Tried and true cleaner works magic, without a hefty price

Thinking outside the bowl leads to great results

My house has been showing signs of its age lately, much to my frustration. I find myself battling strange demons, like a plaque of little spots of mildew that have taken up residency in my shower grout. I’ve tried just about everything to eradicate them, and nothing seems to work – at least, nothing for the long term. They might be fine for a few days and then boom – they reappear, vexing me to no end.

I did all the research online this summer, and I’ve tried online hacks, fancy cleaning products, new scrubby brushes and more – no luck.

However, I recently had a “clean the house” weekend, putting away all the things that had accumulated and giving the house a really good deep clean.

I was debating buying this product I keep seeing touted all over the internet as a wonder bleach gel, perfect for cleaning grout. It’s $25, and the one complaint is that a little tube doesn’t last very long, but hey – if it works, why not?

I’m thinking about this as I clean the toilet, spraying bleach gel into the bowl, when it hits me.

Why would this fancy grout gel be any different than the toilet bowl cleaner in my hand?

Both are bleach-based gels. I can spray a toilet bowl cleaner into the shower just as easily as I could the fancy tube, but that toilet bowl cleaner has two distinct advantages.

Namely, it’s already in my house, and it only costs $3 to buy.

Fingers crossed, I sprayed it onto the shower grout and then kept myself busy for the next 10 minutes or so.

I wondered if it would damage the tiles. Did I just accidentally dye my shower grout blue, or will it bleach weird patterns into the shower tile?

I wiped the gel off and sprayed down the shower, and the results were impressive.

The mildew was gone, and my shower grout was the cleanest it has ever been. Nothing was blue, and the tile was fine. Although, readers, if you are going to try this at home, I’d recommend testing a small spot in your shower first before going all-in like I did.

I’m delighted to find a solution that works without me tearing out the grout and starting over – and at just a fraction of the cost of the much-hyped online product, too!

Next on my list? Figuring out how to get the hard-water stains off a little section of countertop! Any ideas, readers? After this whole experience, I’m open to some home remedy suggestions!

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.