Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Cleaning Tips #101

Hello peeps!

It's middle of the week and yet I'm blogging about cleaning already? Can it be true? LOL!

Usually I reserve cleaning activities during the weekend but somehow I was extra rajin plus I don't want to let a good lemon go to waste... Eh, how does a lemon gets into the picture ya?

Well, let me start from the beginning. The beginning is a description of my now renovated bathroom which includes having glass shower screen installed.

While I love the elegance of glass shower screen, the problem is after a while, hard water (chlorinated water) and splashes of soap suds left stuck on the glass after shower (admit it, who rinses and squeegees off the shower screen each time after bath?) eventually created this stubborn smudge called soap film.

Suddenly, my crystal-clear shower screen is no longer clear. Smudges of white films that are hard to get rid of no matter how much and how long I scrub and no matter how strong is the glass cleaner that I used.

I began to get worried that if left unattended, the stains will be permanent and I will no longer have that new and glossy glass screen anymore! :(

In times like this, where do I turn to but the biggest database on the Internet - Google. Of course I also checked out Martha Stewart's website (www.marthastewart.com) for tips to rid off this problem.

Then I stumbled upon eHow.com and this brilliant video:

Well people, of course I have to try it out! Not only because chemistry-wise it makes sense (soap = alkali. Vinegar & lemon = acid), but also because it is all natural and not hard to find.

So when I reached for lemons while on a shopping trip, and Suami Terchenta casually asked whether I had mistakenly taken it for oranges, I replied, 'No. I really want lemons!' Curious, he asked what for and he was left shocked to know that I intend to use it to clean the bathroom instead of for my cooking or to make lemonade! LOL.

Back to using lemon as a cleaning agent. I decided to try it on the shower screen in the master bathroom first in case it does not really work. Tak de aku end up sakit pinggang, tapi hasil tak seberapa...

What I used is:

1. A lemon (make sure it's ripe enough so it will have plenty of juice)
2. Not-so-rough scrubber
3. Soda bicarbonate or baking soda, mixed with vinegar to form toothpaste-like urm, paste
4. A squeegee

I followed exactly like how the video instructed - squeeze the lemon juice on the scrubber or directly wipe it across the glass, scrub in circle motions all over, then rub in the baking soda+vinegar paste. Then I left it for 2 hours for the magic the chemicals to work. After 2 hours, I use a glass cleaner and the squeegee to wipe off the substance. I then rinse it with water and squeegee off the water.

What do you know? It works! Although, it's not 100% clean and clear as I hoped (maybe because I have left it a tad too long to clean, like, 5 months?) but most of the film has gone. Only the edges remain and the bottom part (where I don't scrub so hard).

Maybe over the weekend, I'll repeat the process again if I feel like it. Hehe. Hopefully my glass screen will be as clean as how they maintain it in 5-star hotels! Haha!