My grandmother’s cleaning trick that kept her bathtub sparkling

Grandma was the epitome of a Southern lady, if ever there was one. She kept her home spotless and tastefully decorated, had a garden with beautiful rose bushes and hydrangeasdrank coffee in the afternoon from a porcelain cup and saucer and always looked neat and tidy. When I visited as a child, I noticed that she would wake up early, immediately start cooking and almost always serve me my favorite breakfast: a big pile of homemade pancakes.

As her granddaughter, I am guilty of placing her too high on a pedestal in my eyes due to her impeccability, but there is no denying that the times I spent with her were soothing, enjoyable and always a treat. Now that I have to care for my own home, I have a new respect for the cleanliness, organization, and tranquility of the home she so dutifully cared for. I remember her house often smelling of pine cleaner and fresh coffee; every item had a place, and there was seemingly a place for everything. Staying with her was a southern bed and breakfast experience at its best, complete with one of my favorite people And freshly ironed sheets.

Fortunately, as a young child I learned a few of her household tricks to keep her home clean and welcoming, and I still use them in my own home. Here’s one of my favorite yet surprisingly simple cleaning habits that I’m so glad I learned from her.

Her bathtub was always spotless

Before I went to bed, when I spent the night with her, I almost always bathed in her big white bathtub. Besides the towels neatly folded in cupboards and products neatly stored in her bathroom space, there was one more thing I inevitably noticed about this bathroom tub. It was always white, with no ring on the inside, no water stains, and no visible soap residue. Oddly enough, I never remember stepping into a dirty bathtub at her house. Chances are her bathtub was dirty and messy at times, and possibly she always prepared in advance for the arrival of guests, but I simply never saw anything other than a sparkling white bath. Looking back, however, there was more to it. She used a cleaning technique on the porcelain of her deep white cast iron tub that left it shiny and sparkling, and I was lucky enough to witness it a few times.

The simple tool

Grandma had a secret tool and process she always used to keep the tub clean, and now that I think about it, it was genius. She used nothing but a special toilet brush to keep her bathtub spotless. It hung right on the bathtub faucet and was ready to be grabbed for use at any time. Granted, this was it not the same brush she used for the toilet – she had a separate one for cleaning the toilet – and this brush hung neatly on the tap in the bath, so that confusion between the toilet brush and the bath brush could be avoided.

Her use of a toilet brush to keep her bathtub clean was smart. The brush’s long handle allowed easy access to the far reaches of the large tub, ensuring beauty everywhere. She never used any cleaning products that I saw, which made the process of just warm water and a little hard work and consistency all the more environmentally and economically friendly.

The steps

Here are the simple cleaning steps she used to keep her bathtub fresh and ready to use:

1. Drain the bath after use.
2. Run some warm to hot water through the bath.
3. Use a soft-bristled brush with a long handle to loosen the soap scum ring around the tub.
4. Rinse the water through the tub to clean it.
5. As the tub drains, use the brush to sweep the soap residue down the drain.
6. Repeat the process one or two more times until the tub is clean.

How I use this trick

I still use a form of her simple but effective technique. To keep soap scum at bay, I run a little hot water after each bath, rinse it around the inside of the tub with my long-handled cleaning brush, and sweep the water down the drain. Occasionally I use a little detergent to loosen stuck soap scum, but quickly cleaning the inside of the tub after use will keep the tub sparkling between uses. And I am nostalgically happy with my simple and quick craft, inspired by the woman who seemingly always kept her house and home in order.