How to clean chrome? A product to repair chipped porcelain? How to clean hard water stains in my sink? These are the questions that rain down on every new/old homeowner pretty much 10 minutes after the closing papers are signed. Today, I have a page full of resources that mayhold a key to getting your porcelain, chrome, marble and fiberglass gleaming again.
Bathroom Machineries, aka deabath.com, recently signed on as the first advertiser in my new “mid-century marketplace” over in the right-hand sidebar. I’ve known these folks for a few years now — John is always very helpful in answering my vintage plumbing questions. They seem to be the go-to place for help with vintage Crane and other brands… and, they carry lots of hard-to-find vintage plumbing.
Recently, I also stumbled onto their page loaded with their recommendations for cleaners, polishes and porcelain repair. There’s stuff on this list that even eight years into my home I’m going to buy (the cleaner and gloss for fiberglass, I’m going to use it on my Swanstone shower bases, which start showing dirt immediately.) Also note the porcelain repair kits – including the one that Bathroom Machineries uses for all of its in-house repairs. Mind you, the only product on this list that I’ve actually used is Zud, so I don’t have personal experience with these products — but they seem like a good place to start, and I bet that deabath would also answer any questions. Of course: Be sure to follow safety and environmental recommendations; renovate safe. And finally, disclosure: deabath.com is an advertiser on this site; however, this is not a “paid post.” I would have done it regardless, and in fact, I do not do paid posts.
Hillwood Estate: Historic Homes with Mid-Century Flair 
Embrace your Inner Traverse Rod — pinch pleat draperies are #1 for mid century homes 
Graceland: Mid century homes open to the public 
Become a fan
I’m a housecleaner and can vouch for Gelgloss for fiberglass showers and chrome as a protective measure, after you’ve first gotten them really clean. Streek-free also is very good for shower doors, but, you have to get the doors clean first, then use the Streek-free to help keep them clean and shiny.
They work sort of like Rainex for your car windows. Use them once a week to every six weeks or so, after you clean, depending on how hard your water is and how much joy you get out of pristinely shiny surfaces.
Thank you, Morag! I get a lot of joy out of pristinely shiny surfaces, actually. Not that they last very long in my house!
Nevr Dull is great metal polish; also, good old fashioned Bon Ami is good for cleaning porcelain. As the label says, “it never scratches”, or at least it hasn’t scratched anything of mine.
You know, I never really understood why the Bon Ami container had a baby chick on it until I started raising chickens and noticed them scratching the dirt when they got older. The babies don’t do that.
If you have glass shower doors that are very clean and want to keep them that way, use some car wax, let it dry and then buff off. Voila! they stay clean and shiny!
You can also use unsweetened kool-aid to clean discolored brass – if you have brass hardware on your cabinets, etc., take it off and soak it in a kool-aid solution.
For cleaning porcelain I like to use Commercial Scrubbing Bubbles and a Magic Eraser.
I recently tried the Invisible Shield. While it is not a miracle product, I am happy with the results. It has sealed the surface of the porcelain in my bathroom so that it looks better and stay cleaner longer. It is also easy to apply. I will continue using it.