Cleaning With Power Tools
8 Materials
$9
3 Hours
Easy
Love my sander almost as much as my Dremel. We have started working on our full bath upstairs and cleaning the tile has been a dreaded chore. My sweetheart gave me a RYOBI corner sander for Valentine's Day! The weather isn't right for building projects so I tried it out in the bathroom. I'm so glad my youngest aunt showed me this trick (she is my Tool Buddy). Scrubbing doesn't have to be so bad.
This is where we started. Pulled down the wallpaper and cleaned the mold. Put the first coat of primer. At this point nothing else can happen until the tub and tiles get clean. Materials needed for this are safety glasses, mask, a sander, scrub pads for the sander, white vinegar and Dawn dish soap in a spray bottle, and a container of vinegar to clean the dirty pads.
It has taken me months and more Magic Erasers than I care to count to get the left side of the wall tiles this far. The right side is going to be much faster! Please use your safety glasses and mask, you are still using a power tool and you don't want any nasty stuff in your eyes or nose!
My corner sander with the scrub pad. Check online to see if there are scrub pads available for your sander. My first was a DeWalt and it had a variety of pads available. This one came with sanding paper, scrubbers, and a polishing pad. The $9.00 price was for the extra scrub pads I ordered just in case...but I didn't need them for this project.
The pads are easy to put on and take off. I clean mine with vinegar and Dawn. Let them dry completely before using. I just changed to which ever one was clean. Drop the used one in my bucket of solution when it gets dirty and put the cleaned one on. The time I put for this chore is misleading because I only worked on commercial breaks in an hour long TV program. I'm taking it easy this week and that is how I time myself.
First thing I did, spray the whole thing with my vinegar and Dawn. Soaked it really good from top to bottom. Then I went to put my feet up and watch TV until the next break, so about 10 minutes. You could go 15 or more, but spray it down lightly again where you plan to scrub. Do not push on the sander, lighter is better. Let the tool do the work. It goes much faster if you use a light touch and go very slow. You can also just stop and use very small motions over any really difficult spots. Always start at the top. Not only will the dirty fluid run down, but you risk getting the fluid in your sander. Also, clean your sander now and then, turn it off and wipe it down to keep it dry.
Results of scrubbing after 4 minutes. Spray it all down again. Give it 10 minutes or more to soak. Then scrub away again!
At the end of my 3rd commercial break, this is how much better it looked. I just kept spraying, waiting, and using the sander on breaks. Just so I could call it exercise, I switched using the sander between my left and right hand.
I made it this far by the end of the one hour show.
The tile is textured so it took longer than flat tiles would have.
Most of the grunge came off with very little effort.
The dark spots are in need of bleach or new grout, the darkest ones just had no grout to start with. That will be done along with new calking. Hard to get good pictures with the poor lighting, but you get the idea. Sure beats hand scrubbing!
Now I just need Mr. Honey's hair dryer to start removing the old caulk 
Happy cleaning!
Happy cleaning!Comments
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3 of 15 comments
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When you are all finished. Take your car wax and put a good coat let it dry, then polish it to an awesome shine that should keep away soap scum for almost 6 months. I use to clean houses and this is how I kept the tiles clean for months.
Its the bar soap that builds up so bad. Just on the tile surround you don’t want anyone slipping in the tub.
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It's a fantastic idea to convert power tools to cleaner. It's a super cool idea to use sander as a cleaner.
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