LESLIE: Kimberly in Delaware is on the line with an interesting question. I’m reading your bath mats got melted to the floor?
KIMBERLY: No, I clean houses for a living and I went to clean a house. And the lady asked me if I can get it up and she said it’s been there for two years.
TOM: Wow. Stuck to the floor, huh?
KIMBERLY: No, to the – inside the bathtub. It melted inside the bathtub.
TOM: Oh, the bathtub. And you couldn’t get it up? You couldn’t pull it off?
KIMBERLY: No, no, no. I tried. It’s stuck there. It’s like cement.
TOM: I’m thinking it might be glued in place and not melted. Did she buy the house with this bath mat?
KIMBERLY: No. She’s had the house for 20 years and they put it – and she put the bath mat there herself. And she said her husband just put it in there so they wouldn’t fall because they’re elderly people. And it’s been like that for two years she said.
TOM: Well, I guess she would know herself if it was glued in place. I don’t necessarily have a good solution for you here. Generally, if I find something that’s adhered and needs to be loosened up, I’ll use a product like WD-40. But I’m afraid to tell you to use that in the bathtub because I don’t want them to slip. But that tends to break any adhesive bond that is resulting. But it’s also a lubricant. So you could try very, very carefully under one corner of it, see if it loosens up. But you’ve got to rinse it thoroughly and scrub it thoroughly because otherwise, you’ll leave a very slick surface there.
I guess the other thing that you could try would be an adhesive – a citrus-based adhesive remover. There are orange-based products – citrus-based products that can – are used to remove adhesive.
But I have a hard time believing that this wasn’t adhesive that actually glued itself to it. And I don’t think it melted. I think there was some sort of maybe chemical reaction between the rubber mat and the bathtub that caused them to bond. Now, I will warn you that even if you get this up, it’s very possible that the surface of the tub could be damaged and you may be having something else that you don’t like to look at there, as a result.
KIMBERLY: And that’s what I’m afraid of. Because I’m her house cleaner and I don’t want to get blamed for the tub being messed up, either.
TOM: Yeah. Then I don’t think you should take that – I don’t think it’s your responsibility. I would say you tried but it’s stuck in place and leave it at that.
KIMBERLY: OK.
TOM: I agree with you. You don’t want to make the situation worse and get them upset and then – and be potentially responsible for finding a solution to an impossible problem.
KIMBERLY: OK. Well, thank you very much.
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