You can put off cleaning some areas of your house, but plumbing fixtures aren’t one of them. Unlike other areas in your home, your fixtures can accumulate germs and bacteria that can be incredibly harmful to your health, not to mention mold. Plumbing fixtures are often the easiest places to clean due to the materials that they are constructed out of. With that in mind, you have absolutely no excuse for not cleaning them, and if you don’t stay on top of it, your health could be at risk, as can the health of your loved ones or housemates, which is not something we assume you want.
In today’s article, we are going to tell you a few handy tips that will help you to clean various plumbing fixtures in your home. Cleaning can be very rewarding and very good for your mental health, so don’t put it off any longer.
Here are a few handy tips that will help you clean various plumbing fixtures in your home.
Your Bathroom and Kitchen Sinks
Sinks can be either easy to clean, or incredibly difficult. The latter generally occurs with metal sinks, which can accumulate limescale, while the former applies most often to porcelain sinks. Keeping on top of cleaning your sink is something that you will need to remember to do. We recommend that the best way for you to clean your sink is for you to clean it at the start and end of every single day. That way, you minimize scum build-up and ensure you do not end up with a horrible accumulation of dirt that refuses to budge. If you do not like chemicals, then you can clean your sink with a cup of vinegar, half a cup of baking soda, and warm water. Job’s a gooden!
Cleaning Your Water Softener
Hard water can be incredibly problematic, especially if you have dry skin or dry hair. Most people, to fight back against hard water, install water softeners. These devices seldom need to be cleaned, and you can get away with cleaning them once or twice a year at the most. A piece of handy advice to aid you in cleaning the water softener is that you must remember to use a wire brush, and you must let hot water sit inside your tank for a while to soften the salt build-up which will be inevitable. Cleaning your water softener is something you will have to do, so figure out how before it’s too late!
Cleaning Your Faucets
You can’t just get away with cleaning the sink basin, you will need to clean the faucets too. All you will usually need to clean a faucet is soap, a dry rag, and water. You should always check the manufacturer’s cleaning specifications beforehand, just to make sure that they do not have any intricate cleaning requirements that you are not aware of. If you have bronze or copper faucets, you should only clean them with water and a cloth. For stainless steel, avoid brushes that you scrub with, or sponges. If there’s dirt that won’t budge, you can try to apply the ol’ vinegar solution to your faucets, and that should work.
Cleaning Out the Shower
Our best tip for you to clean your showerhead and shower is to remove the limescale with white vinegar. You can fill a bag full of white vinegar, then attach it over the showerhead with an elastic band, let it sit for a while, then remove the bag and rinse the shower to remove the limescale. Go over it with a cloth afterward for that stainless steel shine. If your showerhead has living finishes, then you should adhere to the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions, and they will likely advise you not to use any abrasive chemicals in cleaning.
Scrub That Tub!
Next on our list, the bathtub! Porcelain bathtubs are usually quite easy to clean, and you can do so with vinegar and water, or just an all-around soap, and a cloth. You should never use bleach on a porcelain tub, or anything for that matter as it can be harmful. Bleach can remove the shine of your porcelain and strip it down, which can make it look very rough and horrible.
Your Toilet
And finally, your toilet. When it comes to cleaning your toilet, you can just use an all-around cleaner, or you can use more intense and miler cleaners. Personally, I am averse to anything chemical, so my advice will always be white vinegar and baking soda, but if you are more into chemical cleaning, then by all means use a diluted bleach mixture on your toilet, or alternatively toilet cleaner. Never mix cleaners, however. Some chemicals can interact with one another which can present a health risk.
Cleaning your plumbing fixtures should be one of your primary concerns. Unfortunately, for many people, it is not much of a concern, and thus, they allowed dirt to build up and accumulate. Don’t be like these people, please! Clean your faucets regularly and follow this guide for advice and tips to help you do so.
