10 Things to do in the Bathroom During Load-shedding

Load-shedding happens whether we like it or not. We can either choose to moan or we can proactively set about doing something we neglect while we wait.

The bathroom is one of the most used rooms in any home and paying it regular attention benefits everyone. Here are our top ten tips on making the best use of load-shedding for a beautiful bathroom.

Load-shedding Tasks

 

Put Shaving Cream on the Mirrors

Get the kids in on this one!  Small bathrooms may only have medicine cabinets with mirrors on the doors, but it’s still fun to lather them with shaving cream. Larger bathrooms often enjoy big mirrors on two or more walls. However, not only do they fog up badly, but they also collect a lot of soapy, sudsy grime. Simply spray shaving cream onto the mirror, scrub stubborn areas with a roller towel paper and wipe the entire surface clean with roller-towel. The double whammy on this one is that it cleans and makes them fog resistant.

Glass Partitions and Shower Door Shine

Don a pair of rubber gloves. Into a spray bottle, mix one-part white vinegar with a half-part of 70% concentration rubbing alcohol. You might want to use a mask yourself if the vinegar gets overpowering.  Working on one small manageable area at a time, spray on the magic mix and clean with a dry cloth. Buff with a micro-fibre cloth for a streak-free finish. Open windows to air.

Unblock Shower and Basin drains with Indigestion Meds

We kid you not! Admittedly you may need stronger measures if the drains are clogged with hair. But to clean up razor-gunk, toothpaste, and soap, grab about four effervescent indigestion tablets and drop them down the drain. If they don’t fit, fizz them up in some warm water and pour over the shower drain, while still effervescing. Follow that with a cup of distilled vinegar. Wait 10 minutes and chase that recipe down with a kettle full of boiling water – if you’re really doing this in load-shedding time, then you’ll need to have filled a couple of flasks with boiling water ahead of time. (This is obviously not a child-friendly manoeuvre.)

Porcelain Basin and Bathtub Scrub

White porcelain stains over time, rusting around plug and tap fittings. The best tip is to keep Bar Keeper’s Friend powder on hand to make this task a breeze. That would literally just mean sprinkling the powder all over a wet basin or tub. Wait 10 minutes. Wet a soft surface scourer and rub the powder into tin small circular movements. Rinse off and dry with a micro-fibre cloth. This removes hard water stains, scratches and scuff marks as well.

Shower Curtain Cleanse

Mildew has the habit of settling onto shower curtains despite efforts to keep it dry. In busy households, it’s impossible to dry it off after every use. Before you rush out and by yet another one, add half a cup of bicarbonate of soda to your regular washing powder and wash it at 30 degrees. Before the rinse cycle, add half a cup of white vinegar. Dry it off in the sun and it’ll be as good as new once it’s well dried.

Shine the Shower Head In a Plastic Bag

Showerheads tend to attract limescale which dulls them and can also block them. You’ll notice that happening when the water isn’t coming out of every jet anymore. That will continue to build up until the whole thing is blocked. Here we go. Unscrew the showerhead. Put into a plastic bag, of course, a plastic bowl also works. Cover with distilled vinegar. Add a spoon of bicarbonate of soda if it is badly encrusted. Leave for an hour, rinse and screw back. If you can’t get the showerhead off, the plastic bag trick comes into its own. Fill with distilled vinegar and bi-carb solution, tie it onto the showerhead with elastic bands and leave for the hour, remove and run the shower for 5 seconds.

Tap Shining Trick

There are a few tried and tested tricks for bathroom taps. Rubbing them with the cut half of a lemon works well. Rinse afterwards and dry to a shine. For stubborn spots, sprinkle bicarb directly onto the bristles of an old toothbrush and scrub, leave for 10 minutes, rinse and buff with a micro-fibre cloth.

Exfoliate the Bathtub with Salt and Grapefruit

Any citrus fruit will do here, of course, but you’ll see that grapefruit is just the right size for the job. Sprinkle the cut halves of the grapefruit – yes, you’ll use both, with salt. Sprinkle salt into a wet bathtub and scrub with the grapefruit. The salt is the exfoliating part – so use as much as needed as you go along. Rinse and dry to a shine.

Glorious Tile Grouting Scrub

Grouting can be tough as nails to clean.  The toothbrush and bicarb move works but so will spraying the tiles with a 50 parts water, 50 parts white vinegar mix, which we could leave to soak in before we rinse it off.

What To Do About The Loo

Likely the most frequented item in any home is the toilet. Equal parts bicarb to vinegar make a great miracle mix to pour in and around the toilet including whatever floor area may receive urine splash. Lid scrubbing then becomes vital. Wrap a wipe around a screwdriver to reach the places around the screw-on parts. Remove those regularly anyway to clean them off in the miracle mix.

Anyone who complains about load-shedding next time can be put on bathroom duty. But seriously, take advantage of time away from the demands of all things electrically dependant and enjoy the results of a bathroom scrub-out.