Okay, I know this is gross. I'm a horrible housekeeper and all that.
Not long ago my plumbing backed up. I called a plumber, got the problem fixed. But the plumbing backed up into the bathtub (which is in horrible shape and which I never use) and left a residue that has now dried to the hardness of cement, approximately. I have soaked with hot water and bleach twice, but the stuff won't come off easily.
Am I going to have to get a hammer and chisel, or can someone suggest something that will soften the disgusting mess?
This is almost too gross for me to think about. You've got shit stuck to your bathtub? You let it dry on? If you never use your bathtub, does that mean you never bathe?
I'd call the plumber again and ask what in the pipe could harden like that.
I was once a sailor. The toilets used to flush into the sea, but then they installed a septic tank. When the water in the tank reached a certain level, a microswitch would turn on a pump.
The microswitch failed. I had the best rack in the berthing area. It was below the water cooler, which meant I had access to an electrical outlet. The septic tank overflowed through the water cooler. It was stormy, as usual where we sailed, so the effluent covered my bed.
It smelled as sweet as honey. I was tired, so I had a drink from the water cooler and went to bed. Sweet dreams. It was safe because a septic tank kills pathogens almost as fast as bleach.
So you should have a nice bath as you think about your problem.
No, but a plastic putty knife, for sale at paint stores for maybe 60 cents won't damage your tub. Hold it almost parallel to the tub surface so that you are attacking the stuff and not the tub.
But before that I would soak it some more**. Don't bother with bleach until there is a stain that bleach removes.
OTOH, I used to think, or it used to be true, that porcelain tubs and sinks were invulnerable. Maybe, but what most places have now is enamel?-covered steel, not porcelain-covered iron. So thinking there was no rush, I damaged the sink by letting water or maybe wet shaving soap sit in it for weeks when I was away. Not sure how to repair it.
And I damaged the tub by letting my foam cushion rest against it for months and months. Not sure how to repair that. The tub looked comfortable, but I lay down in it before I bought the house and saw that the top rear corner really hurt my back. After I bought the house, I couldn't find a position where it didn't hurt, so I bought some foam rubber, which would have been fine but I cleverly cut it so that it went 8 inches below the top of the tub. The bottom inch never drained, never dried, but it didn't smell bad or anything. Finally I took the cushion out and the tub was damaged at that inch. (This is all the sadder since now I use a cushion that goes 8 inches above the tub top, butt notbelow and it is just as comfortable, every comfortable, by the way. So if you leave the tub wet for months, you can ruin it.
But a day or two, periodically chipping away whatever can be chipped, will be ok. I probably wouldn't use the putty knife too hard at the bottom, for fear you'll take the tub sufrace with it. Rather, chip off the top so that water will be better able to soak the lower layer. The edges at the bottom should soak up water too. Don't bother draining the water between chippings. I don't know what this crud is, but I'm assuming it is water-soluable. All human waste is afaik.
BTW, if you ever buy Carnation Natural malted milk powder, to make malted milks with, keep the lid on tight as much as possible. That stuff will last months also, but eventually I guess it was the humidity that made it solidify, and it was harder than a rock, and it stuck to the glass too. It's pretty hard to get things to stick to glass. It was incredibly hard and wouldn't di or can someone suggest
BTW, I'm sure you were using the other bathroom. And People use manure to fertlize all the time, including the lawns of private homes. You can get used to it.
Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.
First of all, stop beating yourself up about your housekeeping....just do the best you can and blow off other people's standards.
About the tub: I'd make a paste out of Cascade Complete, which I've discovered is da bomb for many formerly impossible messes. Failing that, try something called Zep sold at Home Depot, or CLR (Calcium-Lime-Rust) sold in hardware stores. Then, after about 12-18 hours, see what has happened. Hopefully this will help. The plumbing residue could be mineral or organic. Since it is so difficult, mineral sounds more like it. Good luck!!!!
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.