The bathtub hasn't been properly scrubbed in a long time, a sadly long time I'm not even going to try to figure out. Oh it's been cleaned, but not thoroughly scrubbed, and whatever we were using didn't really make a big difference - and we've used a few things, from the generic brand natural cleaners, to CLR. So today I decided to try something I'd seen suggested but hadn't gotten around to trying yet. I mixed up a baking soda paste, slathered it onto the tub, changed clothes, headed into town to buy yarn for some baby gifts, came home, put on the other clothes, and headed back into the tub to scrub. I don't think the heading into town is necessary for when you do this, but I would suggest letting the mixture sit for at least a little while to do its work. The heading into town also isn't the multitasking - it is, but that's much too obvious for what I was talking about!
What I'm talking about is giving the tub a super amazing cleaning, AND giving myself a pedicure at the same time.
Now for this you will need baking soda (2 boxes), some water, a bowl, a couple of those round plastic/nylon mesh dish scrubbies, and gloves if you want them. Total cost of this, minus the bowl, gloves and water - probably about $3. And you will probably need at least 2 scrubbies - mine fell apart during the process.
For the baking soda paste, it took me 2 boxes of baking soda to do the whole tub. Dump about half a box at a time into a plastic dish, add some water (not too much, not too little) to make a paste - you don't want it too runny, but you don't want it too thick either, you should be able to stir it with your hands very easily, but it shouldn't be too soupy, but it shouldn't be thick or feel gritty because that means it's too dry. I'd say it should compare to the consistency of apple sauce. Make sure to check any edges of your container to make sure there isn't a ring or clump of dry baking soda hiding in there.
Once it's mixed just slather it onto the tub (or whatever other surface you want to clean), rub it around a bit, and let it sit for a while. Now it's time to scrub. I did the top edges by the wall by hand, but I wasn't going to stay bent over for however long it took to scrub the whole tub, in a cramped space, or try kneeling the whole time. So, I scrubbed the walls of the tub partially by hand, but the rest I used my feet to push the scrubbie around. Lots of pressure from body weight, and the scrubbie will work to exfoliate your feet. Not to mention baking soda is good for softening up skin (you can add it to your epsom salt baths/foot soaks!) Voila, bathtub cleaning and pedicure! Once you're done scrubbing, just rinse the tub clean with water.
How well does this work? Well, in the past year we have painted the bathroom, and replaced the window, and the tub has had the misfortune of having drywall compound, paint, and spray foam insulation dropped into it and not cleaned up fast enough. And there was a huge scuff from a stepladder non-slip foot. And some other very random dark stain we haven't been able to get out with natural cleaners and CLR. Oh, and don't forget the soapscum, calcium and lime build up. Well, it's sparkley clean now. The soapscum is gone, the calcium and lime is gone, the weird dark stain is gone, the paint came off (yes, that's right, the pale blue paint scrubbed off and didn't take the tub finish with it), the scuff disappeared. Mom was shocked at how well it came clean.
And me? Well, I'm happy I got a pedicure. Sure there's no nail polish, but I don't really use that anyways! Oh, and if you want a matching manicure, I'm sure the baking soda would work pretty good too! Or try a sugar scrub (mix 1tbsp salt/sugar/ground almonds/ground oatmeal/various other things with enough oil to make a slush), or I've heard toothpaste works pretty good to make nail tips nice and white.
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