Pin Busters! D-I-Y Scum Buster


Soap scum. There's a reason it's called scum. And like most nasty things, once it gets a foothold, it's not letting go without a fight. That's where the D-I-Y scum buster comes in! According to the pin, you spray this stuff on the tub/shower, let it sit for awhile, then either just wipe it away with a sponge/cloth.

D-I-Y Scum Buster

1 part white vinegar
1 part Dawn dishwashing detergent (the original blue)

I put 1 cup of each ingredient into a spray bottle (purchased at the grocery store) and just tipped it back & forth gently to mix. (I'm sure you could re-use an old spray bottle if you prefer.)

I had two uses in mind for this product:
1) Gus likes to use bar soap, and bar soap likes to leave scum. So, the tile on the floor tends to get soap scum build-up between visits from the cleaning lady. Not good. So I'm hoping I can just spray this on & bust that scum without busting my... well, you get the idea.
2) Lulu likes to use a lot of super-hold hairspray. In her bathroom. Over the counter & sink. And she never wipes it off. Ever. It's so bad, the cleaning lady has to bring in special industrial-strength cleaner to cut through the gunk. I'm hoping if I spray this on the sink once or twice a week, it will cut down or eliminate the hairspray shellac.

Unfortunately, since hairspray is clear, you couldn't really see the build-up in the pictures - and I didn't take a picture of the tile in the shower - so you'll just have to take my word for it...

The verdict: Pin-worthy!

Now, my observations:

1) For the soap scum, gentle wiping was sufficient; for the hairspray build-up, a little more elbow grease was needed. I think if used on a regular basis, less effort will be required to remove the hairspray in the future.
2) The original post said to leave it sit overnight - I only left it for about an hour, and it was plenty of time to soften things.
3) There are a lot of thick suds from the Dawn. I read one comment that said sprinkling with salt will cut the suds. So now I have to keep salt upstairs?? I think maybe next time, I'll try using a little less Dawn in the mix. The trick will be to cut the suds without losing any of the scum-busting power.
4) You can smell the vinegar, but it dissipates fairly quickly. And it's 100X better than the chemical smell of a store-bought product.
5) One commenter (on the original post) said that they put the solution in one of those long-handled dish scrubbers (the kind that holds dish soap in the handle) and hangs it in the shower to use daily. Great idea!

(You can see the original post here.)
Kim
2 Comments

2 comments:

  1. I just gotta say - lovin' the "new" blog! Pin Busters is probably my favorite. Keep it up, Kim! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Jessica! I'm having a lot of fun with it so far. Of course, my addiction to Pinterest helps a lot, LOL!

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments!!