People with glass shower doors may sometimes feel like they are dealing with an uphill battle when trying to free the glass shower door from spots and stains.
It also becomes a battle when they remove the soap scum from the glass.
However, all these can be done relatively quickly with some household supplies and regular effort, and you will be able to reduce the number of times you do deep cleaning.
You will also be able to keep your shower in a sparkling state. In today’s article, we have compiled some tips on how you can clean your shower glass doors to get rid of all the spots and stains.
How To Clean Your Shower Glass Doors
Most of the problems you deal with in your shower usually come from the reaction of the soap and the water in your home.
Hard water reacts typically with paraffin wax which is typically used in making soaps.
While the soap is cleaning dirt from your body during your shower, it will be leaving some residue on the shower glass walls and bathroom surfaces in the form of scum.
The wax then settles on the glass after you finish with your shower, and this creates a layer of scum that you can only remove with some cleaning products.
Hard water also leaves some stains behind, and you are probably wondering how you will remove such stains.
The calcium present in water typically leaves some mineral deposits behind after the water has evaporated. Where you live will determine if you have hard water or not.
However, you can get rid of the hard water stains with some materials that you can find in your home. There are also several techniques that you can use to reduce the number of spots that appear in your shower after you take your bath.
When you use some household materials to remove the stains and the spots in your shower glass doors, you restore the shine that the glass lost back to it.
The cleaning agents that you can use to clean the spots and stains from your shower glass doors are pretty standard in most people’s homes.
If you do not have some of the things we will mention in this article at your home, you may have to go out to some grocery store and get it.
The shower is known to be a place used daily, and because of this, you should always keep it clean.
You can do a deep cleaning of your shower once every week to maintain the shine of the place. It would help if you also treated the shower glass door once every week to make sure that the glass looks good at all times.
Below are some of the best ways through which you can clean your shower
Using Vinegar For Cleaning The Shower Door
An essential tip for maintaining the good-looking appearance of your shower is to use distilled white vinegar.
This type of vinegar is relatively cheap and can be accessed easily. It comes as an all-natural alternative to the much more expensive cleaning products.
You do not have to worry about using white vinegar in cleaning the shower doors because the procedure is quite simple. If you have a stone in your shower, it would be better to pause using the vinegar because the vinegar could cause some damage to the stone.
And now, for the primary process, you will have to combine equal parts of warm white vinegar and liquid dishwashing soap inside a spray bottle.
After creating the mixture, spray it over the shower glass doors. Wipe the doors with a soft cloth or a sponge.
You can first test the particular area with the sponge to ensure that it does not scratch the glass. The soap in the mixture will cut through any grease while the vinegar gets rid of the residue.
You can also try using undiluted white vinegar along with some drops of tea tree oil in it for cleaning purposes. Tea tree oil is known for being antibacterial and can be used on one’s skin and around the home.
You can also use vinegar in cleaning the scum off the tracks if you have sliding doors in your shower.
You first cover the drain holes with paper towels and then pour the white vinegar into the slots.
Leave the white vinegar in the tracks overnight and then remove the paper towels and wipe out the vinegar that will be left over.
It would help if you never tried to clean your shower with vinegar or ammonia while using bleach at the same time else, as this will cause toxic fumes in the shower.
Using Baking Soda
You can mix the baking soda with enough water to create a thick paste. Use half a cup of baking soda when working on the shower glass doors.
You can use more than half a glass of baking soda if the glass doors are more enormous. Now rub the baking soda paste you have created onto the shower with a soft cloth.
After you are done, you then rinse the shower off with vinegar. Do not use vinegar to rinse if you have stone or travertine in your shower wall.
You can also mix the baking soda and vinegar to create a paste. After applying this to the shower glass doors, you will have to wait for about 30 minutes before rinsing it off.
Using Ammonia
Before you clean your shower with ammonia, you have to make sure that you have got yourself protected before you can proceed.
Open the bathroom door and the windows, and any other door that you can open. If you have ventilation inside, you should run it for additional ventilation.
You must also protect your body by wearing rubber gloves before using ammonia for the cleaning process. Another important thing you should note is that you should never try to mix ammonia with bleach.
This can create some harmful vapors that can be dangerous to your health when you breathe them in.
When cleaning heavy scum from your shower, add three parts of water to one part of ammonia in a spray bottle and then spray the scum on the glass.
After spraying, you should rub the surface of the glass with a brush while it is still damp. Now you can rinse the surface totally and dry it.
You can also get rid of a thick layer of buildup soap scum by adding two quarts of distilled water and two tablespoons of ammonia.
Distilled water is used for preventing hard water stains. Now spray the distilled water and ammonia mixture onto the scum on the glass and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. After that, you can wipe it with a microfiber cloth.
If you think that using ammonia is too dangerous for you, it would be advisable to stick to vinegar or use the other methods in the lower part of this article.
Using Lemon Juice
You can use lemon juice to get a more fragrant alternative. Mix three cups of lemon juice with distilled water inside a spray bottle and spray the shower.
After spraying it, allow it to dry for about 5 minutes before you wipe the surfaces with a clean microfiber cloth to get rid of the stains from the glass.
You should also dry the glass thoroughly with a fresh cloth.
You can also use the lemon in cleaning your shower by dipping half of it in baking soda and then rubbing it on the scum on the glass.
When you are done, rinse the glass with distilled water. You can reduce the soapy buildup by coating the interior of the glass with lemon oil.
Using Borax
Borax is another option that can be mixed perfectly into a paste, just like baking soda. You can use this paste in cleaning your shower glass doors too.
Mix borax with enough water to make the paste, and then use a damp sponge to run the paste all over the glass.
You then rinse the glass with distilled water and dry the glass surface. You can purchase borax in any grocery shop that sells laundry products.
Using Magic Eraser
A magic eraser with several unique cleaning properties that can work well on the scum and stains in your bathroom.
To use the magic eraser, dampen it and then wipe the interior of your shower with it. You should use the magic eraser to clean your shower immediately after you finish bathing if that is what you want to use.
The warmth and the water left after bathing will allow the magic eraser to clean off the scum and dirt easily.
Buff Off Heavy Soap Scum
If you do not clean your shower regularly or you just bought a new house and realized that the former owners have not been doing that after you moved in, then there will be a lot of work for you to do.
When your shower has a thick layer of scum, you will have no option but to use more power to get rid of it.
In this case, you will have to take a shower down and then move it to a safe place where you can work on it. You can use brass polish or anything similar and an auto buffer.
You can rent one of these if you do not have one personally. The tool and the polish will help you fill in any scratches that have been etched onto the glass due to the thick scum on it.
Before you use this method of cleaning your shower door, you first try the earlier methods in this article to make sure that they could not do the job before you proceed with this method because this method is labor-intensive.
However, if you cannot get rid of the scum and the scratches on the shower glass door, you may need to start thinking about replacing the door.
Conclusion
So these are the methods you can use to clean the dirt and scum off your shower glass doors and make sure that they do not return.
I am sure that before this article, most of you have not been cleaning your shower glass doors at all.
Well, now you know that you should clean them at regular intervals to make sure that they remain beautiful and pleasing to look at. You can read more bathroom tips at our bathroom category.
