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My daughter has just moved into a rented house which was absolutely filthy. She's done a good job of getting most of it cleaned up, but is struggling with the bathroom door. To give you an idea, it's very close to the toilet, which was also filthy (I scraped poo off the outside of the toilet bowl and Chrissie has been pouring chemicals down the loo and scrubbing it several times a day to try to get it to a decent standard).

So what is the best way to clean the door? The 'stuff' is caked on. She's discovered that chemical cleaners give her a headache (yay! She's going to be proper Ish), so is looking for something more natural. The door is made of stained wood.

Sugarsoap?

Try bicarb of soda on a damp cloth perhaps... quite abrasive
a vinegar soaked cloth plastered on the door for a while should bring it off

... uhm...

If the loo is full of limescale / stained try pouring a bottle of full fat coke down it, that usually shifts it

This link may have some other suggestions for you: http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/ho ... 0_p_1.html

Why didn't the Landlord make sure it was in a suitable condition for Chrissie and wee baby? Surely rending a property that filthy shouldn't be allowed?

Oh dear SPS welcome to the world of rental property. I've lived in loads of them and believe me, only a couple were clean. I have spent days/weeks scrubbing other people's filth off after moving into new homes. It's totally normal in both London and France! (You must have been lucky!)

The one I loved the best was the one where the bath was disgusting and there was one of those blow up back cushions stuck to it, also filthy. Of course that got chucked in the bin but the funniest things of all was that when we moved out the landlady threw a wobbly because we hadn't left it there!!!!!!!!!

Rosey I don't know, I think I'd start with good old Cif as it's good for removing encrusted gunk - it's what I've always used (Jif ) to clean out kitchen cupboards and hob extractor fans as it really cuts thru grease. Sorry but I reckon some of these natural things are only good on fairly clean surfaces to start with and you need something more industrial to get them clean in the first place. But Cif doesn't have fumes.

Hi Rosie, I work as a cleaner, and agree with Millymollymandy, that you have to use chemical cleaners when something is really filthy, the "friendly" ones only work on faily clean surfaces. How is the baby? Can we have a photo? pbf.

I'd also put a few drops of tea tree in the cleaning liquid.

Personally we use bleach and water in a spray bottle for almost all cleaning. Just use a garden "mister" Spray and leave, spray and leave.

Lemon juice or vinegar are effective especially if used with salt as an abrassive, but do need allot of elbow grease.

Failing that a can of Mr Muscle works wonders.

Finish off with Sugar soap before decorating.

In my experience sugar soap is rubbish for cleaning off grime or grease.

I've got a spray thing of environmentally friendly cleaner from the supermarket and it is crap for cleaning the bath, I have to go over it twice and use twice the amount of elbow grease with the brillo side of the sponge and there's STILL traces of grimy ring around the bath! Back to Cif spray when that's run out as I haven't the time or energy to clean with something that doesn't clean!

BTW I initially meant Cif in white liquid cream form, the stuff we all used to use in the olden days before all these millions of fancy things started appearing in spray form. It's still the best for grease IMO.

thank you everyone

I'm going there tonight and we're having a girly night in, so perhaps I can have a go at it for her. I know she has bicarb in, and she's going to get some vinegar. I think I have some Cif cream somewhere, so I'll dig it out to take it. Chrissie can only get the internet on her phone at the moment, so I might print this thread off for her.

PBF - LO's doing great. He's HUGE. I can't believe he's over 4 months old already, and he's so giggly and smiley Unfortunately, I can't post a picture because I've gone all stoopid and can't get it to work. I had a Photobucket account, but forgot my password. I've pressed the button to get a password reminder a few times, but it never comes. I've signed up to Flickr, but can't get my head around it (need to try again when there's less rattling about in there), and when I try to put the photo on direct from Facebook, it won't work. But anyone who is on my friends list on Facebook can see pics - just PM me and we can link up if you're on there - that goes for any of you

I'd agreed with all the other posts that say Cif is the best. Nothing can withstand the onslaught of Cif and a green scourer. We also had a terribly filthy bathroom to deal with and found that using a steam cleamer and loads of kitchen roll was a good way of getting rid of the inital crusted-on stuff. (Warning- using steam does tend to revive the original smells...... )
Kate

StripyPixieSocks wrote:Why didn't the Landlord make sure it was in a suitable condition for Chrissie and wee baby? Surely rending a property that filthy shouldn't be allowed?

Apparently the cleaners were in for 2 whole days before we got the keys . Or so we've been told. We've been told a lot of stuff that is turning out to be completely untrue. One of the housing managers said she cleaned the bathroom the day before Chrissie moved in. Yet, as I say, I cleaned the excrement off the outside of the toilet and Chrissie washed the previous tenants pubic hairs out of the bath. Then there's the yard. Apparently the gardener was booked to come round and clear up all the rubbish, but it was the two managers who came and did a bad job of it. Something else I'll be tackling when I'm there later.

I have a steam cleaner. Not sure I want to inhale it all though

Thanks again for the ideas

I read this and thought "What would I do?"

I thought long and hard. Then it came to me.

Buy a new door. Cleaning someone else's droppings just wouldn't appeal to me.

Mike

I would use 6% or 9% hydrogen peroxide...

Rosendula wrote: Unfortunately, I can't post a picture because I've gone all stoopid and can't get it to work. I had a Photobucket account, but forgot my password. I've pressed the button to get a password reminder a few times, but it never comes. I've signed up to Flickr, but can't get my head around it (need to try again when there's less rattling about in there), and when I try to put the photo on direct from Facebook, it won't work. But anyone who is on my friends list on Facebook can see pics - just PM me and we can link up if you're on there - that goes for any of you

Rosey if the photos are on FB then it's really easy to copy them here unless they are really huge size, in which case they might screw up the page here. I resize before I post to fb to 700 pixels wide so I can post here too or other forums. To copy from facebook or anywhere else on the net, right click, properties, copy the URL, paste it here inthe reply screen, then highlight the URL and click on IMG which puts the IMG tags in and makes the photo show instead of coming up as a link.

I have to say I agree with richierobins, you could give it a proper clean without yourself being fumigated in the process!
Bicarb, vinegar and lemon juice are all good options. Bicarb should work to lift grime and reduce stains. As will the lemon juice, which acts like a bleaching agent, especially effective if the door is left to dry outside in the sunlight. Vinegar will help kill off germs too.
More to the point, if you do get it to a satisfactory state you can use Linseed oil on the door afterwards, or as a 'final wash' type treatment. You can get this at garden centres and hardware stores (or its also in Ecover floor cleaner-for wood floors?)
I hope this helps, good luck
xxSun&Rainxx

I agree with taking it outside and scraping it. If it's wood the "stuff" might have soaked in a bit, which will mean sanding and then refinishing the door.

To be honest, it would probably be safer and easier to replace the door. It doesn't have to be a new one, just new-to-you. There are ways to scrounge good doors for cheap or free.

Leave the old door with the landlord so they can see how "clean" it was.