non MFP related! I need some cleaning tips!

DreamLittleDarling

Ok, For any of you that have ever lived in some sort of "public housing" like apartments, military housing, etc...

I live in the housing on post at Fort Polk, and as I'm sure you can guess, it's old and even when it's clean, it doesn't look like it is... My biggest issue is the bathrooms! They look SO gross!

How on earth can I get the nasty stains out of the toilets, sinks, and tubs?! I have used bleach, scrubbing bubbles, 409, kaboom... I know there are tons of "non cleaner" items that people use for cleaning, but I don't know what.... so does anyone have any suggestions?!

My MIL is coming to visit soon and she's very judgemental, even if these stains are not our fault, it WILL be my fault. I gotta make this house freakin spotless! So any help is appreciated!!

corrinnebrown

try CLR for the stains

kelley4123

lemon juice always works for sink, toilet and bath stains. pour it on/in, leave for 30mins or so then rub and rinse!

missy1970eb

try some vinegar and coke but u need to leave it for about 30 mins

MrsB81

I cilet bang everything!

DreamLittleDarling

just plain white vinegar?

thank you all!!!!! I'm gonna try all of those TODAY! lol

polar5554

try some vinegar

What she said...

alienblonde1

I have heard Tang works but haven't tried it. Tang is a powdered drink mix. (In case you didn't know)


Try Grease Lightning, Just be careful not to use on painted surfaces (tubs ok). Also make sure well ventilated.

loriannmartin

is it a rust stain? have you tried i think it is called CLR ??? i know it takes rust,hard water stains,and lime remover. our water where we used to live used to stain everything. it was the hardest water ever and our glass shower always had white stains and it cleaned it off, and our tub and toilet had rust marks from water and it help there too... good luck

alexmommy

Vinegar is an awesome natural cleaner! Also baking soda to scrub out stains works amazing too!

binary_jester

My old roommate used hydrochloric acid to clean his bathtub and it did wonders. If you live on a military base, i also hear WMD's works.

audbbgirl

I like lysol tub and tile, comet, and I heard coke works in the toilet...never tried it.

Kate_UK

Make a paste with white vinegar and salt, (or as close to a paste as you can get it, it a bit grainy) rub it into the bathroon stains and wrap with paper towles. Leave to sit for a couple of hours and a gentle rub should be enough to remove even the toughest stain. Good luck!

For rust stains you need something that has oxalic acid in it. Not sure what cleaners are availble in the US, I usually just pinch a bit from work!

BeLightYear

Iron Out or The Works will do it, but make sure you have proper ventilation!!:sick:

Kate_UK

I like lysol tub and tile, comet, and I heard coke works in the toilet...never tried it.

coke has sulphuric acid in it, so that makes it a great cleaner

binary_jester

I heard coke works in the toilet...never tried it.

I though coke only works when you hear pounding on the door announcing "POLICE!"

live2smyle

There is a product called Sno Bowl....Its not to expensive and can be found anywhere. I have used this on toilets that were black from water sitting in them and its gotten them snowy white again :happy:

live2smyle

I heard coke works in the toilet...never tried it.

I though coke only works when you hear pounding on the door announcing "POLICE!"

:laugh:

DreamLittleDarling

the sinks and tubs are just from water, the worst one is the tub/shower in the master bath... it's just funky! When we moved in I wouldn't let anyone use it until I scrubbed it with bleach from top to bottom because I thought it was just not cleaned, but it looked the same when I was done lol.

the toilet in the half bath is a combination of just funky from water (mold grows in the toilets here, I've never seen that before, it's SO FREAKING GROSS) and my husband's attempt at helping me clean... he put in some lysol toilet cleaner, the blue kind, and then "let it sit" because he thought that would help... no, it turned the inside of the toilet blue... I got most of it out, but there's still blue streaks in it lol.

The toilet in the kids bathroom... what can I say... my daughter has an unusual fear of flushing the toilet before showers, and forgets after showers, sometimes it gets left over night if I don't think about it and go check it after her shower. So it's stained from not being flushed. I have cleaned it several times... once I figured out that was happening. But it was a couple weeks of her doing that before I knew what was going on, and by then I guess the damage had been done...

ramseyrose

Toothpaste is good. Also if you can face doing it make a paste out of biological washing powder and water and press onto the toilet bowl. Leave for a couple of hours then give it a scrub. I saw this on TV and take no responsibilty for a soapsud massacre! LOL!

DreamLittleDarling

My old roommate used hydrochloric acid to clean his bathtub and it did wonders. If you live on a military base, i also hear WMD's works.

dude... these houses ALL need WMD's! ...but I can't find them... :huh:

DreamLittleDarling

I heard coke works in the toilet...never tried it.

I though coke only works when you hear pounding on the door announcing "POLICE!"

no... I think that's when coke DOESN'T work lol

DreamLittleDarling

Toothpaste is good. Also if you can face doing it make a paste out of biological washing powder and water and press onto the toilet bowl. Leave for a couple of hours then give it a scrub. I saw this on TV and take no responsibilty for a soapsud massacre! LOL!

what is biological washing powder? Im willing to try anything lol, but I dunno what that is?

Atlantique

I have a very old linoleum floor in my kitchen which is theoreticlly mostly white. It almost never looks white in the traffic areas as whatever that shiny sealant on top is wore off before I bought this house. I started adding Oxy-Clean to the floor cleaner and the floor looks so much better it's not even funny!

If you have one of those plastic showers, one of the best tips I ever got was to use car wax on the walls (CAREFUL NOT TO GE ANY ON THE FLOOR) after you get them as clean as possible. After that, washing them is a breeze!

DreamLittleDarling

I have a very old linoleum floor in my kitchen which is theoreticlly mostly white. It almost never looks white in the traffic areas as whatever that shiny sealant on top is wore off before I bought this house. I started adding Oxy-Clean to the floor cleaner and the floor looks so much better it's not even funny!

If you have one of those plastic showers, one of the best tips I ever got was to use car wax on the walls (CAREFUL NOT TO GE ANY ON THE FLOOR) after you get them as clean as possible. After that, washing them is a breeze!

yes! it's plastic... and oolllldddd! I also have linoleum floors in the kitchen and all 3 bathrooms! I thought about using oxi clean on the sinks and tubs, and now I will also try it on my floors! Thanks!

Katbaran

Everyone gave you some good suggestions and I don't have any to add. I've used CLR when we lived in military housing. We lived at Fort Polk for a couple years in the mid 90's. Whereabouts are you? We lived on Harrell St. in South Fort.

Christie422

I was going to suggest CLR for the rust stains too, and vinegar does work great for hard water stains around the faucets. Try wrapping some paper towels around any hard water spots and soaking it with vinegar and let it sit for 30 minutes. Also Borax is great for things you need to scrub, non abrasive and cheap too!

sccamero

lately my cleaner of choice is Mr. Clean's magic eraser. It scrubbed out my shower really good and simple to use.

DreamLittleDarling

Everyone gave you some good suggestions and I don't have any to add. I've used CLR when we lived in military housing. We lived at Fort Polk for a couple years in the mid 90's. Whereabouts are you? We lived on Harrell St. in South Fort.
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We live in the old officer housing in North Fort. There's new officer housing now, so now this is all junior enlisted. I'm guessing officers don't clean... this house was so nasty when we moved in. And it's one of the few in the neighborhood that hasn't been remodeled yet, so I have all the original linoleum and toilets, tubs, etc...

I actually really love our house and don't wanna go anywhere else cuz I know we won't get another house like this lol. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and a garage and HUGE utility room... so aside from the stains in the bathrooms, I really do love this house!

kajun_at_work

Pumice stone, they sell them around the household cleaning supplies.

Katbaran

We live in the old officer housing in North Fort. There's new officer housing now, so now this is all junior enlisted. I'm guessing officers don't clean... this house was so nasty when we moved in. And it's one of the few in the neighborhood that hasn't been remodeled yet, so I have all the original linoleum and toilets, tubs, etc...

I actually really love our house and don't wanna go anywhere else cuz I know we won't get another house like this lol. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and a garage and HUGE utility room... so aside from the stains in the bathrooms, I really do love this house!

Sounds like you live in what was the "new" housing when we were there. You hit the jackpot! Your quarters sound huge! We lived in a 4 plex that was a two bedroom nightmare. They condemned it shortly after we left due to a large crack and gap in the foundation separating the two sides! Please tell me that the newer quarters don't have either the baby poop brown carpeting or the puke green carpeting! lol. At least it didn't show anything at all that was spilled on it!

I hope you are able to get your house in order!