LESLIE: Liz in New York has a cleaning question. What’s going on?
LIZ: Hi, I have an acrylic insert tub and it’s white and the bottom of the tub; no matter what I do I cannot get it clean. I cannot get the dirt off of it. Do you have any suggestions for me?
LESLIE: Hmm, and is it like a soap scum that you’re seeing? Like a pinkish dirt? What does it look like?
LIZ: No, it’s dirt. It’s black-brown dirt; you know, from showering and I just can’t get it off. I scrub, I spray, I steam, I bleach.
TOM: Is this in the bottom of the tub or is it on the …?
LIZ: Yes, on the bottom of the tub. Right.
TOM: OK, you know what’s happening here, Leslie? I bet you that the dirt has become embedded in the anti-slip surface of the tub itself.
LIZ: Yes, there is an anti-slip surface (audio gap).
TOM: Yeah. There’s a coating on an acrylic tub and …
LESLIE: That’s kind of like sandpapery.
TOM: Well, yeah, and it can tend to get a little gooey and the dirt can adhere to that and not really come clean. It’s not really the tub that’s the issue; it’s whatever that surface is.
LESLIE: Oh, great. So now you’ve spray-adhesived, basically, the dirt to the bottom of your tub.
TOM: Yeah, you’ve basically sealed it in there. (Liz chuckles)
LESLIE: Will CLR kind of attack that?
TOM: I don’t think so. I would be willing to try a mineral spirit, though; to see if it will sort of loosen up the surface of that enough for you to get some of that dirt out of it. I would try it very, very carefully because it’s going to have somewhat of an unknown result but, at this point, you’ve tried everything else.
LIZ: OK. I’ll try it.
TOM: Alright, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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