A trip down the cleaning aisle in your local supermarket can be confusing. There are scrubbing bubbles, foaming cleansers, bathroom, tub and tile cleaners, toilet cleaners, glass cleaners, mildew cleaners - - and that’s just a start. You could easily spend half the day just reading labels to find out which product is the best for every single job in your bathroom. There are a few things to keep in mind, however, when choosing cleaners for your bathroom in order to make the selection process a bit easier.
1. Chlorine and ammonia don’t mix. Or at least, they shouldn’t. When chlorine and ammonia get together, a chemical reaction releases harmful and potentially toxic fumes. This is important to know because ammonia and chlorine bleach are the two most common bases for many power-scrubbing bathroom cleaners. When you mix and match bathroom cleaners, you increase the likelihood of accidentally combining ammonia and chlorine. If possible, stick to either ammonia based cleaners or bleach based cleaners only and never combine the two.
One way to avoid the potential for mixing the two chemicals is to choose a multi-surface bathroom cleaner that you can use on multiple surfaces. If you can find one product that removes hard water scale, eliminates soap scum, and can be used on porcelain, Formica, glass and mirrors, tiles, and many other surfaces, you’ll eliminate a potential hazard and save money at the same time.
2. You can reduce the work of cleaning the tiled walls of your shower by applying a coat of car wax to them after they have been cleaned. Make sure you only wax the walls and not the floor of the tub, as the wax can make things awfully slippery. Glass and fiberglass are both porous, which makes them prone to staining from hard water. The car wax seals the pores, however, making them less prone to staining.
