LESLIE: We’re heading to the bathroom with Giuseppe. How can we help?
GIUSEPPE: Yes, thank you. I purchases a fiberglass tub about two years ago and it was supposed to be one of the top of the line. But my wife wants me to get rid of it because every time she takes a bath there’s a black film that develops on it and unless she scrapes it down with chlorine or something strong it doesn’t go away and she’s tired of cleaning it and I was hoping maybe you have a method of getting something to clean because I’ve tried everything – even that Rust-X – and it doesn’t seem to bother it.
TOM: This is inside the tub? Is there any sort of a surface treatment, like an anti-slip treatment, that the dirt is sticking to?
GIUSEPPE: No, I went to Home Depot. I spoke to the people there. I spoke to others. This has gone on for a while now and everyone tells me that, “Well, it’s cheap fiberglass. Cheap fiberglass,” but …
TOM: You know, I don’t buy that.
GIUSEPPE: Neither do I.
TOM: You can have cheap fiberglass and it’s still going to clean properly. Giuseppe, if all the household products that you’re trying are not working so well, what I would suggest you look into is a marine cleaner. You know, fiberglass, of course, is the material that you use for boats and there are a lot of really good-quality fiberglass cleaners that work very, very well. One that I’m familiar with is called Dolphinite and it’s a fiberglass cleaner that can take off all sorts of deposits from the water or anything else that gets on a boat’s hull and I’m sure that it will do a good job of cleaning that bathtub.
LESLIE: Well, and once it cleans it, it also helps to guard against future depositing of stains. So it’s worth a shot.
TOM: Yeah, it’s pretty inexpensive. You can buy a 16-ounce bottle for about 14 bucks.
GIUSEPPE: What is the name again?
TOM: Dolphinite. It’s available online or you could find it at a marine store if there’s one near you. There’s a website, ShipStore.com, that sells it, too. So take a look at that. It’s a professional fiberglass cleaner designed for boats but I’m sure it would work very well on this troublesome tub and make your wife a lot happier to boot.
GIUSEPPE: Oh, I’m sure if she’s happy I’ll be much happier. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: That’s right. And if she’s happy, you’re happy. Right, Giuseppe?
GIUSEPPE: You better believe it. Thank you very much for your help.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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