Week Pin: Bathroom Cleaner
Original Source: tidybrownwren.blogspot.com.au
Who's This For?: Me
Price: Fairy Dishwashing Liquid $3.99 and Vinegar 2 litres $1.09 both from Coles Supermarket
Last week there were lots of lovely photos to look at. This week, in the words of Julia Roberts from the movie Notting Hill, it's all talk, talk, talk.
I have a lovely friend who runs a very classy bed and breakfast in her house in Lorne, along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. She keeps the guest rooms spotlessly clean. She has white bedlinen, white doona covers, white walls and the most sparkling, clean white bathrooms like I've never seen anywhere else. I don't this have talent for cleaning and I struggle with cleaning often enough to keep things looking like new. There are many Pinterest pins with cleaning products so I hope to make one that might actually work.
I'm happy to pay for supermarket cleaners as long as they do their job and don't harm anyone in my house (my daughter has asthma). Any bathroom cleaner that stops me from breathing when I use it is not welcome in my house. I also dislike bleach. In fact, I refuse to buy it for any purpose. I'd like to try something less harmful that will still clean my bathroom.
The common recipe in many Pins is Vinegar and Dawn washing liquid. The above Pin, from http://tidybrownwren.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/homemade-bathroom-cleaner.html uses these ingredients. I'll google whether or not there is an Australian product similar to Dawn. BRB, I'll ask Mr Google.
So the internet says that Dawn is called Fairy in Australia. Apparently, it's a concentrated cleaner that removes oil spills from the oceans, grease from driveways and cleans crystal glasses. I regularly use a lovely dishwashing liquid that has low sodium, is cruelty free in a recycled bottle and makes very little suds. I've read this is better for the environment but it makes my husband use twice as much because he just can't understand how it cleans without bubbles up to his elbows. I tell myself that I'm helping the environment with less suds.
The acid in vinegar is the 'magic' that kills germs but remember, with every cleaner there always has to be agitation (rubbing, scrubbing or movement) and therefore elbow grease. Surfectants and detergents won't work if they just sit there.
I've got a nifty little brush (from Kmart $2) that you fill with soap and it fits in the palm of your hand. I filled it with the mixture and ran the brush over the grout twice and you'll have to take my word for it, but WOW! See if you can tell the difference in the photos of before and after. The grout on the right hand side has not been touched, but the left hand side shows how it looked after a quick scrub.
So, using the mop and bucket, I did the entire room. It cleaned the tiles and the grout well (not quite as well as the brush, but a definite improvement) and the room smelled of apple juice. It did feel a little slippery underfoot when it was wet and I wonder whether I need to rinse after washing (ugh, more mopping). I have to say though, it was a great result.
I'm going to fill a squirty bottle and see how it works on my venetian blinds and then try the shower. This week's Pin was definitely worth the effort.
My lovely friend Robyn is picking up some beeswax for me. So next week with a bit of luck, I'll try a Pin recipe for lip balm.
Soops
"I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again." Joan Rivers
Bonus: vinegar also kills mould :)
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