All Your Need to Know Questions Answered

How to Keep Bathroom Caulk Clean

Over time, the caulk in a bathroom can begin to discolour.  Instead of removing the existing caulk and applying a new bead, there is a fast and simple way to remove stains from existing caulk and make it look as good as new.
You will need two common household items to clean the caulk in your bathroom: salt and bleach.  The cleaning process is safe and simple; however, you should wear gloves when working with bleach.

Place some salt in a container and slowly add the bleach, stirring to make a paste.  When the paste is formed, apply it to the caulk that is discoloured.  After the paste is applied, use a damp paper towel and lay it over the paste.  Allow this to sit for 30 minutes.

When the 30 minutes is up, remove the paper towel.  Using a damp sponge, begin to wipe away the remaining paste.  Once it is removed, go over the caulk again with a clean sponge.  You will see that the caulk looks as good as new.  Repeat this for any other place in the bathroom that has discoloured or stained caulk.  Keeping the caulk clean will reduce the chance of mould forming, as well as brighten up your entire bathroom.

Cleaning existing caulk is a quick and easy alternative to spending the time and effort that it takes to remove old caulk and reapply a new bead.

How to unclog your shower enclosure drain

One thing that can be very annoying is a clogged drain, especially one in your shower enclosure and it can become quite problematic, when showering if water doesn’t drain away quickly. Many shower enclosures are not designed to hold a large quantity of water any you could find yourself stood in the shower for a while, while it drains away, getting cold!

If you find yourself with this problem, its best to take action straight away, before the problem gets too bad and causes damage and you have to call in a plumber. The reason your drain may be blocked could be as simple as the drain cover being covered with hair and grime, this is simple to remove, so you should always check the drain cover first, before looking at pipes.

You need to remove any hair that is in the drain and throw away you can do this by removing the drain cover, if the hair is tangled and knotted, use a lighter to burn it off the drain cover and out of the drain.

If water still drains away slowly the blockage may be further down the pipe, and easy way to find it is with a garden hosepipe. Push this down the drain until you feel an obstruction, then turn on the water to give it a blast, this should push whatever is blocking your pipe out of the way.

If that option fails you can try using a plunger, place a wet rag over the drain and use the plunger on top of this up and down several times to move the clog through the pipes.

Finally if you are still finding your water drains away slowly, your pipes might be blocked by dirt and debris, which only chemicals can move. Try using liquid drain cleaner to shift the dirt and they are normally strong enough to move clogs of this type.

If all else fails then it’s advisable to call a plumber rather than taking apart the pipes yourself as you can cause a lot of damage in your bathroom and mess yourself if you don’t know what you are doing.

Removing mould and mildew from your bathroom

Unfortunately mould and mildew is in the air we breathe so it can be hard to completely get away from it, there are common causes which make it worse, such as; low circulation of air, poor lighting or low lighting, warm environments, high humidity and damp areas. There are also many different species of mould and mildew so it can be quite hard to completely get rid of it, luckily most types are harmless to humans, there are only a few which can cause serious health problems, when growing in large quantities.

It can be very frustrating when you have mould or mildew in your bathroom, whether around the edge or your bath or shower enclosure, however we have a couple of tips that will help you get rid of mould and mildew. To begin with you need to control the humidity in your bathroom, mould thrives when its humid, hence why its prevalent in bathrooms.  To avoid humidity, once you have taken a shower or bath, open a window or door, to bring the moisture level down. This will also help with circulation of air, so it doesn’t become stagnant, also leave a light on or blinds open after too, you want to keep your bathroom as light and airy as possible.

There are many different products available on the market which claim to get rid of mould and mildew, some are more effective than others, however one way many old housewives swear by is using distilled white vinegar, vinegar actually kills many species of mould and mildew. All you need to do is pour some white vinegar into an empty spray bottle and spray the affected area a couple of times and leave. Bleach is also quite effective at removing mould and mildew and the stains they leave behind, bleach is most effective on fixtures and fittings and the best way to clean out mould and mildew that builds up on theses. You need to make sure you remove mould from your shower heads and taps, after all you wouldn’t want to wash in mouldy water would you?

If you keep up with effective cleaning you will find that you won’t get much of a build up of mould and mildew.