Household cleaning supplies

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PandaBear

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Today we hired a cleaning lady (who brought along 2 other ladies) to clean our 1454 2/F house. 3 bed 3 bath haven't been deep cleaned for almost 3 years, took them 2 hours, and cost us $240. She said she would charge us $150 if we ask them to come on a monthly basis.

I was watching them while working from home, and I was amazed how strong their cleaning supplies is. The range spill was cleaned with barely any scrubbing and the shower stall mold was gone and the color back to white. I asked one of the lady what did she use on the range, she said it was Easy Off. I haven't figured out what did they use for the shower stall.

What would BITOGers use on stone flooring (marble tiles), quartz counter top, grouts (between quartz counter top pieces, bath tubs, shower stalls, sinks, etc?
 
Originally Posted by Oildudeny
Easy off is nasty stuff I always hated to use it.


Is it ever … banned from indoors but do use on bbq grills if bad enough
 
A chlorine based product is what deals with mold in the bathroom.

Marble is soft compared to quartz or granite.

Cleaning grout need a spray, a brush and some muscle.
 
Originally Posted by Oildudeny
Easy off is nasty stuff I always hated to use it.

I think there's either a less potent version available now or they've reduced its strength. I remember years ago that you needed to open doors and windows and practically needed a gas mask on to use it or at least hold your breathe and spray before running outside to fresh air !
 
You have to be really careful with real marble because some chemicals can permanently stain it. If it's a tile with a glazed top surface then it's more resilient and can withstand harsher cleaning chemicals. (I used to work for Ecolab - Huge American Sanitation Chemical company).

If you have the grey wear/tear scratches in the glaze of the tile, this is impossible to get rid of. (Think of an office chair moving back/forth over the tiles and wearing micro scratches into the surface of the tiles type thing).

For real tiles/grout in the shower with silicone based caulking bleach works well to oxidize the mold and wash it away. You may have to spray it a few times and let it sit for an hour before scrubbing away. If it's non-silicone caulking the bleach will turn the caulking yellow in colour. Keep the bleach away from chrome plated fixtures and/or chrome painted plastic fixtures as it will damage the finish because it's an oxidizer. For other types of materials in the shower a straight degreaser like Simple green will work well (keep away from glass, most true degreasers will etch glass). For light soil loads, general cleaners followed by a rinse will work well. Glass cleaner or vinegar/water on the glass

Simple Green degreaser is good to use and cheap for general heavy duty cleaning tasks. The key to most deep cleaning applications is using a product strong enough to clean but not too strong to damage surfaces, letting a generous amount of it sit on the area to be cleaned so it can work to loosen the soils, providing some agitation from a stiff bristle brush to help it along after it has sit and then rinsing away completely so no residue is left. The Simple Green will make tile floors slippery when wet so be careful while using it.

I use a PH neutral multi-surface cleaner for my hardwood/vinyl/tile floors and on the stove top which is a painted black top with stainless steel front panels (gas range), and then use bleach in the shower/toilet to kill germs and remove the minor build-up between cleanings (we have hard water). Glass cleaner for the glass that has alcohol in it but no ammonia. Then a duster for the ceiling fans, vaccum for the dog hair etc. and that's all I need. We have 2 dogs as well so there is heavy soil loads at times when they have been outside in the muck.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Donald
A chlorine based product is what deals with mold in the bathroom.

Marble is soft compared to quartz or granite.

Cleaning grout need a spray, a brush and some muscle.



We bought an older home and went through a few cleaning products trying to clean the bath grout. We ended up with a bleach based Tilex. We sprayed it and let it sit, we had planned on scrubbing a little, but it wasn't even necessary. Cleaned well, but the smell is pretty strong, had to run the vent with the door mostly closed for a little while. I wonder if a diluted pure bleach solution would work just as well.
 
Thanks guys, basically I summarize the suggestions to this:

Kitchen degreaser: Easy Off (I think they probably dilute it, the lady was wearing gloves and rinse right after with soap), maybe it is the stove top cleaner version instead.
Marble: we have real marble, the last cleaning company etched a bunch of shoe marks on it and we had to hire a company to polish it out. Heard the polishing guy says to use "everyday stone cleaner".
Grout between quartz: quartz says no to bleach, so I don't know what to use. I'm pretty sure they used bleach but I'd rather not. Maybe just stone cleaner as well?
Shower / tub: Tilex or bleach, spray and wait and scrub?
 
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