I Tried This DIY Recipe and Got Rid of So Much Bathtub Soap Scum
I generally try to stick to the same cleaning supplies and products. I love my “tried and trues,” and not having to pick what to use cuts down on decision fatigue and ultimately allows me to allocate the most time and energy to the task at hand: getting my house clean.
But as much as I stick to what I know, I also like to discover new things that work well. So when I saw this DIY cleaning paste on @home.and.chaos’s Instagram, I knew I had to try it on my next Saturday morning bathroom deep-cleaning session.
It has two of my favorite inexpensive, super-effective, and completely safe ingredients: baking soda and dish soap. It also has water, to create the desired consistency. I mixed up my paste in a measuring cup by adding about 1/2 cup of baking soda, adding dish soap on top of that to the 3/4 cup mark, and then another 1/4 cup of water. I mixed it with my finger, and then I got to work on my bathtub. I take a bath frequently, and a ring of soap scum and “bathroom grime” had developed — especially around the water line.
How did this homemade paste compare to other cleaners I’ve tried? It was amazing. I scooped it out of the measuring cup with my hands and smoothed it over the surface of the bathtub. Wanting to see if it would work without dwell time, I took my Scrub Daddy to it right away. I scrubbed gently just to move the paste around. The grime melted off. After rinsing, the tub was smooth and gleaming — no sign of hard water marks or soap scum whatsoever. Oh, and I didn’t have a headache, either, which sometimes happens when I use heavy-duty store-bought cleaners.
As I was using this DIY paste, I realized it reminded me of two other favorite DIY cleaners. One is Alvin Corn, a glass cleaner made from alcohol, vinegar, and cornstarch, and the other is Dawn Powerwash, which I use on glass shower doors. Like the Alvin Corn, the baking soda in this DIY cleaning paste provided some scrubbing power, and the dish soap cut through grease, dirt, and soap residue. The fact that it was a paste enabled it to sit on the vertical surface of the tub, much like the foaming action of Dawn Powerwash.
Next time I will try to find a squeeze bottle to put my paste in because that will be so much neater and easier than smearing the paste on with my hands. But there for sure will be a next time. I can’t wait to use this powerhouse paste in the rest of my showers and tubs — and elsewhere.
