Preparing your home for sale always takes a little time and a touch of elbow grease – after all, you don’t want your potential buyers to experience a cluttered and untidy home.
The bathroom and kitchen are often the most time-consuming areas to clean before you open your doors to buyers.
These are also the two areas where you’ll be judged most harshly if you’ve failed to make them shine.
Kitchens and bathrooms with overflowing storage, discoloured grout and grimy surfaces can be an immediate turn off.
Making your chrome tapware sparkle will help make a positive impression.
Restoring them back to their original condition can be a challenge, however.
That’s why many owners will buy new tapware before putting their home on the market. However, if you don’t have the budget or desire to do that, you can follow this process for cleaning the chrome of taps and perhaps some lighting fixtures, too.
- Golden Rule: Never use steel wool, an abrasive sponge or a stiff scrubbing brush on chrome. If you damage the thin layer of chrome plating, you can’t restore it easily. Also, check the label on your cleaning fluid to ensure it’s chrome-friendly.
- Be Gentle: Chrome doesn’t need elbow grease. Go quietly and gently, and you’ll achieve the best results.
- Streaky Solution: Perhaps you’ve found that no matter how hard you try, you end up with streaks and water spots on the chrome. The likely reason is that your water is “hard” with minerals. An acid-based ingredient in your cleaning solution will fix the problem. Vinegar is perfect.
- Rub down: For a streak-free finish, always use a microfibre cloth.
- Brush Off: Where muck and water minerals have gathered at the base of taps, you’ll find an old toothbrush the perfect tool to remove these unsightly residues.
- Rust Removal: This can be a little tricky. If your toothbrush won’t do the job, crumple some aluminium foil into a ball. Dip it into your soapy water and rub gently in circles.
- Make It Shiny: If your chrome is in good condition, then a few drops of dishwashing liquid in water will be the ideal cleaning fluid to make your taps shine.