Tuesday, July 23, 2013

How to clean shower

This is a step by step directional guide for the cleaning of a shower


  1. Wait until it is dirty enough to see the difference. There is nothing feels more pointless then cleaning something that appears clean. Far more satisfying to see the gunge wipe away to reveal the original white. Waiting till somebody suggests cleaning it is slightly too long, so it is a tricky balance.
  2. Put on enjoyable music loud enough to sing along too. Bathrooms have good acoustics for singing but maybe do all this when nobody else is around. 
  3. Because you do not feel like you are cleaning anything if a spray of some sort is not involved, dig through the cupboard till you find a shower cleaner (or approximation of that). If you are lucky it will be eco friendly. If none produces water with a bit of soap for bubbles works fine.
  4. Once the spray is found, spray a little about (if it is a bleach, your bathroom will smell like an indoor pool for a week, also your clothes may turn interesting colours) 
  5. Wipe between the tiles and enjoy watching the cleaning process take effect, a brush is also satisfying with a bit of soap because then you rinse it away leaving it lovely and clean. Wipe the glass door and wall and enjoy watching all the soap, shampoo and conditioner marks come off. Again this only requires water and a sponge. If you can't get the soap off with water and a sponge you have really odd soap. (a good way to do this is while you are having a shower yourself, that way your clothes don't get wet and you get to stay in the shower longer)
  6. Now that you have cleaned the tiles and glass of visible and easily removed scum, you will notice that there is rough, cloudy, white, droplet-shaped marks on the glass door and wall. The way to get rid of this (and it seems to work) is to sprinkle Bi-carbonate of Soda and White vinegar and allow to soak before rinsing off. Some people advocated for scrubbing with a brush (plastic) some thought just vinegar left on overnight. (Here now comes a problem. How do you sprinkle white powder onto a smooth and vertical surface? None of the posts seemed to think this a problem, I did, so I will now share how to do it. Vinegar is easy, it goes in a squirty bottle)
  7. Firstly squirt the glass with vinegar so that the soda sticks, then pour some soda into your hand and rub onto the vinegar. Pour some vinegar into the stiff paste now formed in your hand and, while fizzing, smear over the glass. This is a fairly entertaining pass time, also a messy one. Vinegar, soda, vinegar, soda, until bored. By now the glass should be smeared over with a revolting white paste.
  8. Allowing it to dry did not seem to do any harm and adding more vinegar occasionally and watching it fizz was entertaining.
  9. Have a shower with hot water (cold is unpleasant) and use your brush to rinse and remove the vinegar/soda solution as well as any softened or dissolved calcium/lime (whichever it is) 
  10. Clean up the massive mess of soda and vinegar before your flatmate comes home, probably mopping the floor is a good plan at this point. 
  11. Satisfied with a job well done, have a rest with a book :)  
I did this today and, while not all of the white marks were gone, the glass was noticeably clearer. I will do it again next time I have a free morning this week.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Getting ready

My mother (allergic to anything with four legs, particularly cats) is coming to my house (also the home of a really nice lady and her two cats). I am already beginning to work out how to allow my mother to breathe while she is here. One bedroom is now quarantined, all the sheets, pillow slips and doona cover washed. The bedroom will be vacuumed extensively and then the door will be remaining shut till she arrives. The rest of the house is fairly carpet free so it is ok. The big problem will be the incredibly social cat who walks into, over and onto anyone who sits still for long enough. The cat is currently sitting on my lap making it hard to type.

I had visitors all week and one was allergic to cats (not as much as mum) so she gave me some helpful tips to gets ready for it. vacuuming the window sill and curtain, cushions, pillows etc. There was also one interesting thing to note, the door into her bedroom was shut all the time to prevent cats from welcoming themselves into her bedroom to put fur on her pillow etc. Pickles was eaten up with curiosity about what exciting things were going on behind closed doors that she stalked about outside the bedroom until the door opened then darted in before anyone could stop her. We vacuumed at her and she didn't try again. This is good to know, that there is a cat deterrent and also that it may be a problem