOT use boiling water if you have anything other than fiberglass with PVC piping. My next step would be sprinkling baking soda down the drain and then adding white vinegar.  Allow it to fizz, it may break up an unseen clog, flush with water when finished.  As  last resort I would try Draino, in case something is stuck in the drain.

If all else fails, it may be mold or mildew, especially if you don’t have an exhaust fan or any other type of ventilation in your bathroom. In that case, I’d try a product called Damp Rid. I’ve not used it, but Heather and I have heard good things about it.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Cultured marble: what to clean it with?

July 7th, 2007 No Comments

Ladies,

Two questions for you. First, we have a relatively new shower whose walls are cultured marble. What is the best way to give them the occasional clean to remove soap scum, etc? Second, in the same shower, we have sliding glass doors. While doing a deep clean yesterday, I discovered that there is a fairly well established colony of mold under the railing…..I can access the area with a q-tip, and removed quite a bit of the accumulation. Could I spray bleach in there for the coup de grace? And would that hurt the tub finish?

Signed,

Losing my (cultured) marble(s)!

WinkIvy says:

You can clean soap scum from  cultured marble the same way I would clean it off of any other surface- with white vinegar. When I worked as a maid, I found that white vinegar worked better to remove soap scum than any other cleaning product I had. White vinegar is also gentle enough to use on your cultured marble, so do a happy dance!

Now, for the mildew, I would probably use a 50/50 bleach and water mix. I would also try to be careful not to get it on the marble. I googled and it seems to be safe to get on the marble, but just to be sure, I’d probably be careful about it anyway. To keep mold from reappearing, make sure you dry your shower thoroughly after every use.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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In which we plug Bar Keeper’s Friend once again

March 6th, 2007 2 Comments

Dear Home-Ec101,

Hi Home-Eccers! Love the site – thanks so much for a return to the basics (that I should have learned LONG ago).

My husband and I have been in our new home for about a year and a half, and we’ve never been happy with the cleanliness of the tiles in our shower. It’s an older home (1940s) but I don’t know if the tile is original or not (I’m thinking not). Anyway, while parts of the tile are clean, there are some parts (including the corners) that are just disgusting. We’ve tried green cleaners (both pre-packaged and homemade), 409, Soft Scrub and a bleach pen. I think we tried Magic Eraser, too. Any advice?

The bathroom setup isn’t ideal, because we have no exhaust fan, and the humidty after a shower is perfect for growing and nurturing mold and other buggers. When it’s as cold as it has been recently, we can’t really bring ourselves to crack the window to ventilate.

The final factor here is that I’m pregnant and want to both 1) have a clean house and 2) not poison ourselves or the gestating one. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Signed,
Preggo and finicky

stripey-shirt.JPGIvy says:

Ah, the attack of the mildewed shower. Once mildew sinks in deep, it’s hard to get clean. Fortunately, your girl Ivy is here with some tips!

You can always use an old toothbrush to get at the stains, but I like a good grout brush, such as this one. Grout brushes have stiffer bristles than toothbrushes, and they’re curved to make it easier to get into the corners.

Take your grout brush and some Bar Keeper’s Friend (no, we don’t work for them, but we’d be all kinds of happy if they’d sponsor us) and try scrubbing off the mildew. That should work, but if it doesn’t, we’ll have to pull out the big guns.

This is something you’d better have your husband do, since you’re pregnant and it is not a well-ventilated area. Get your handy-dandy grout brush back out and try scrubbing it with wax stripper. Be sure to test on a hidden area first- it may not be safe for all types of tile.

If that doesn’t work, you can try spraying on a 50/50 bleach mix and leaving it to sit for 15 minutes, then scrub off. Again, this is a job for your super husband, since we don’t want you inhaling bleach fumes right now. I like to run a box fan while doing any heavy duty bleach work.

*****Note: Using bleach directly after using Bar Keeper’s Friend (Oxalic Acid) can cause an odorless noxious gas that can cause brain damage, lung damage, or worse. Please use caution and make sure you’re spacing this apart AND have cleaned the Bar Keeper’s Friend off VERY thoroughly.*******

One of these methods will surely work. Now, to keep the mess from coming back, be sure you are drying your shower walls every time you take a shower, and leave your shower door or shower curtain open to let your shower “breathe”.

Thanks for this great question!

Submit your household questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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