I've tried to dissolve it with vinegar. No luck. Lemon oil worked like a charm on the glass door, but it is a poor choice for the floor - too slippery. I tried the daily spritz-when-you-are-done-showering spray. That loosened the gunk so that it was easier to chisel off during a weekly cleaning session, but it didn't loosen it enough so that it washed down the drain on a daily basis. A product called Kaboom got good reviews.
I stood in the supermarket aisle reading the ingredients in Kaboom: inorganic acid and surfactant. Examples of inorganic acids are sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and phosphoric acid. Nasty stuff. A surfactant is a compound that lowers the surface tension between two liquids or a liquid and a solid. An example of a surfactant is detergent. Surfactants are usually organic, and organic is good, right?
What about an organic acid? Organic acids are weak acids. They can be used to preserve food. Acetic acid is an example of an organic acid, and a solution of 4%-8% acetic acid and water is common white vinegar.
In the case of the shower, I was hoping to lower the surface tension between the solid tile and the gooey soap scum. I found a recipe for homemade shower cleaner - 50% Dawn dish detergent and 50% white vinegar. I put it in a spray bottle and went to work on the shower. I thought the dish detergent might make mountains of suds that would be slow to wash down the drain, but the vinegar seemed to greatly decrease suds production. The Kaboom label advised the user to wear gloves (easy) and work in a well ventilated area (not so easy when you are working in a shower stall). My homemade combo-cleaner didn't release toxic fumes, and gloves were optional. I used a stiff bristled brush and did a general scrubbing, nothing excessive or back breaking. After the shower dried out the tiles were clean and film free.
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| A clean shower and a chemistry lesson. |
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