These little errors can add up to a shower that never looks its best.
Lincoln Barbour
OK, this is embarrassing.
But over the years, it got really yucky.
Credit:Lincoln Barbour
(I was cleaning it regularly, I swear!)
I knew I needed professional help.
Enter Blake Wernimont of Grout Works.
Credit: Avery Powell
But the best thing Blake did was point out mistakes I was making in cleaning and maintaining my shower.
Here’s what I was doing wrong.
And the longer you allow soap scum to remain in place, the harder it is to remove.
Credit:Annie Schlechter
It breaks down the grease that soap scum sticks to.
Id heard of people squeegeeing glass shower doors, but I thought that was more for looks than cleanliness.
However, the slope in my shower wasnt quite steep enough for gravity to do its thing.
Plus, over the years, our feet had been making divots where water was pooling.
So, until somebody invents a self-drying shower (how far off can that be, really?
Forgetting to execute the Fan
No doubt your bathroom has anexhaust fan.
If your fan doesnt already have a timer, Blake recommends having one installed.
Be sure to choose an option that offers at least a one-hour setting.
Do not leave your bathroom fan on longer than an hour or all the time.
Doing so is a waste of energy and a potential fire hazard.
While we’re talking fans, not all are created equal.
This refers to the amount of air the fan moves.
If the tissue sticks to the fan, your model has an effective airflow.
Skipping a Weekly Sanitization
Turns out, my shower’s mold problem wasn’t (entirely) my fault.
My metro area has some kind of fungus in the water that turns things orange or pink.
Blake recommended stopping that stuff in its tracks with good old-fashioned bleach.
Then I rinse with water and dry it as usual.
Blake says that should cut down on any mold growth and so far, so good.
ensure to turn on your bathroom fan for this entire process to dump the fumes.
iAnnie Schlechter
6.
This is a problem particularly if you have hard water.
Luckily, Blake knows a secret weapon: Rain-X.
Rain-X is a water repellant originally used on car windshields.
Now there are formulas meant for treating shower doors.
You spray it on, wait a few minutes, then squeegee or wipe it off.
As Jet Dry is to your dishwasher, Rain-X is to your shower.
Non-spotty glasses; non-spotty glass doors.
A Rain-X treatment is totally worth the time (about half an hour) and money.
Before you apply Rain-X to your glass doors, get them as clean as you possibly can.
Again, Blake likes Dawn for this job.
No brushesyou don’t want to risk scratching the glass.
Dry the doors with paper towels or a soft towel.
Then, and only then, Rain-X em!
Instead, get yourself a triple-decker shower storage shelf.
This has been a game-changer at my house.
Tile comes as large as 2 feet by 4 feet and can be used on both walls and floors.
Plus, large-format tile looks sleek and modern.
For the floor, Blakes pick for easy maintenance is cultured marble.
Its a manmade solid surface, kind of like quartz.
It can be poured in a single panel, so there are no grout lines.
