Every now and then, you discover a “hack”–a better way to do something you’ve been doing differently all your life and in an instant, life just became easier.

This happened years ago when I was a producer at KOMO radio for the Larry Nelson show and interviewed an author named Jerry Baker, who promoted himself as “The Impatient Gardener.” Jerry was a certified hoot and had put together a collections of things you could do in your garden using common household items. Dish soap to fight aphids, beer in your lawn to breakdown thatch and the home run, “Grandma Putt’s Tonic.”  This was a major blend of things that you sprayed on your lawn and that made it grow like a weed. The major ingredient–ammonia. It’s like heroin for your lawn, making it grow and green better than any expensive lawn food you could buy.

OK, that covers the outside. Now, let’s head indoors.

To my shower.  We have a tile shower in our master bathroom. A couple of years ago, I hired a guy to come in and steam it clean, at a cost of over $500.  He made it look like we had the thing re-tiled. So that’s what those tiles looked like.

But over the past couple of years, the black was slowly returning. I was planning to give it a couple of years before I had the professional cleaner back, when then I read a post from a friend on Facebook. Kristina Strombo, you get full credit:

I’ve tried all the Pinterest concoctions for cleaning grout, and they don’t work. Except one: Squirt toilet bowl cleaner along the grout, and 15 minutes later scrub with a brush and mop up.  This was even less elbow grease than my steam cleaner. I don’t often use chemical cleaners, but this situation is dire.

Not that I doubted you, but that just seemed too easy.

None the less, I went to the Dollar Tree, bought a couple of different toilet bowl cleaners, then returned home and emptied the contents of one of the bottles all over the tile. I gave it a little more than 15 minutes, got down with my grout-scrubbing brush and the scum and evil crud came off like butter.

Maybe it’s because you get older and things like this give you a thrill. To me, it meant not having to spend another $500 and being able to start every day getting into a clean shower.  If you’ve got a tile shower that looks like its from an old YMCA, here’s your hack!

At long last, I’ve finally out-smarted a shower. Thanks, Kristina!

Tim Hunter