Liquid Dish Soap May Be The Key To A Squeaky Clean Bathtub

Have you taken every precaution to scrub your bathtub, yet it still feels dingy and unclean? Your brain knows that you spent the better half of an hour using every powder and foam on the market to make the porcelain sparkle, and yet it looks like it still has a grime cast over it. Well, the answer to this dilemma just might be dish soap. Add this to the list of important places missing a simple soapy clean.

That's right; the same soap you use to scrub the grease off your pots and pans after dinner is just as effective at cutting down grease and soap scum in your bathtub. To pull off this hack, grab your dish soap from the kitchen and squirt it on your tub. Then take a wet scrub brush and begin working the suds into the surface. The bubbles should work their magic, lifting stubborn grime and residue. Rinse it with water, and there you have it. A sparkling clean tub.

So why is dish soap so effective at breaking down oil and grease? It has to do with its chemical makeup. It has special ingredients called surfactants. These surfactants have one end that likes water and another end that doesn't like water. When you mix dish soap with water, the part that doesn't like h2O attaches to the grease, surrounding it and breaking it down into smaller pieces. This process forms tiny structures called micelles, which trap the oil and prevent it from sticking to surfaces. The part of the surfactant that likes water then allows the mixture to be easily rinsed away, removing any trace of dirt or grime.

While dish soap was originally made to cut through greasy pots and pans, surfactants don't care what room they're in. Whether they're ripping through caked-on bacon fat in your skillet or surrounding stubborn soap scum in the bathtub, the reaction will always be the same. That said, there are still common household items you should never clean with dish soap.

While it's clear that dish soap is effective in the bathroom, you might be wondering why you should use it over bathroom products specially formulated to be used in a bathtub. The first reason is that it's more green. Rather than using powders, foams, or sprays with harsh chemicals, you're instead using soap that is safe enough to use on utensils and dishes. Not only are you saving yourself from breathing in harsh fumes while scrubbing your tub, but you're also protecting your skin from coming into contact with those chemicals later when you take a bath or shower.

The second reason is that it cuts back on costs. Rather than needing to buy one product for the kitchen and a second for the bathroom, you can just use the same one for both. Dish soap is also highly concentrated; we usually use more than we need. You usually only require 1 teaspoon to create a sinkful of water, so you will only need 1 to 2 tablespoons to sufficiently clean your tub. Now compare that to the amount of foam or spray you usually use. It's a great swap overall.