How all Cardiff's secondary schools did in A level results 2017

Read article : How all Cardiff's secondary schools did in A level results 2017

Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High

The Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School, Cardiff

Very strong results at Bishop of Llandaff included:

• Nearly 40% of of all A level grades were A* or A
• A total 87% getting A* to C
• An overall pass rate of 99%.

Two pupils Thomas Burr and Ben Roberts are off to study in the USA.

Tom will study divinity at Harvard university after getting two A*s and two As while Ben Roberts who achieved three A*s and two As will study PPE at Princeton. after taking a gap year to work in Sierra Leone.

Headteacher, Marc Belli said: “I wish to congratulate our students on a remarkable set of examination results.”

Cantonian High

Students at Cardiff's Cantonian High with their A level results

All students taking A levels passed them and all who applied to university got in to the course of their first choice.

Cantonian High headteacher, Diane Gill said: “Pupils at Cantonian High School have achieved excellent results.

“100% of pupils achieved their A levels with 67% achieving grade A* - C.

“I am incredibly proud of the achievements of all our pupils today. Throughout the year our pupils have worked hard to ensure that they achieved the best grades.”

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Ysgol Glantaf

Glantaf school, Whitchurch, Cardiff

Glantaf had possibly the best results of any Cardiff state secondary:

• 90% of students at the school taking A levels got grades A* to C
• 40% of all grades were A* to A

Four pupils from Cardiff’s Welsh medium high school Glantaf are off to Oxbridge universities after an impresssive set of A level results were achieved at the school.

Iwan Jones gained four A*s and will now read mathematics at Bath University.

Charlie Lovell-Jones got three A*s and an A and will read music at Oxford.

Morgan Williams is off to read natural sciences at Cambridge after getting three A*s and an A while Hannah Roberts will read Chemistry at Oxford having achieved three A*s and an A.

Other successes included Iwan Jones who gained four A*s and will now read mathematics at Bath University and Beca Hayes will read law at Bristol having gained three A*s and an A.

Cardiff High

Sophie James (left) and Evie Jones at Cardiff High (Image: Anna Lewis)

At the leading Cardiff secondary:

• Some 35% of entries were graded at A* or A
• 63% were A* to B grades, 85% were A* to C
• 95% were A* to D
• The overall pass rate was 99.3%.

These results represent some of the best ever A Level results for the school.

In addition 97% of pupils studying for the Skills Challenge Certificate achieved grades A* to C.

Two students achieved five A* to A grades at A level and 16 pupils achieved four A* to A grades.

Head Steve Jones said: "We are absolutely delighted with our A level performances. We had 1600 individual exams so it shows the level of dedication from staff and pupils. To have such a successful day is hugely rewarding.

"Pupils and staff have worked extraordinarily hard to adapt to the new changes, it’s been an outstanding year."

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Ysgol Plasmawr

Garmon Ab Ion from Ysgol Plasmawr in Cardiff (Image: Anna Lewis)

The school congratulated all its students:

• 36% got A* to A grades at A level,
• 84% A* to C
• And 99% A* to E.

Among successes were Maia Davies, who got four A*s, Beca Daniel with three A*s and one A, Elis Owain Williams who achieved three A*s and Thomas Bowen and Dylan Hughes who both got two A*s and two A grades.

John Hayes, headteacher, said: “Congratulations to all our students for their success which is borne out of ability, endeavour, dedication and perseverance over two long years.

“I am particularly proud of the achievements of the whole year group following the loss of one of their peers during the exam period.”

Fitzalan High

Abo Alquassim Mohamad, 18, from Grangetow (Image: Katie Gupwell)

The headlines for Fitzalan were:

• 99% of pupils taking A levels at Fitzalan achieved grades A*-E
• 68% A to C.

Cathays High

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Awita Zera pictured at Cathays High School Cardiff (Image: Western Mail)

All students got into their first or second choice universities with a 95% pass rate at A level this year.

At AS and A Levels four students achieved three or more A* grades.

Deputy Head, Stuart Davies, said: “It’s been a lovely morning seeing students get their results, especially those who are off to university this year.

“There’s been a lot of hard work put in by both the students and the staff throughout the year.”

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Whitchurch High School.

Pupils at Whitchurch High

The key stats were:

• 27% of A level grades were A or A*
• 52% of the grades awarded were B grade or better
• 74.5% achieved A* to C grades.

A total of 23 students achieved three or more A* or A grades, including two students, Thomas Pycroft and Jasper Williams who achieved four A* grades.

A further two students, Samuel Wall and Emily Cooper achieved three A* grades. Two students have Oxbridge places.

Cardiff’s Glyn Derw High and Michaelston Federation

Michaelston Community College and Glyn Derw High School "federated" in 2011

The federated schools in west Cardiff has announced a 99% pass rate for A level

• 25% of students achieved A* to A grades
• and 71% achieved A* to C.

Steven Richards, Head of Sixth form said: “These excellent results are testament to our brilliant teaching staff that go above and beyond to get the highest standards from our pupils.

“All our students are progressing and the vast majority are looking forward to attending their first choice university. We wish them every success for the future.”

This is the last year of A levels at the federated schools which closed at the end of last term. A new Cardiff West Community High School opens at the site, before moving to new build premises.

St John's College

Students at St John's College

The independent day school for boys and girls aged 3-18 recorded some of Cardiff's best results

Key stats were:

• 83% A*/A;
• 98% A*-B;
• 100% pass rate

Headmaster Gareth Lloyd said: “We are absolutely thrilled for our students. Their achievements this year are simply outstanding, the best in the history of St John’s.

“These results are a testimony to both the students’ exemplary work ethic and their teachers’ resolute commitment to support each and every pupil.”

Cardiff Sixth Form College

Cardiff Sixth form College scholarship student Tyler Jones, 18, is off to study medicine at Cardiff after getting three As at A level.

The college's highlights were:

• 91% of students gaining A*to A grades and
• 99% A* to B

Cardiff Sixth Form Principal, Gareth Collier said: “Not all our pupils are wealthy, many are on full scholarships.

"However what students here such as Tyler have in common is that they are willing to work and play hard, are ambitious to do the best they can and are hungry for information and stimulating experiences.

Howell’s School

Howells School, Llandaff, Cardiff

At the independent school:

• 70% of those taking AS and A levels got A*-B grades
• 21% of all the results were A* grade.

The school said pupils had done well “despite the challenges thrown up by the reformation of the A-level system”.

Two pupils have got into Oxbridge.Desiree Wilson will study medicine at Oxford University, and Ffion Edwards is heading to Cambridge to read human social and political sciences.

Howell’s Principal, Sally Davis, said: “This year group were caught midway between the old and new specifications at A level, and have studied in a environment where at times it has felt that the ground has been moving beneath their feet.”

Cathedral School

Students at Cathedral School

The key benchmarks were

• A 100% pass rate at A levels
• 57% of all grades at A*-A
• 77% at A*-B.

More than a third of students achieved exclusively A*/A grades.

Head teacher Clare Sherwood, Head said: “We are absolutely thrilled that our students have achieved such excellent results, which is down to their hard work and the excellent teaching at the Cathedral School.”

Kings Monkton School

Kings Monkton School in Roath (Image: Kings Monkton School)

The school hailed outstanding results, which were:

• A* to A pass rate of 59 per cent,
• 88 per cent of achieving A*-B grades

Among the top performers at the independent school was Karan Mann who achieved three A grades and an A* and is now preparing to study medicine at Keele University.

Principal, Paul Norton said: “Our pupils have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to learning and development, as exemplified by today’s results. We are so proud of them. The staff at Kings Monkton are dedicated to providing exceptional support to young people throughout their education.”

Cardiff and Vale College

Cardiff and Vale College's City Centre Campus on Dumballs Road, Cardiff

CAVC principal Kay Martin, said: “Year on year we are seeing an increase in the number of Cardiff and Vale College students achieving their A Level and AS Level qualifications.”

Michael Bonney, 18, is off to Newcastle University to study modern languages after achieving three A*s in biology, computer science and French and an A in the Welsh Baccalaureate.

He said: “I’m absolutely ecstatic. I’m so, so happy.”

Alexander Greaves joined Cardiff and Vale College on a Fast Track A Level programme and is celebrating two A*s in maths and physics:

Another of this year’s success stories is Ben Thomas from the college’s Rugby Academy. He combined his studies with his ambitions to play rugby at a professional level and picked up an A for history A level and B for Sociology securing a place to study History at Cardiff University whilst also being signed on a full-time basis by Cardiff Blues.

St David’s Catholic College

St David's Catholic College Cardiff

A level results at the college in Cardiff have improved again.

There was a 4% increase in A* to A grades, a 4% increase at A* to B and 7% increase from A* to C.

Three students, Bethan James, Christy Nganjim and Anna Wright have met their Oxbridge offers.

Principal Mark Leighfield said: “We are exceptionally proud of all that our students have achieved this year, and that results have once again improved.”

We're still waiting for full results from Radyr, Llanishen, Corpus Christi and Ysgo Bro Edeyrn

Their A* to C pass rates were: Llanishen High School 77.3%, Radyr Comprehensive School 81.7%, St Teilo's Church in Wales High School 72.2%

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A level results 2017

Vamoose Bathroom Cleaner 1L

Read article : Vamoose Bathroom Cleaner 1L

A sparkling bathroom, no scrubbing required

What does it take to get your bathroom gleaming? Maybe one cleaning solution to tackle grout and tiles? An abrasive paste and a load of elbow grease to shift soapy build-up from your tub, and a lot of polishing for your shower screen? Saving you tonnes of time and effort, remarkable Vamoose bathroom cleaner does all this hard work for you – just spray it on and wipe off to leave your whole suite satisfyingly sparkly.

Tough, deep foaming action

Effectively removing soap scum, Vamoose eliminates all the back-breaking hard work and makes bathrooms gleam without all the usual rubbing and scrubbing. Spray it onto your sink and taps, bath, tiles, shower and screen, and the formula clings to surfaces while the deep foaming action gets to work, instantly cutting through build up so that you can wipe it away with ease. For tougher build up like limescale, or for a weekly deep clean, just leave the powerful formula to work for a few minutes before cleaning away to see your bathroom surfaces at their super shiny, as-new best.

Maintains a spotless suite

With a fresh fragrance, Vamoose makes your whole bathroom smell as clean and fresh as it looks, and leaves a super shiny finish that repels dirt to keep surfaces clean for longer. So, as well as cutting down cleaning time, it makes life easier too – just spray it once a week to maintain a spotless, effort-free gleam.

A winning formula

We’ve sold a similar product before, but when the team at Lakeland put Vamoose through its paces, they gave it glowing reviews! Fiona from our Buying team said her bathroom tiles still didn’t have any watermarks a whole week after using Vamoose, and that the sink was free from soapy build-up for much longer than usual. Keep a bottle in your bathroom and you can say a cheery goodbye to scrubbing!

Please note: Not suitable for use on copper or brass fittings.

What Each SATC Character Taught Me (and It Might Not Be What You Expect)

Read article : What Each SATC Character Taught Me (and It Might Not Be What You Expect)

Female friendships are so powerful to watch on television. When done right, it can be gut-wrenchingly authentic, because they are so hard to get right. When everything fades away — what is being a friend? The scenes of my own friendships range from midnight phone calls on a bathroom floor to huddling together on a Chicago rooftop laughing our mascara off.  It’s screaming matches on driveways on sultry summer nights and holding each other on Christmas Eve (because heartbreak never did have good timing). It’s good morning texts and passive aggressive emails. It’s mental health. It’s death. It’s laughter. It’s trust. It’s everything in between.

For me, Sex and the City was my first introduction to well-rounded women and female friendships on the small screen. It was the first time I saw the intricacies of womanhood being depicted unapologetically. Each woman made different choices. Each woman held their own. Each woman was (generally) respected for their decisions. Each woman taught me something, and it might not be what you expect.

Samantha Jones: You don’t have to explain your past, choices, or decisions to anyone.

We are a summation of everything that has ever happened to us, everything that is happening to us, and everything that will happen to us. We will always be imperfect, and our choices are our own. I used to think that I need to explain myself all the time, but Samantha taught me that the only person you need to explain yourself to is yourself.

On Life: You don’t have to relive every mistake. You don’t have to doubt yourself. We are all trying to figure it out. Make the decisions that are right for you, and don’t look back. Don’t you dare question yourself. Samantha wouldn’t.

On Female Friendships: When Carrie was cheating on Aiden, she tells Samantha first. As the camera turns to Samantha’s face, the audience is expecting her to act surprised or maybe confused. Instead, she radiates a look of compassion. It’s the face of a friend that doesn’t need an explanation. Carrie’s behavior made me mad as a viewer. But the truth is, if you are a true friend, you let your friends make their own decisions and support them either way. It might not be the right one, and it might not be the best one. But it’s their decision. They don’t owe you an explanation, and you’ve got to respect that.

My Favorite Samantha Moment: The Relationship Smile

Miranda Hobbes: You can’t put a limit on any type of love.

I once read that Miranda embodies the millennial woman. My friends and I refer to her one-liners about workplace sexism, settling, and settling down all the time. Miranda’s character arc led to my realization that love takes on many forms, and you can’t put a limit on it even if you want to.

On Love:To Miranda, relationships are nothing but being at the right place at the right time. The perfect person is a myth, and settling down for love is for people who don’t know how to be self-sufficient. That all changes when she gives birth to Brady and realizes that, despite the flaws, Steve is the one for her. So maybe love isn’t puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. It isn’t dysfunctional lust. It isn’t even complementary opposites. It’s two people constantly saying, “I might not like you right now. But I am always going to love you.”

On Life: One of my all-time favorite television scenes is during the series finale of SATC. Mary, Steve’s mother who is recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, unexpectedly walks out into the cold. Flustered and scared, Miranda looks for her, running through the streets of Brooklyn. When she finally finds her, Mary is in a state of confusion digging through a garbage can on a corner. Miranda brings her home and helps Mary wash up. The camera pans to Magda, the elderly nanny, who smiles at Miranda’s actions, and tenderly says, ‘What you did, that is love. You love.’

The audience knows that this interaction is starkly different to everything Miranda has preached in the past. Maybe this is why this moment always brings me to tears. We think we can put a limit on love. We think we only have so much to give. The truth is, love is boundless. We have the ability to give more than we think we can. But only if we decide to.

My Favorite Miranda Moment: Steve and Miranda Get Married

Charlotte York: The only thing you can expect is the unexpected.

Life is ruthless. You can live your entire life expecting certain things to turn out a certain way. A great boyfriend that turns into a kind husband, or maybe a stimulating job offer that turns into a fulfilling career. But unfortunately, nothing is that linear. Charlotte taught me that even the most carefully laid out plans can end up in flames. And that’s okay.

On Love: Nothing works on your time. If you recall correctly, Charlotte has been dating since she was 15. She has met numerous wrong suitors. She knows what she hates, and she especially doesn’t want to settle. Charlotte taught me that even if things don’t work out according to your plan, you have to stay true to who you are and trust the timing of your life. Be your own person and value your morals, and things will work out at the end. If you are really lucky, you might end up getting more than what you wanted.

On Female Friendship: I will never forget the look in Charlotte’s eyes when she yells at Big on the street after Carrie attacks him with her bridal bouquet. She literally feels Carrie’s sadness and shame. It’s hard to feel for other people, it’s hard to empathize, and it’s hard to put yourself in another person’s shoes. Friendship, in essence, is realizing that another person is living a life just as vivid, cheerful, and painful as you are. They go through experiences, and, as a friend, the only thing you can really do is be there for the unexpected.

My Favorite Charlotte Moment: Charlotte Dancing Alone

Carrie Bradshaw: Life is about finding yourself between the high highs and the low lows.

Carrie is selfish, fiscally irresponsible, and a seasonal hot mess. She makes bad decisions, she is so bad at giving people the benefit of the doubt, and she just doesn’t know how to handle matters of the heart. But Carrie is also strong, resilient, and emotionally intelligent. She wears her heart on her sleeve and says what she needs to say. She is resourceful and so supportive.

On Life: Carrie is very honest about her life. Like, even when you don’t want to hear another complaint. I mean, I know the show is centered around her life, but she is painfully dramatic sometimes. The one thing I love about the show is that you get to see her during her best and worst. The Carrie moments that really stick with to me aren’t when she’s crying over Big, or when she’s doing something glamorous. It’s when she’s writing on a snowy night, or when she’s watching a movie and eating cup noodles on New Year’s Eve. The moments that make us who we are are in the in-between. Life is about the undocumented parts that no one gets to see. You are who you are when no one watching.

On Love: I don’t even want to go into the whole Aiden vs. Big debacle, but I will say that the best parts of Carrie’s relationships are the smaller moments. The parts we glaze over as an audience. When she is uncomplicated. When things aren’t going well, but they aren’t going downhill. That’s when she is at peace. So yeah, the real, ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love is important. But so are the moments in between. The quiet moments. The moments that, when we look back, make up the entire fabric of our lives.

On Female Friendship:One of Carrie’s best qualities is that she is there for the people she loves. She is there when Charlotte is in tears about her fertility issues, she is there when Miranda gives birth, she is there when Samantha tells her about her breast cancer. She is there. She is present. She is open. She loves. Maybe this is what friendship truly means. It’s just about being there through the good and the bad. Through the tears and the smiles. It’s just about showing up no matter what happens. For all the in-between moments. Especially for the mundane ones.

Feeling nostalgic? Good thing every single episode is on Amazon Prime Video!

Did you learn anything from SATC? Are you a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, or Samantha?

Genius Ways to Use Cooking Spray

Read article : Genius Ways to Use Cooking Spray

Prevent rice and pasta from sticking

iStock/TSchon

Most cooks know that a little cooking oil in the boiling water will keep rice or pasta from sticking together when you drain it. If you run out of cooking oil, however, a spritz of cooking oil spray will do the job just as well. (Related: Check out these 25 kitchen shortcuts you'll wish you knew sooner.)

Grating cheese

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Put less elbow grease into grating cheese by using a nonstick cooking spray on your cheese grater for smoother grating. The spray also makes for easier and faster cleanup. (Did you know you could also use a cheese grater to bake perfect pie crusts?)

Prevent tomato sauce stains

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Sick of those hard-to-clean tomato sauce stains on your plastic containers? To prevent them, apply a light coating of nonstick cooking spray on the inside of the container before you pour in the tomato sauce.

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Keep car wheels clean

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You know that fine black stuff that collects on the wheels of your car and is so hard to clean off? That’s brake dust—it’s produced every time you apply your brakes and the pads wear against the brake disks or cylinders. The next time you invest the elbow grease to get your wheels shiny, give them a light coating of cooking spray. The brake dust will wipe right off.

De-bug your car

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When those bugs smash into your car at 55 miles per hour, they really stick. A spritz of nonstick cooking spray can help you wipe away the insect debris.

Lubricate your bicycle chain

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Bike chain a bit creaky and you don’t have any lubricating oil handy? Give it a shot of nonstick cooking spray instead. Don’t use too much—the chain shouldn’t look wet. Wipe off the excess with a clean rag.

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Cure door squeak

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Heard that door squeak just one time too many? Hit the hinge with some nonstick cooking spray. Have paper towels handy to wipe up the drips. Here are other tricks to quiet your home's annoying creaks and squeaks.

Remove paint and grease

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Forget smelly solvents to remove paint and grease from your hands. Instead, use cooking spray to do the job. Work it in well and rinse. Wash again with soap and water.

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Quick casting

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Pack a can of cooking spray when you go fishing. Spray it on your fishing line and the line will cast easier and farther.

Prevent grass from sticking

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Mowing the lawn should be easy, but cleaning stuck grass from the mower is tedious. Prevent grass from sticking on mower blades and the underside of the housing by spraying them with cooking oil before you begin mowing.

Prevent snow sticks

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Shoveling snow is hard enough, but it can be more aggravating when the snow sticks to the shovel. Spray the shovel with nonstick cooking spray before shoveling—the snow slides right off! If you use a snow thrower, spray inside the discharge chute to prevent it from clogging.

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Lubricate your locks

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Tired of jiggling your keys in your locks? If you deal with a tough lock interior or sticky keys, try using a few sprays of cooking oil. The oil will help slide your key in and get you through the door much easier.

Pop your own popcorn

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Homemade popcorn can wind up a burnt mess because it’s hard to coat every kernel evenly. In order to have delicious popcorn, coat the kernels with cooking spray. Spray over them, shake them around, and spray again before continuing with the cooking process.

Say bye to soap scum

iStock/Diane Diederich

Spray your shower door with cooking oil and stubborn soap scum will come right off when you wipe it with a towel. Oil breaks down lime deposits so that’s why it removes easily. After a few swipes with a towel, wash the surface with soap and water to maximize the cleanliness. (Related: Here are 7 ways you're probably cleaning your bathroom wrong.)

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Form the perfect patty

iStock/Christian Bridgwater

When making burger patties or dealing with any kind of sticky food while cooking or baking, coat your hands with cooking oil in order to prevent the food from sticking to you and help to easily form its shape.

De-frost your freezer

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No one likes to deal with an ice buildup inside their freezer. The next time you clean it out and it’s free of ice, spray the inside with cooking spray to ensure your next cleanup will be quicker and frost free. (Related: Did you know about all these genius non-food ways to use your freezer?)

Coat measuring cups

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The next time a recipe calls for a sticky ingredient such as honey coat your measuring cups with oil so your quantity is exact and will slide right out when pouring it into your mixture.

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Remove gum from your hair

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Having gum in your hair is a nightmare. Before you start freaking out or think you need scissors to chop it out, try spraying the gum with cooking spray. It should loosen it up enough to the point where it will slide right out.

Prevent plastic wrap from sticking to dessert

iStock/Elena Elisseeva

Ever bake a beautiful dessert but you’re bringing it to a party or saving it for later? To ensure your delicious masterpiece doesn’t get smudged or crumbly, lightly spray the inside of your plastic wrap before packing up your dessert.

How to Take the Best Bath Possible

Read article : How to Take the Best Bath Possible

Taking a bath is not about getting clean—that’s what showers are for. Baths are about calming your troubled mind and soothing your aches and pains, both physical and emotional. As a highly sensitive person, I find baths to be necessary, and I’ve gotten very good at them.

This isn’t to say that baths can’t be cleansing in their own way, especially the steamier ones, but removing dirt is not your goal in the tub. (Plus, if you do remove a lot of dirt while in the tub, you’ll just end up sitting in a body of dirty water. If your goal is to sit in a body of dirty water, I suggest a lake.)

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Anyway. Taking a good bath isn’t as easy as filling the tub and hopping in. Plans must be made. Moods must be set. Playlists must be curated. Learn from me, my children. Follow my bath-time plan and reap the most restorative benefits.

Step 1: Clean Your Bathroom

It’s hard to relax in disordered, dirty surroundings, so take a few minutes to straighten up, wipe everything down, and maybe shake out your bath mat and give the floor a quick sweep, as there is nothing worse than emerging from the tub, all blissed out, only to have your joy stolen by the feeling of grit and hair sticking to your feet.

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I’m not saying you scrub every tile and little line of grout, but give the tub a quick spray of all-purpose cleaner, wipe up any grody spots, and rinse it well. If your bathroom is in need of a deep clean anyway, go ahead and do that, then reward yourself with a very nice bath. (Honestly, my love of baths and bathing is what motivates me to keep my bathroom pretty clean.)

Step #2: Decide What Kind of Bath You Want to Have

The baths I take can be divided into four categories: physically pain-relieving, beautifying, pre-date, and I’m-going-to-murder-the-world-if-don’t-chill-out. Each one requires slightly different strategies and supplies.

The Pain-Relieving Bath

This is the bath to take if you have aches and pains from working out or—in my case—picking up your dog weird, because I’m old now, and never work out my core. This bath requires Epsom salts, an adult beverage, a cold glass of water, maybe a cold compress, and the hottest water you can stand. I’m a big fan of Dr. Teal’s Epsom salts because they’re cheap (so you don’t feel like you have to ration them) and come in a wide range of excellent smells. I like the Ginger & Clay, but there’s even one for manly men, because sometimes masculinity is just too fragile.

If your pain is anywhere but your head, put on some Netflix or a good playlist (more on that in a moment), making sure it’s something that will keep you in the tub for a while, so that you may reap the maximum amount of restorative benefits. If your pain is in your head, dim the lights, and put a cold, damp rag on your forehead or over your eyes.

The Beautifying Bath

This bath is slightly less relaxing than the others, but still soothing in its own way. The treatments you use will vary, depending on your skin type, but I recommend choosing one for your body and one for your face. A face mask is an obvious choice, and I cannot recommend the TONYMOLY sheet masks enough. Not only do they have one for every single type of skin concern you can conceive of, but they’re easy to put on, cheap, and require no scrubbing afterwards. In fact, the serum they leave behind isn’t meant to be removed at all; just gently massage it into your skin.

For body treatments, epsom salts are once again a good option, but I’m a fan of a moisturizing bath bomb or melt, usually from Lush. If you wish to exfoliate, however, get yourself some viscose. I have a Baiden Mitten, but apparently Korean Italy Towels work just as well and are much much cheaper. To use either one of these scrubby miracles, just soak yourself in hot water for twenty minutes and then rub your whole body with your viscose of choice. Dead, dull, skin will roll off of you like magic, revealing a super smooth, new you underneath.

You’ll want to use your mitten or towel at the end of tub-time, and rinse off in the shower after. No one wants to walk around with rolls of dead skin on them.

The Date-Night Bath

The date-night bath is similar to the beautifying bath, only a little less aggressive, and a little more mood-enhancing. You could do a face mask, but I don’t like to do any intense or new facial treatments before a date, just in case my skin reacts poorly. Sensual, fragrant bubbles are must for the date-night bath, either by way of this bubble bar or (once again) a wonderfully scented Teal’s product. A playlist is also needed, preferably something a little sexy but still relaxing. Cigarettes After Sex is my current go-to for cultivating date-night bath vibes. Feel free to use it yourself.

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It also doesn’t hurt to have a cocktail, because most good dates begin with cocktails.

The I’m-Going-to-Murder-the-World-If-I-Don’t-Chill-Out Bath

Also known as the “fuck-it-all bath,” this is the bath you take when you have ceased to be able to even, and must submerge yourself in hot water to replicate the soothing feeling of being in your mother’s womb, when things were simpler, less aggressive, and no one wanted anything from you. This bath is about indulging in whatever you need in that moment, and there’s no wrong way to take do it. For me, it usually involves a cocktail (shocking), and some sort of fragrant bath product, but it has also included ice cream and macaroni and cheese (with potato chips crumbled on top).

The one thing this bath does not include is beauty products or, like, shaving. This is your time to sulk, not make yourself more pleasing to look at by patriarchal standards.

You can of course create your own bath, taking elements from each of mine as needed to craft your best bathing experience. I sometimes combine the pain-reliever with the fuck-it-all; there are no rules.

Step #3: Gather Your Supplies

I am never more enraged than when I sink into the warm, caress of the my tubs embrace, only to realize that I left my drink or book in the other room. A little bit of prep work prevents such a disaster, and you will thank yourself for having such brilliant foresight. Before you even begin to fill the tub, gather the following:

• A couple of hand towels: Place them within easy reach of the tub, so you can dry your hands as needed to prevent your books, magazines, or phone (tweet in the tub at your own risk) from getting damp.
• Entertainment: Set your laptop on a chair near the tub so that you may watch your favorite show, grab some reading material, or cue up a podcast or playlist.
• Beverages: Though a very concerned citizen warned me against it, I enjoy an alcoholic beverage in the bath; I even have a little cup holder for such imbibing. You should also take a big glass or bottle of water in there too, because dehydration is no fun.
• Any beauty treatments: Gather your bath bombs, face masks, or anything else you plan to apply to your person. This applies to exfoliation devices as well.

Step #4: Shower, or at Least Wash Your Feet

If you haven’t showered recently, you probably will want to do it before your bath, lest you wish to stew in the filth you’ve accumulated that day. At the very least, make sure your feet are clean, otherwise all that grit and grime will float off of them and contaminate your otherwise perfect bath. Save yourself some rage and wash your damn feet.

Step #5: Unwindulax

Get in the tub, enjoy the blissful time in your tub, emerge renewed. Wrap yourself in a very absorbent towel, then put on pajamas. (Unless you just had a pre-date bath. Then you should put on your sexiest little number, or just stay nekkid, depending on how you conduct your dates.)

RV Plumbing Tips – Cleaning RV Faucets, Sink Drains & Shower Wands

Read article : RV Plumbing Tips – Cleaning RV Faucets, Sink Drains & Shower Wands

The effects of hard water on RV sinks, faucets and drains can be an ongoing problem for RVers. This page describes a few tips for how we remove these pesky mineral deposit buildups from our bathroom and kitchen sinks in our fifth wheel trailer and keep the water flowing smoothly in our shower wand and RV toilet rinse sprayer.

RV plumbing tips for cleaning RV faucets and drains and removing mineral deposits" width="731" height="384" class="size-full wp-image-50990" />

RV plumbing tips for removing mineral deposits and cleaning RV faucets and drains.

We like the water to flow freely in our RV vanity sink faucet, kitchen sink faucet and in the shower and RV toilet sprayer wands, however, periodically these faucets begin to spray water in weird directions because their inner workings have gotten clogged up by mineral deposits from the hard water.

In our bathroom vanity, our first step is to remove and clean the screen filter in the faucet. Sometimes the faucet tip can be unscrewed by hand, but if we’ve let it go too long, we have to use a pair of pliers to break the faucet tip free due to corrosion that makes it impossible to unscrew.

RV faucet screen with pliers" width="701" height="515" class="size-full wp-image-50993" />

Remove the RV faucet screen (with pliers if it’s stuck!)

Then we unscrew the entire screen assembly from the faucet.

The faucet tip unscrews from the faucet.

RV faucet screen" width="681" height="518" class="size-full wp-image-50995" />

Ugh… the screen is pretty dirty. No wonder the water comes out funny!

This time the screen was very corroded. We remove the corrosion and mineral buildup by putting all the pieces in a bath of white vinegar for 20-30 minutes or so.

Prior to putting the pieces in the white vinegar bath, it is a good idea to make note of the order that these parts go into the faucet assembly!

After noting how the pieces go together, soak them in white vinegar.

After the bath, the bits of corrosion can be seen in the white vinegar!

Here are all the pieces. You can see the dirt that came off in the vinegar bath!

Using an old toothbrush, we scrub each piece until it is clean.

RV faucet screen" width="681" height="534" class="size-full wp-image-50997" />

Use a toothbrush to get the screen totally clean.

Scrub all the parts with the toothbrush.

Then we reassemble the pieces in the correct order and orientation.

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Reassemble the pieces.

.

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To make it easier to remove the faucet tip the next time we do this job, it helps to grease the threads with a marine PTEF lubricant prior to screwing the assembly back onto the faucet.

Lubricating the threads makes it easier to unscrew next time!

.

Screw it back into the faucet.

Ta da! Now the flow will be smooth and full.

Our trailer has white plastic sinks in the bathroom and kitchen, and these sinks often develop a skanky brown ring around the sink drain. For years, we relied on Comet to clean these sinks. We sprinkled it on the entire sink, let it sit for a bit, and then scrubbed.

We recently discovered that Baking Soda is just as effective!! The fantastic thing about Baking Soda is that it is non-toxic. This is wonderful not only for our gray water holding tanks but also for the RV dump stations as well as the septic fields and municipal waste water treatment systems that are downstream from them.

It’s also really cheap!

RV sink drain" width="751" height="394" class="size-full wp-image-51008" />

White plastic RV sinks are prone to getting ugly stains.

RV sink drain" width="701" height="511" class="size-full wp-image-51009" />

Yuck!

We simply sprinkle it on the sink and then scrub the sink with a damp Scotch-Brite scrubbing pad.

RV sink drain cleaning with baking soda" width="721" height="495" class="size-full wp-image-51010" />

Sprinkle the baking soda in the sink and scrub the stains with a damp scrubby pad.

What a great result — a wonderfully squeaky clean sink!

RV sink drain is sparkling clean" width="701" height="483" class="size-full wp-image-51011" />

Sparkling!

The drain plug also gets gummy, and we use an old toothbrush to scrub it clean with either baking soda and/or Murphy’s Oil Soap (a handy all around biodegradable cleanser).

In an RV that is used for dry camping a lot, like ours, the bathroom vanity sink drain can get really gross really quickly because in an effort to conserve fresh water not much clean water gets flushed down the drain.

This can result in foul odors in the sink drain, and it’s pretty unsightly too.

So, we do two things.

First, we scrub the inside of the bathroom sink drain with an old toothbrush. To get a longer reach down the drain, we taped our toothbrush to an old tent stake we had lying around. Anything long and narrow will work.

RV sink drain" width="800" height="256" class="size-full wp-image-51013" />

Tape an old toothbrush to a long stick to reach deep down the RV sink drain.

RV sink drain" width="721" height="481" class="size-full wp-image-51014" />

Scrub inside the sink drain.

We also scrub the sink drain plug.

Second, to keep the RV bathroom sink drain fresh smelling, we use Happy Camper Holding Tank Treatment which we’ve found is a particularly good deodorizer. We put scoop of powder in an old water bottle, fill it up with water and shake it well (the bottle gets warm as the enzymes get activated!), and then pour it down the drain.

Most of it goes into the gray water tank, but a small amount stays in the bathroom sink drain p-trap and does its magic there, killing off the offensive odors.

RV sink drain plut" width="721" height="481" class="size-full wp-image-51012" />

Scrub the sink drain plug with a toothbrush.

To keep our RV shower in tip-top shape, we clean the drain there as well. The biggest problem in our RV shower drain isn’t foul odors, because the shower drain gets flushed with lots of water everyday. Instead, the challenge with the RV shower drain is accumulated hair.

In a house, it’s easy enough to use a powerful cleanser like Drano to clean out any clogs caused by hair, but we don’t want strong chemicals like that sitting in our gray wastewater holding tank. Afterall, we want the enzymes and bacteria in the Happy Camper and Unique RV Digest-It holding tank treatment products we use to thrive and go to work breaking things down!

So, we use a long spring hook (and flashlight) to pull the hair out. It just takes a few minutes and then the drain is clear.

Some RV shower stalls may have drain components that can be removed for cleaning. Ours doesn’t.

RV shower drain" width="631" height="539" class="size-full wp-image-51015" />

Use a spring hook to pull hair out of the RV shower drain.

Periodically, the RV shower wand gets crudded up with mineral deposits just like our RV sink faucets do. Again, we rely on white vinegar to clean up the deposits clogging the spray holes in the shower nozzle.

First, we pour the white vinegar through the shower wand to let it soak from the inside.

RV shower wand" width="681" height="712" class="size-full wp-image-51016" />

The RV shower wand can be cleaned with white vinegar.

Then we soak the shower wand’s face in a bath of white vinegar.

RV shower wand" width="751" height="421" class="size-full wp-image-51017" />

Put the RV shower wand face down in a white vinegar bath to clean all the little holes.

If we’ve let a little too much time pass, we’ll also use a toothpick to clean out each hole in the shower head. We use bamboo toothpicks because they hold up well in water. Ordinary wooden toothpicks tend to disintegrate when they get wet. A scribe also works well.

The before-and-after difference in the flow of water through the shower wand is startling. When half of the little holes are blocked from mineral deposits and the other half have an impeded flow, the water can feel like needles on your skin. After cleaning the wand, it is more like a waterfall.

RV shower wand with a toothpick or scribe" width="681" height="516" class="size-full wp-image-51040" />

Use a toothpick or scribe to clean each hole in the shower wand.

Lots of RVers love the Oxygenics RV shower head. We don’t use it because it doesn’t work well with the low water pressure we use to conserve water since we dry camp every night, but for RVers who get water hookups a lot, these shower heads are extremely popular. Of course, in hard water areas, these shower heads will need periodic cleaning as well.

The RV toilet bowl rinsing wand is also subject to corrosion from mineral deposits, and after a while when we go to rinse the toilet bowl we find the water flow from the sprayer is restricted and funky.

RV toilet sprayer wand cleaning" width="721" height="481" class="size-full wp-image-51018" />

The RV toilet sprayer wand gets clogged with minerals too.

Again, it’s easy to unscrew the end of the toilet spay wand, put it in a white vinegar for 20-30 minutes, scrub it a bit with a toothbrush, and then put it back on the wand.

Unscrew the tip of the toilet rinsing wand and soak it in white vinegar to clean the holes.

As an aside, if you have energy leftover after cleaning all your RV sinks, faucets, drains and spray nozzles, a spray bottle filled with a water and white vinegar mixture is super for washing the windows. As I wrote this, some flies got in our trailer and Mark started spraying them when they landed on the window next to him using a spray bottle filled with water and white vinegar. Besides slowing them down and killing them, he was really impressed with how clean the window was when he finished!

So, these are a few of the things we do to keep our sinks and drains flowing smoothly in our life on the road in our RV.

We hope they help you too!

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