As I was prepping the boys’ bathroom to paint, I removed the old towel bar and TP holder. I knew I was going to replace the towel bar, which always looked messy, with a ring. I was also planning to replace the TP holder because it was smeared and splattered with paint.
Once I took a good look at it, though, I acknowledged that I didn’t need to buy a new one. What I had would probably clean up nicely. So, I used a scrubby sponge and Bar Keepers Friend (what I use to clean my stainless steel pots and pans) and gave it a good scrubbing. If it didn’t clean up well, then I could revisit buying a new one.
I squirted the paste onto the holder and scrubbed it gently with the sponge…
After a rinse & dry, it looked brand new. I don’t mean it looked cleaner, I mean it looked brand new.
I can literally see myself in it!
I also wanted to get the paint splatters off of the tub. I’ve tried scrubbing them with a sponge before, but that didn’t get them off, so I tried a razor blade. That worked like a charm.
The key is to keep it very flat against the tub, so it doesn’t scratch it.
I did the same thing along the edge…
…then scored the paint at the corner and wiped the excess away.
Now the tub looks nice and neat. It didn’t take much time and it made a big difference in the overall look of the space.
It’s not glamorous, but as they say, the difference is in the details.
11 Responses
Thanks for the tips! Will have to try out the cleaner..looks like it works very well. And I agree the details make all the difference in a professional looking paint job.
Marian, I love Bar Keeper’s Friend powder for my white porcelain sinks in my kitchen. I do have some paint spatters from a previous bathroom painting and I can’t wait to try the razor blade on those. As always, TY!
I do love Bar Keepers Friend but have always bought it in powder not realizing it came in paste. The paste looks so handy. Thanks for this post.
I like both the Bar Keepers Friend Powder and the Paste and I’ve used it for many, MANY 🙂 years. When people see my white porcelain kitchen sink they always ask how I keep it so white. I even heard someone telling another person about my sink when we were away from my home 🙂 It’s great for many things so don’t limit yourselves!!
I’ve used Bar Keeper’s friend for more than 40 years!
Hi, I wanted to pass this tip along that plain old rubbing alcohol works very well to get paint splatters off.
The alcohol just seems to milt the paint right off.
Talk about timely tips! I just finished painting our front doors and got some paint on the hinges…will have to try the paste! The doorknobs and numbers on the door are brass that was coated, but has become scratched and pitted. I’m thinking about removing the protective coating, polishing it and then just letting it age. Have you ever tried that with brass? I understand that nail polish remover will take off the coating.
i use bar keepers friend powder to clean my ceramic stove top it is 7yrs old and looks like the day it was bought never tried the paste
Here is another tip for you to use should you ever have those to clean up again, use a Magic Eraser it will take off anything you try it on with out scratching the surface. I use them all the time and they work so great!
Very nice MMS! I love to reuse perfectly good fixtures. And, if you don’t mind, a tip for your cuticles: mine used to be torn and broken 10x worse than yours and I finally settled on straight shea butter–a small gob rubbed in every night. After a month of that tx, no more hangnails and very nicely nourished fingernails. Now I carry a small jar with me all the time, rubbing it in when the nails get dry and are so fragile. Problem nails are solved.
Great and timely tip! I have door handles that got paint on them and I’m going to try this! Also, where did you get that awesome shower curtain?!