Spring Cleaning Tips for 5 Tough to Clean Areas

Spring Cleaning time is here! Only the people here at Quick 'n Brite could be excited about the idea of cleaning areas in your home that may often have been overlooked. We know you are busy and sometimes messes get built up a little more than normal. That is why Quick 'n Brite is the perfect "Spring Cleaning Product" for the tough to clean areas and there are no harmful fumes or chemicals so you don't have to worry about using Quick 'n Brite around your pets or family.

1. The shower and tub. 

Especially if you live in warm climate areas, or have a bathroom without great ventilation, mold and mildew are a constant struggle to keep clean in bathrooms. It often gets built up in the grout and caulking areas of the shower and tub. To clean a shower with hard water stains, soap film, mold or mildew use your Quick 'n Brite paste full strength with a wet sponge or 0000 steel wool (the finest grade so it won't scratch). Apply the Quick 'n Brite to a wet shower surface and let the product sit for 15-30 minutes. If your shower enclosure is tough to clean, after the 30 minutes, reapply your Quick 'n Brite full strength again with a wet sponge then rinse clean with warm water. Although a tough to clean shower may take a bit of elbow grease to get clean, there are no toxic chemicals and harmful fumes that you are inhaling while cleaning. Quick 'n Brite is safe for your lungs, and many people with asthma tell us it is the only product they can use. 

 2. The Toilets

This is another area in the household that gets used daily and therefore gets dirty very quickly. You will especially notice water stains and rings in your toilet bowl if you are on well water or have a lot of minerals in your city water. To deep clean your toilet bowl, turn the water off and flush the toilet so the bowl does not refill with water. Apply Quick n Brite paste full strength with a stiff bristle brush and let the product sit for 15-30 minutes. If you have bad hard water rings in your toilet, after 30 minutes reapply Quick 'n Brite again before turning back on the water and flushing the toilet. 

3. Indoor and Outdoor Windows

Outdoor Windows: Guaranteed, you will not find a better cleaning product on the market than Quick 'n Brite to clean your outdoor windows with. Because of our patented water softening agents you do not need to squeegee or hand dry your windows after cleaning, cutting a difficult and time consuming task in half! 

To clean outdoor windows, on a cool day or out of direct sunlight, wet the surface, than apply Quick 'n Brite heavy solution with a wet sponge  (Mix 2/3 cup of Quick 'n Brite Liquid with 1 gallon of HOT water) then rinse clean with a hose. The longer the product can sit on the windows, the better job it will do of cleaning the surface, however, you want to make sure and rinse off your windows before the product dries. (It will not harm your windows if it does dry on them, but you may have to use a sponge and water to rinse them off instead of simply hosing them clean).

Indoor Windows: Mix 1 teaspoon of Quick 'n Brite to 1 quart of water then spray windows and wipe clean with a dry microfiber cloth, newspaper or paper towel. If streaking occurs your solution is too strong, dump out a quarter of the solution and refill with water!

4. Sofas (Leather, microfiber or upholstery) 

These are a great item to clean annually and one area of the house you never think of as dirty, until you clean it and can't believe the difference! As with all fabrics: SPOT CHECK FOR COLOR-FAST BEFORE APPLYING ANY CLEANERS AND FOLLOW MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS.

To use a carpet cleaning machine or steam cleaner, mix 1 cup Quick 'n Brite liquid to 5 gallons of water then follow your machines instructions for cleaning. You can also use this same solution in a spray bottle and spray the arm and head rests of your couch, then use a dry terry cloth towel to buff the materials clean. If the upholstery is machine washable, add 1 ounce of Quick 'n Brite to your washing machine when cleaning the couch upholstery for an extra stain fighting boost. 

5. Kitchen Cabinets

Quick 'n Brite is a great product to use on wood cabinets (as well as hardwood floors). Use the Quick 'n Brite heavy solution (3 tablespoons to 1 quart of HOT water), spray cabinets then wipe clean with a dry terry cloth towel or microfiber cloth. For extra grimy areas like above the oven range, or a cabinet you use daily, you can also use Quick 'n Brite full strength with a non-abrasive sponge. Apply the cleaner directly out of the container with a wet, non-abrasive sponge and work the cleaner around in short 5-6 inch motion, then wipe clean with a dry terry cloth towel. 

What's in my Quick n Brite? Quick n Brite Ingredients

In 2009, Seattle Times writer Erik Lacitis wrote a piece on Quick n Brite salespeople and the trade of being a "pitch man." (You can see the article here). In his article he called on professor Jeff Harwell, of the University of Oklahoma's School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, and an expert on cleaning formulations, to dissect the list of ingredients on our Quick 'n Brite container and explain what they actually do. Mr. Harwell did a fantastic job of thoroughly explaining the ingredients in terms everyone can understand! Harwell says, "It's a good formulation, a state of the art formulation," and states the ingredients have been around for a long time. Quick n Brite is non-toxic, biodegradable and contains no know carcinogens or harmful chemicals. Here is Mr. Harwell's explanation:

Biodegradable nonionic nonyl-phenoxy-polyethoxy-ethanol: "Common chemical called surfactant. Used in everything from toothpaste to dish-washing liquid. This particular surfactant has been around for 50 years and is generally considered to be both harmless and biodegradable. There has been some controversy in Europe about some of its biodegradation by-products having estrogen-mimicking properties, but research has not generally borne out those concerns. Surfactants help the cleaning solution wet oily surfaces, reduce the amount of force that you have to apply to detach the dirt from the surface being cleaned, and help keep the dirt suspended until it can be rinsed away. Surfactants are the main active ingredient in most cleaners, whether you're talking about laundry detergent, toothpaste, shampoo, and hand soap."

Sodium EDTA: "We call this a sequestering agent. It is a water-soluble salt that makes hard water act like soft water by complexing with the water hardness ions. It's kind of like having a built-in water softener in the product. Very safe material that is found in products like cosmetics and soft drinks and is used in foods as a preservative. This makes the surfactants work better."

Sodium tripolyphosphate: "Same function as the sodium EDTA, but having both is generally synergistic. Again a very safe compound used with products like seafood to prevent them from drying during storage and shipping. But again, the main purpose is to make the surfactants work better."

Water: "No comment necessary, I assume."

Pure natural coconut oil surfactant: "Probably a surfactant like sodium lauryl sulfate, which is made from coconut alcohol. Very common in toothpaste, laxatives, pharmaceutical formulations, cosmetics, hand and body soaps, etc. This is one of the oldest surfactants known and is accepted as generally safe. Many studies of the toxicity have shown no ill effects. This type of surfactant is also a salt and is classified as an anionic surfactant. The first surfactant listed, the nonionic nonyl-phenoxy-polyethoxy-ethanol, is classified as a nonionic surfactant. We generally find that mixtures of anionic and nonionic surfactants, such as you have here, give better cleaning results. They also allow the same cleaning system to work in over a wider range of cleaning temperatures, from cold water to hot water."

Natural kelp alginate: "A natural biopolymer that is used just as a thickener. If you've ever had a milkshake from a fast-food restaurant you've probably had some of this. It also helps keep small particles from being redeposited on a surface. It would be classified as an anti-redeposition agent. Bottom line is that it keeps the surface from becoming recontaminated from the wash solution!"

Dye: "Primarily just for aesthetic purposes, but actually helpful in giving you visual clues about how much dilution has occurred and whether there is any of the cleaning compound left on a surface after rinsing. Provides a good visual clue for when you're done rinsing."

We love being able to offer a cleaning product to families that we know is safe and works well. Quick n Brite has been family owned and operated since 1952 with the same non-toxic and biodegradable ingredients. Quick n Brite has also been backed with a 100% money back guarantee for over 60 years!