Hand cleaner to clean the shower. It works!?

Wife and I aren't huge on whole house cleaning, but I decided to do some cleaning today in prep for mothers day.  We've got quite a bit of soap scum on the tile and I was using soap scum remover, comet and a round brush on the drill.  Nothing seemed to work that well without tons of work and/or bad chemical smells.

For giggles, I grabbed the fast orange hand cleaner pump (with pumice) just to try it.  With just my hands, the scum was cleaned off in seconds.  I honestly couldn't believe it, so I thought I'd share.  I've used the hand cleaner wipes on greasy over surfaces, but never thought it'd work on soap scum.

-Rob

Its the abrasive pumice that does the job. Be carefull as it can dull the surface if you do it too much or use too much pressure.

I like windshield wiper solvent for cleaning mirrors, windows etc. At a buck a gallon its the cheapest cleaner around, and hey, its made for glass right?

Verified - just tried it.

We're talking sorcery levels of holy E36 M3!

Its the abrasive pumice that does the job

I think there's more to it because I was not scrubbing and it wasn't on long enough or rubbed in hard enough for it to just be the abrasive. I literally wiped it on and rubbed it around a bit to cover the surface. Nothing at all like the usual soap scum removal methods. Maybe I'm delusional?

Dr.Linda says "Tell Rob 'THANK YOU!'"  Something about "best Mother's Day Present...."

We have a fiberglass tub/shower that gets soap scum buildup.  We have tried everything on it.  About ready to try the wire wheel in an angle grinder.  Fast Orange took it off in no time/effort at all.  Someone should tell them to put that E36 M3 in a different bottle labeled "Soap Scum Remover", put it on the bathroom cleaner modular and triple the price.  Profits through the roof.

I use the DL hand cleaner on laundry stains.  Rub a little into the stains, let it sit for a few minutes or a few hours, or a day...toss garment into wash with normal soap- grease stain removed.  

Thanks for the tip for the bathroom cleaner.  Will try that soon, our downstairs bath has been long neglected in cleaning...

I love windshield washer fluid.  I use it when prepping something for paint- it wipes off the dust and dirt and seem to leave very little residue.  I've even used it to wipe down a car prior to painting.  

Dr. Hess said:

Dr.Linda says "Tell Rob 'THANK YOU!'"  Something about "best Mother's Day Present...."

 

We have a fiberglass tub/shower that gets soap scum buildup.  We have tried everything on it.  About ready to try the wire wheel in an angle grinder.  Fast Orange took it off in no time/effort at all.  Someone should tell them to put that E36 M3 in a different bottle labeled "Soap Scum Remover", put it on the bathroom cleaner modular and triple the price.  Profits through the roof.

Actually don't. I'm putting in a very larger order for fast orange....

We just wipe the shower down with the towel after every use.  After 20 years the fibreglas shower still looks great. (disclaimer - we have good water to start with)

Glad to help and glad that other people tried it with success and I didn't just have some grease based soap scum.  Because, as people above have noticed, it worked too well to believe.

-Rob

Hmmm... I wonder if this will work on hard water stains. That is our main beef with being on a well. Well, that and losing water if we lose power. I'll have to give it a go, thanks for the tip!

I'm gonna have to try this!

EastCoastMojo said:

Hmmm... I wonder if this will work on hard water stains. That is our main beef with being on a well. Well, that and losing water if we lose power. I'll have to give it a go, thanks for the tip!

Any updates? We gotta know!

(tries it, esp on the glass showerdoors)

WTF IS THIS SORCERY

OK so as far as I'm concerned there is only one bathroom cleaner. The leering scrubbing bubbles can take a long walk off a short pier. 

Robertson Racing recently sent us a bottle and applicator of their Foam Power system to use on cars / RV's and such.  We wrote a review you may have seen. 

Well, I had the stuff laying around, and had to clean my bathroom........ 

Wow!  it worked really well, and cut down on a bunch of time.  I'll probably use it from now on.  On cars, it tends to take wax off with the wash, but I have no such reservations at home. 

Foam Power

It also works well on boat hulls to remove the stains that build up along the water line. 

Has anyone tried the Fast Orange Wipes for this purpose?  Seems like it would be really nice to just grab what amounts to a baby wipe with Fast Orange already in it and hit the shower and fixtures and such.  Going to the parts store this week and could grab some if no body has tried it yet.

pres589 said:

Has anyone tried the Fast Orange Wipes for this purpose?  Seems like it would be really nice to just grab what amounts to a baby wipe with Fast Orange already in it and hit the shower and fixtures and such.  Going to the parts store this week and could grab some if no body has tried it yet.

I haven't because I didn't have any of them around.  I assume it'll work just as well.  I know those wipes work wonders on grease in the kitchen.  It'll clean up stove tops and hood ranges (like the greasy film that collects on top) like magic.

I hit two parts stores and Low Depot this evening for various items and none of them had the hand wipes.  So, I've got them on my next online reseller order, waiting to hit critical mass.  I have a feeling this is going to work nicely on the shower in my hovel and I'll report findings when I get them.

Would this work on mold/discolored grout on my tub? Moving out of my apartment in a month or 2 and the place needs to be spotless. The wife doesn't like harsh chemicals and the tub grout needs some love. If this doesn't work, whats recommended? 

I figure it's the hard water that is the issue. I'm dumping the salt out and filling it with fast orange. 

thedanimal said:

Would this work on mold/discolored grout on my tub? Moving out of my apartment in a month or 2 and the place needs to be spotless. The wife doesn't like harsh chemicals and the tub grout needs some love. If this doesn't work, whats recommended? 

Couldn't hurt to try.  I did just because I was frustrated (and high from the fumes) and thought it couldn't do worse.....

-Rob

At the risk of sounding like that guy that shills oxiclean....

If you have a ceramic-glass top stove, throw away the fancybutt glass top stove cleaner you've been using and try this stuff. 

Edit: Good for cleaning canoes too. -mazdeuce

To get this back on track- I missed this the first time. I'm debating putting a new coat of epoxy on the shower, and I was going to use elbow grease and TSP.

I might just hit it with this, a bit of TSP to get the hand cleaner off, then a bit of acetone to prep the surface.

 

In reply to rob_lewis :

I use bar keepers friend on my marble and glass shower.   
I think the trick is what sort of water you have and what is the shower made of?  

I used Simple Green to clean soap scum last week, it worked very well. I let it soak for a few hours, and everything came off very easily when pure elbow grease had failed miserably.