A Saint Zita Miracle: I Finally Learned How To Clean The Bathtub

I've been cleaning showers or tubs since I moved away from home at age 15.  I went to the best residential high school in the nation.  (Okay, that is mere opinion.  But it's definitely in the top 100 public high schools in the nation.) I learned theater, roommate relations, and how to do laundry. I used a paper planner for the first time at boarding school. I never did manage the cleaning tubs and showers thing.

I plan to clean the house every week.

Cleaning the tub never happens.

Our bathtubs are always gross. No matter what I do, it's just hard to clean them. Harsh chemicals mess with my asthma.  Tough scrubbing, like with a magic eraser, hurts my body and makes my physical therapist grumpy.

Add in the complications of the various soaps and lotions that we use on The Loki to deal with his eczema, my husband's oily skin, and my habit of skipping cleaning the tub for weeks at a time, and you get slime. It is disgusting.

But I found the solution. Today, cleaning the bathtub took a total of 3 minutes. I timed it. Here is what I used:

I got the idea from the natural, more budget-friendly cleaning products that I've been using to clean floors, appliances, and surfaces.  I bought a heavy-duty spray bottle, several cheap microfiber towels, a gallon of white vinegar, and some cheap dish soap. I mix a 1/8 cup of dish soap to 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 hot water and use that to clean. (I never reheat the water after the initial mixture.) Obviously, I've sprayed this mixture on the tub before, with mixed results.

That's just because I didn't know The Secret.

Shhh, now this is a big secret. After all, you don't want your spouses, roommates, or employers to know that you didn't spend all day scrubbing the tub. But you won't spend all day scrubbing the tub anymore.  I promise.  Here's what you do:

1. Spray my vinegar and water mixture on the bathtub wherever it is groody. If there is a particularly yucky ring, feel free to use pure vinegar without water.  (You'll rinse it soon enough anyway.)

2. THE SECRET: Fill the tub with water from the hot tap only, until water is slightly above the ring around the tub.

3. As the tub fills, add about 1/8 cup dish soap. (Or, do as I do and pour soap until a count of 5.)

4. Do something else for five minutes. (I like to paint my toe nails.)

5. After five minutes, unplug the tub. As the water drains, quickly wet the microfiber cloth in the tub water and wipe away the grime. It wipes right off. Continue following the water around the edge of the tub with the cloth until all the water drains.

Seriously, the hot water mixed with the vinegar just melts the grime away. It's important that it be hot, that it soak for five minutes (too early is not going to work well and too late and the water will cool too much), and that you do wipe.

St. Zita, by the way, is the Patron Saint of Housekeepers.

No more slime!

Etcetera.