Clean A Bathtub With Oven Cleaner & More: {Neat To Know}
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Think your old, grungy bathtub is beyond repair? Then this tip is for you!
It's Easy To Remove Soap & Scum Buildup On Your Bathtub With Oven Cleaner
EASY-OFF Oven Cleaner with lemon is ideal for cleaning barbecue grills, NON-ALUMINUM and NON-CHROME pots, pans, skillets, fryers, drip pans, etc.
Also cleans surfaces of porcelain enamel, stainless steel, undecorated ceramics, and concrete.
- For white porcelain bathtubs that are hopelessly stained and you don’t have the cash for a refinishing job, oven cleaner does do a good job on the tub. Make sure you open the bathroom window first to ventilate the room as much as possible and wear a face mask if you find the fumes overwhelming.
- You will see the foam ooze out black and brown grime. Let the cleaner work for a few hours before rinsing the tub.
- The chemicals are very harsh so I would only use this on a tub that nothing else worked on. I did use this myself once on a 20 year old bathtub that was deeply stained and it worked like a charm. I can’t say if it damaged the finish at all or if it had any undesirable long term results but as a non-expert, I didn’t notice any ill effects.
I don’t know if this is safe to use on colored porcelain tubs, but you can test a small area if you’d like to find out.
Tip: If it’s a plastic or acrylic tub that has hard to remove stains, try soaking laundry detergent in it for a few hours–this can do wonders too!
Update: Here’s a cautionary note sent in from a reader:
I used three fourths of a can (Easy Off) making sure every inch was was covered and it didn’t work at all and it took off all the color on my new brass colored drains on the tub, making them all turn black and it didn’t clean at all.
Although none of the hardware discolored on the tub when I used this method, it’s something to be aware of (test a small area first just to be sure).
Kickin Soak
Here’s a “miracle cleaning paste” for cleaning a bathtub plus details for using a laundry detergent soak.
Easy Cleaner
- Fill the bathtub with hot water and add 2 to 3 cups of powdered laundry detergent. Soak overnight. Drain the tub then wipe down with a hot, wet sponge.
Laundry detergents that work well for this task:
Tide, Ivory Snow, Cheer or any detergent that has enzymes.
Miracle Paste
If the tub is particularly grimy, here’s a cleaning paste you can try*:
- Make a paste with baking soda and bleach, then apply to wet sponge to scrub off grime when wiping the tub down.
- Rinse well then voila! sparkling clean tub.
- To scrub down the shower walls and tiles, use the bleach and baking soda paste with a nylon scrubber, rinse well.
*Don’t use if you’ve applied ammonia or ammonia based cleaners to the tub.
How To Remove Decals
Peeling off old bathtub decals reveals a sticky mess or dark dried up glue underneath. Here are a few different methods to remove them, get that gunk cleaned up and your tub back to a shine.
- If the decals don’t pull off easily, fill the tub with very hot water about 1″ deep with a cup of white vinegar poured in, soak for several minutes until the water has cooled enough to comfortably put your hands in (but still very warm). Then take a plastic scraper (or old credit card) and gently try prying an edge of the decal up and then pulling it off completely. Drain the water and dry the tub.
- You could also try heating each decal with a hair dryer and then removing it once the glue has melted underneath. *DO NOT DO THIS* if there is any water in the tub! Gah! I feel silly just typing that–but–you know.
How To Remove The Residue
Method #1
- Cover each gunk spot with a paper towel, then saturate the towel with vinegar. Press the towel firmly on each spot to make sure the gunk is soaking in the vinegar. Leave alone for a few hours (keep pouring on vinegar if the paper towel starts drying) then remove the towel and rub each spot gently with baking soda and a wet cloth. The gunk should wipe up easily.
Method #2
- Rub in petroleum jelly and leave it sit for an hour. Then take a hot, wet cloth and work the jelly in and then wipe up to remove.
Method #3
- Slather mayonnaise on each spot, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for a few hours. Wipe away mayo and if some residue is still stubborn–rub gently with some baking soda to remove.
Method #4
- Make a thick paste of cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide, slather it on decal residue. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to sit for an hour. Then take a wet cloth and work in the paste until residue is removed.
I use oven cleaner on my porcelain tub every few months to remove built up soap scum. I wipe the cleaner off the chrome with a wet rag right away. It works like a charm. I even spray it on my ceramic tile around the tub. I have done this for years, and the tub and tile are colored, and over 40 years old.
WOW – unbelieveable! My husband has dry skin and lathers himself in lotion, oil – you name it, and with 3 boys and as a full-time employed Mom – my porcelain bathtub was the pits. Caked on, baked on stuff that would not come off. I tried every product known to man, plus a high pressure water hose, and elbow grease till I couldn’t move. Even tried the famous white erasers… NOTHING WORKED — until I read the tip on tipster about using Easy-Off oven cleaner. Sprayed it on – waited several hours – turned the shower on hot and the caked on, baked on grundge simply washed down the drain. I really cannot believe it! If you have tried EVERYTHING and NOTHING works – do yourself a favor and try the Easy-Off Oven Cleaner. I wish I had known about this $1000 ago. (Doesn’t smell bad, but open your windows and don’t inhale). THANK YOU TIPSTER!!!
I bought the dollar store variety of oven cleaner, opened up the bathroom window, sprayed it on thick in the tub, closed the door and let the oven cleaner work for a few hours. I was amazed to see the brown gunk that it brought up to the surface. I then rinsed the tub well with hot water and it worked amazingly well.
Tub looks great! Thanks so much for this tip.
i used easy off on a tub nothing i tried worked til this i did not wait hours only 45 min then scrubed with a brush amazed is not thew word i am going to try again and wait a few hours i highly recomenfd it works wonders
Will this work on the grout between the wall tiles too? My tiled shower walls are beyond disgusting.
The oven cleaner does work! My son’s bathroom had a fiberglass tub that wouldn’t come clean. I tried everything from Comet to bleach to borax. I even filled it up and let it sit overnight with cleaner, but it nothing worked. That is until I tried the oven cleaner and a little extra elbow grease.
This is a great tip for a guy with a 100-year-old tub, but I think I’ll do a little more research to find out if there may be an adverse effect on the septic system.
Borax works with all tubs and tile. Make a thick paste with Borax and water. Wear rubber gloves, like you use in the kitchen. Use your gloved hands to rub and spread the Borax/water paste. You can rub the grime and mess out withour fumes. Then just wash out. Everything will shine,
Thanks for the ideas for cleaning an old bathtub…….I have a question…
I have a light blue carpet in my home and cats and dogs have stained it with
food, etc, (at times) and when they were newly born, a few hard to get out
urine stains. Please don’t tell me to use commercial carpet cleaners, as NONE
of them work – twenty years of trying a lot of things has not budged the stains!
Help!!! Somebody must have a “solution” that actually works!!! Thank you.
Shirley, There is a product in the baby section of places like Walmart and Kmart it comes in a spray bottle. It’s called Toddler something. It’s made for formula/food stains and cloth diaper stains. I’ve used it on just about everything and it has always worked for me.
I swear by spot shot. It’s a carpet stain remover and works on clothes. Great on spagettios stains.
MY husband works for an asphalt Co. Our poor New carpet has fallen victim to him not taking his shoes off. I got an idea from pinterest and it worked. I have tried everything and this was cheap.
Equal parts of Ammonia and Very hot water. Put into a spray bottle. A hot iron with steam and white towels. spray place towel over and iron. Not sure what the white towel is for other than trying to disgust you. I had all this at home and with some sore knees this was the best.
I have used oven cleaner to remove scorched pot marks off lamitiate kitchen counters. HOWEVER it can take out the gold flakes inbeded in the design. Will try it on my tub, and get back to you.
does anyone know how to remove built-up lime from hard water?
Sally I find vinegar is really good to remove those types of stains, just soak a cloth thru with vinegar and apply it to the lime buildup. After a few hours soaking, the mineral buildup is easy to remove.
This tip works as the oven cleaner is stongly alkaline so it hydrolyses the fats and oils (ick!). Instead, try using washing soda (as it is known in australia) chemical name is sodium carbonate. This is the VERY alkaline relative of baking soda – it is roughly as alkaline as the sodium hydroxide on which oven cleaner is made. Use the same cautionary measures as you would for oven cleaner, but of course you have the option of trying a weaker solution. As an earlier tip nut has already discovered, this stuff can react with some metals (ie. Reactive metals – aluminium is mentioned specifically, but stainless steel is fine) and you also need to apply some logic – this hydrolyses fats and oils, so it will also strip wax, oilbased paints, and possibly painted finishes off tapware…..of course this is dose-related though!
I recommend dissolving the soda in very hot water and using a hot water rinse afterwards for best results as it is not so soluble in cold water. I would then finish off with a splash of cheap white vinegar which will neutralise any remaining alkaline. This product is a water softener, so it will also help
with insoluble mineral deposits from hard water. See cedel.com.au/lectric for more about this oldfashined product – you should find it in the laundry aisle, but you may have to look as it is oldfashioned and cheap….it wont get prime location!
BTW, Tom, There should be no problems with your septic system provided you use a concentration appropriate to the application so that the alkaline is used up in the hydrolysis reaction- a splash of white vinegar for good measure couldnt hurt either – the only danger to your septic would be real extremes of pH which could kill the happy bacteria, HOWEVER, if you consider how dilute any remaining alkaline would be when it hits the septic tank, i cant foresee any problems
I use alot of AVON Bubble bath for cleaning… from ring around the collar
(pre treat with spray before wash),to fingerprints etc instead of a Fantastik spray, I use it every where. From jewellery to pet baths and tile n tub!..its awesome!
You can get different fragrances and its its prolly easier on the world that some harsher chemicals.
One cap to a litre of water and voila….You have a cleaner!
I love the lilac fragrance for a cleaner!
Google Avon Bubble bath uses… you will be surprised.
And I am Just a consumer….not an Avon Lady.
You can keep your tub cleaner….after cleaning your bath tub….use car wax on it.
I have used this for years on the bathtub and it works great !!!
After a year of trying to scrub an older acrylic tub clean in our new home, I tried the oven cleaner technique. I used a generic oven cleaner and let it sit for 3 hours. It definitely removed alot of the tough stains I hadn’t been able to clean with elbow grease and almost every name brand tub cleaner. However, It didn’t take it all off and I had to scrub alot harder than I thought I would have. I think I’ll start using oven cleaner every 2-3 months to keep it up. And I’ll go for the name brand Easy-Off cleaner next time.
I used the Easy-Off FUME FREE Oven Cleaner (in a blue can) on a tub that was beyond grungey! I sprayed a thin layer, waited about 45 minutes, went back and the sponge turned grey after 2 seconds because tons of GRIME can floating off! I was SO EXCITED to see a WHITE TUB again!!! LOVE THIS IDEA! And the fume-free made it extra easy-peasy!