So for the longest time, I’ve been buying mostly Clorox ‘Green Works’ cleaning products in an effort to be nicer to the environment and still get a clean house. Yes, I wonder about what germs the bleach-free cleaners leave behind, but I appreciate the lack of overpowering fumes and risk of getting bleach on something I shouldn’t.
Well, the other day, I noticed a dark ring around the bottom of our shower tiles (visible in the below photo) and broke down and opted for the strongest mold and mildew killer I could find.
And then I sprayed around the entire bottom of the inside of the shower, careful not to get any near my sleeves or to even step in the tub, for fear that I might track some of it OUT with me.
However, despite all my precaution, I came back (hours later) to find bleached-out specs on our (relatively new and nice–you don’t know the hoops I jumped through to get the right towel/bathmat color scheme and appropriate size combo going on in there) small bathmat!
(The photo doesn’t really show it all that clearly, but it’s there.) Apparently, in an effort to spray around the shower door, I’d gotten too close to the mat. My heart sank.
It wasn’t until the next day that I had a brilliant idea: cover it with Sharpie! (I vaguely remember doing this with a regular black Sharpie on a pair of black jeans when I was a kid…except that those spots were actually relatively large and I’m now regretting wearing black jeans, like, EVER….)
So, off to Office Max I went in search of just the right shade…
…and they (miraculously) had it! Our towels and mats are a slate blue color, so I wasn’t sure how successful I’d be, but I’d always admired the rainbow of colors they now offer in permanent marker. Now I had an excuse to buy one!
I colored over the spots, trying to cover them without covering too much, as the marker went on a bit darker than the actual rug color. However (due to the aforementioned past experience), I knew that after washing the mat, the Sharpie would fade just enough…
…and, WHA-LAH! Relatively good-as-new bath mat! It could probably use another go-over with the marker to make sure I got it all, but I’m very pleased with my solution. And now even MORE cautious with the bleach spray…
Last weekend I spilled clorox on some black shoes, after washing the the shoes, I got out a thick black sharpie and my shoes are as good as new! Yay sharpies!
I use sharpies on those picture frames that splinter off just enough to be noticeable. A quick match to the wood or plastic and fixed….This also works on laminate that nicks or gets a scratch. So many uses that saves the day….!