Finding Cause Of Stickiness Is Key To Cleaning Shelves

Q: I would like help in finding something to clean my vinyl-coated shelving in the garage. It is about 15 years old, and replacing it would be prohibitively expensive.

I did clean a small shelf with acetone, but the prolonged breathing of the fumes is dangerous and unpleasant.

Is there something that could be sprayed on and rinsed off? The covering material has become sticky and, of course, dirty. It has attracted pieces of lint, poodle hair and other floating material. If you touch it, you are momentarily secured to it.

A: In order to figure out how to clean the stickiness from the shelves, you need to first figure out what was stored on them that made them sticky.

It sounds as if the shelves are near the laundry, and things such as liquid detergents and fabric softeners can often leave residues. Most of these can probably be removed with a damp cloth and a little elbow grease.

If things such as motor oil and greasy car parts have been stored on the shelves, a more heavy-duty cleaner, like Simple Green, may be needed to cut through oily residues. Follow the directions on the label of the cleaner.

If other kinds of materials were stored on the shelves - paints, varnishes, garden chemicals - removing the stickiness might be a bit more complicated. If full-strength Simple Green and some gentle scrubbing (wear rubber gloves while trying this) don't completely clean the shelves, you might at least reduce the stickiness a bit,

and you can use a putty knife to scrape off any solid residue remaining.

In any event, the key to cleaning the shelves lies in trying to determine what was on them that left them sticky. If it was something other than the culprits named above, check with a hardware store about the best methods or products to try. Chances are, someone there can help you come up with something a bit gentler and safer to use than acetone.

Q: I accidentally spilled iodine in my white bathtub. The bathtub is at least 45 years old. Any ideas about how I might get these stains out? I have tried soaking them in bleach. This did not work.

A: Sorry to say, but this is one of those situations Mr. HandyPerson dreads, as there is a chance that nothing will remove the stains completely. Older tub porcelain becomes scratched and slightly porous over years of use, and some kinds of stains just won't come out.

But here are a few suggestions that might work. The first is to put a rag soaked in white vinegar over the stains and leave it for a few hours or overnight. Sometimes the acidity of the vinegar will "bleach" out a stain. If it seems to help, try another application or two.

If you don't make any progress with vinegar, mix about one tablespoon of dishwasher detergent in a quart of warm water until the detergent is completely dissolved. Wearing rubber gloves, dip a rag into it, rub the stains and then spread the rag over them for a few hours or overnight. As with the vinegar method, if it seems to help a bit, do a second or third application.

If all fails, you could have the tub acid-etched or professionally refinished but that seems a bit extreme for a small iodine stain. You could purchase some of those stick-on rubber no-slip decals and cover it up. Or you could just leave the stain visible and blame it on someone else.

Mark Hetts' home repair column runs as space allows in the Home/Real Estate section. Send questions and comments to: Mr. Handyperson, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111.