How do I REALLY clean an old tub surround?

Commercial Soft Scrub w/bleach and a green scrubby pad works wonders. Staples and Smart&Final carries it.

Hope that helps

: )

Heavy Duty Easy Off. You won't believe how well this works.

Mix hot vinegar with baking soda (it will foam) and make a paste of it. Slop it on the walls, wait and scrub.

In spray bottle mix equal parts of vinegar and blue Dawn. Use as tub cleaner - best out there! Vinegar is natural antibacterial and Dawn cuts through the oils and soap scum.

Is this an acrylic surround? If so, it may have been chemically etched over time and won't be easy to remove everything that has happened to it over time. You might want to use a cleaner like Bar Keeper's Friend, especially the liquid version. It contains oxalic acid, so wear gloves. Apply it to the surface, let sit for a few minutes, then rinse. The idea is to allow the acid to take on the grime and scum. Once it's clean, do yourself a favor and wax the surround only with car wax.

Other cleansers you can try include Zep's Commercial Tub and Tile Cleaner and OdoBan's Organic Acid Shower Cleaner. Zap also makes a restore product meant to really deep clean tile and restore the finish. GelGloss makes a cleaner/polish that might also help in lifting the scum, but I've found that it's more effective as a polish after cleaning the acrylic/fiberglass surround with the Bar Keeper's Friend or other similar product.

Whatever you use, ventilate the room with an open window or the fan going and wear gloves.

Try using the heavy duty Magic Erasers. Use your preferred cleaner and scrub with the eraser. It will clean it. If you tub surround is porcelain, there are very smooth pumice stones made especially for porcelain, that you can buy to use in small really stubborn areas. Use grout paint pen, or use a white based primer to paint out the grout lines to white. If caulk is old, dig out and re caulk.

If you have or can borrow a steamer, they work great! My favorite would be a paste of white vinegar and baking soda.