AM I THE LAST TO KNOW?

I truly, truly struggle with cleaning the ceramic tile and rubberized shower pan. We have harder water and a constant build-up of minerals and soap scum. I can never get it clean enough. Then, I give up for awhile. Then, I struggle some more.

Today I'm cleaning my stove top--it was dirty when my guests arrived and it got allot dirtier with all the cooking we've had going on here for a week. I'd swipe at it a bit every day, but it's on a downward spiral. I appeased myself for a week (because I was lazy-busy-lazy-tired-uninterested...) thinking that I'd give it a good cleaning once all the guests were gone.

Today was the day. I really couldn't stand it any longer. The drip pans and burner hardware were so gross that I decided to soak them in dishwasher powder--Cascade, to be precise. I learned a while back (from Martha Stewart's website, I believe) that oven racks can be soaked in the bathtub in a solution of water and said dishwasher soap. It works very well, but you do need to protect your tub bottom with beach towels or some such absorbent and non-scarring padding.

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A light bulb suddenly appeared above my head this morning, as I realized that household tip could work for this situation. Immediately, I began soaking the smaller parts in a small bucket of warm water, thick with Cascade. Then, I carried the rectangular drip pans into the shower, wet them down, and liberally sprinkled on the Cascade. A few hours later I gave them a good rinsing. They're looking very fine for 10-year old drip pans that have been carefully maintained.

The offshoot was that I noticed that the shower floor had clean spots! The Cascade was working on the mineral and scum deposits--all that yellow and grey stuff that is omni-present. I spent the next 20 minutes scrubbing the shower pan and the walls, and a bit of the chrome.

This works! I'm not done, but I've decided that I'll stop for now for two reasons:

1.) I'm wearing my newest sweater and 3/4-sleeved (my favorite style) t-shirt. No, I haven't broken my Mondays-at-home routine. I'm wearing nice clothes because I fell asleep in front of the television at 11:00pm last night, and after waking up at 5:00am to Tyra Banks and her fledgling models, I've been up and at it without bothering to change my clothes. Yep, I'm a sloth today. If I'd slept in my pj's I'd still be wearing them

2.) To do the job thoroughly (I  know I almost lost the point because of digression...) Later today, I'm going to need to climb into that shower. I'll be naked and when I'm finished cleaning, I'll clean myself. Not a nice visual. Sorry. I've found it's the only way to adequately clean said shower.

And, I'm guessing that Cascade will work to clean the shower doors, too. Stay tuned.