Some of you know how much I h.a.t.e. ironing.
I’d scrub your bath tub if you’d iron my clothes. Seriously.
Some people get happy seeing nicely ironed shirts, but me? I can’t stand (literally) doing the same thing over and over again for an hour or longer….just so that our clothes look…not wrinkled.
(I though casual wrinkled look was in? When did that fad go out?)
Anyway, put me in a dirty bathroom, and I’m all giddy as heck.
See?
This actually made me happy the other day. No, not because it’s dirty but because I can finally use my “All Natural Soft Scrub”!!
I use vinegar spray for the usual every day spritzing so as to prevent this from happening. But when I blink, (probably because I had to iron and didn’t have the time to spritz with my vinegar spray!) my bathtub looks like this. I think it’s the high mineral content in the water. (Yeah, right!)
Anyway, look how shiny it looks after I used my All Natural Soft Scrub.
Now THAT’S an accomplishment! Don’t you think?
Here is my secret formula.
All Natural Soft Scrub
about 3/4 C Baking Soda
about 1/4 C Liquid Castile Soap (BUY Peppermint. You can thank me later.)
about 2 Tbsp Water
about 2 Tbsp Vinegar
I didn’t use this “exact” formula – that’s why the amounts say “about”. Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowl with a spoon. When you add water and soap to baking soda, it will get kinda hard. But keep mixing as best as you can. Then, add the vinegar. Adding the vinegar LAST is kinda important as that’s what makes it creamy. It will bubble up when you add the vinegar but it’ll get smooth and frothy when you mix it – kinda like face cream-like consistency. You can add more or less of the vinegar, depending on how thick you want the scrub to be. You don’t have to add that much.
If you don’t use it up, the leftover will get hard. Just add some more Castile soap and vinegar, mix thoroughly, and you are good to go!
Happily scrub away with this minty, all-natural soft scrub, without the awful commercial soft scrub smell.
Resist the urge to brush your teeth with it as it’s not proven to be safe for brushing your teeth. But do use this on the counter, toilet, and even on the faucet where you need some non-abrasive scrubbing action.
If your bathtub seems to drain a little slow after cleaning with this scrub, baking soda might have settled down in the pipe. Add about 1/4 C of full strength vinegar, pour hot water immediately afterwards and cover the drain. Do this ONLY if water doesn’t seem to be draining. By the way, this is the natural way to unclog drains. So this is a great time to unclog, while you are cleaning your bathtub.
See? You did two tasks at once, without even thinking about it. Can’t do that when you iron, I bet. Unless you are roasting a Pot Roast or something…
Still, I hate ironing.
I will definitely be trying this soft scrub. The shower stall floor is always difficult to clean since it has a non slip surface but I refuse to go back to commercial products. I come from a long line of anti- ironers. My Great Aunt would tell us where to sit on her sofa when we would visit her. I guess I looked perplexed one time and she sheepishly admitted that she had items under the cushions that needed ironing. lol
@Jenn from Chucka Stone Designs castile soap is available at health stores here. If you have some health stores close by you might want to check them out.
By Castile Soap, do you mean the kind they sell as a liquid or a solid?
lemonadestorm I’m sorry it wasn’t clear. Yes, LIQUID castile soap. I edited the ingredients. Thanks for pointing that out.
Trying to remember the last time I ironed my clothes and thinking it was probably around…2004??? 2005??? Whenever it was, the last time I ironed was the last time I stepped into an office to go to work. Another positive check mark in the PRO column of being a painter 🙂 Of course I iron fabric a lot because I sew but that’s just not the same lol
I just cleaned last weekend and the only thing that takes the disgusting hard water stains out of my toilet bowl is baking soda & vinegar. But I don’t love just tossing it in, I’d rather be able to schmear it on to do its thing so this recipe is awesome! Can you store this in an air tight container without it bubbling up and “exploding”? Thanks!
Jenn,
It bubbles up when you first add the vinegar but bubbles disappear afterwards. You can store it in a container and just mix it when you use it again. BS settles down to the bottom a little. Let me know how you like it in the toilet bowl.
Having a heck of a time finding castile soap readily available around here…will keep looking but for now still using my baking soda & vinegar mix!
You may need to buy it online. I just figured out that you can buy it wholesale too!
Excellent! Thanks 🙂
^^ Same for me !! I hate ironing and in fact NEVER do it !! I prefer to let my clothing dry on a hanger !!
And I love to use vinegar and the 2 best sodas : washing soda and baking soda !! But, the most powerful for my bath tub is the clay ! A little bit of green clay and that’s all ! I just discovered it thanks to Etsians :-))
Green clay? That sounds interesting.