How to clean shower doors with vinegar
Trust me, I know how hard it is to keep glass shower doors clean.
When we renovated our master bathroom and added a glass shower it was love at first site, but then only after a few uses, I realized how quickly the glass got dirty.
Keeping your glass shower doors clean is so important. Hard water and soap buildup can actually permanently damage your glass if you don’t get to it in time.
Lucky for you cleaning shower doors is actually pretty simple and with just a little elbow grease and common household items, you’ll have your shower doors clean in no time!
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Here’s everything you need to know about how to clean shower doors with vinegar:
How to clean shower doors with vinegar
White vinegar is something you should have in your house at all times. Not only does it work to clean your fruits and veggies, but it also gets that mildew smell out of towels, freshens linens and even gets rid of soap scum and build up on your shower doors.
To use vinegar to clean glass shower doors with hard water stains you’ll need the following:
- A spray bottle
- White vinegar
- Water
- Microfiber cloth/or sponge
- Squeegee
Directions:
- Heat up vinegar in microwave until very warm.
- Next, fill a spray bottle with 1 part vinegar to 3 parts warm water. Mix well.
- Spray solution directly onto shower doors and massage into the glass using a microfiber cloth or sponge.
- Let solution sit for 15 minutes.
- Spray shower clean and follow up using a shower squeegee.
Note: if your soap scum is pretty heavy, consider using a mixture of half vinegar, half water. If that still doesn’t work, try the other cleaning techniques below.
Related: Is it necessary to seal grout?
How to make your own dawn and vinegar shower cleaner
Dawn dish detergent is another great item to have on hand. Dawn is a popular way to remove grease stains from clothes and also works really well to remove soap scum build up from your shower.
To clean your shower doors with vinegar and dawn you’ll need the following:
- 1 cup vinegar
- Dawn dish detergent
- spray bottle
- squeegee
- bowl
Directions:
- Heat up 1 cup vinegar in microwave.
- Mix vinegar with 1 cup dawn (make sure it’s dawn blue dish detergent).
- Fill solution in spray bottle and spray directly onto shower walls.
- Massage solution into shower doors using scrub brush.
- Allow solution to sit on shower doors.
- Rinse off.
- Follow up with a microfiber cloth or shower squeegee.
How long do you leave dawn and vinegar on shower doors?
Ideally you want the dawn and vinegar solution to permeate the soap scum, so leaving on for at least 10 minutes is a good idea.
I typically spray the shower doors first, clean with a cloth and then clean the rest of my grout and tile in the shower. Remember to rinse with warm water and finish with a squeegee.
How to: Vinegar and baking soda shower cleaner
If you’ve got some heavy duty soap scum and grime on your shower doors that plain old vinegar won’t touch, it might be time to step up your cleaning game by using vinegar and baking soda.
Adding baking soda to the vinegar gives it some grit and works to really penetrate the soap scum. With this recipe you’ll have more of a paste, rather than a solution, so just mix the two in a cup or shallow bowl.
To clean shower doors with vinegar and baking soda you’ll need:
- 1 ½ cups vinegar
- ½ baking soda
- sponge/brush
- squeegee/microfiber cloth
Directions:
- Warm 1 ½ cups of vinegar in microwave
- Pour warmed vinegar over ½ cup of baking soda, just enough to combine and make a paste– Don’t let it get too runny.
- Combine in bowl or cup. There will be bubbles! Combining vinegar and baking soda is perfectly safe but it will cause a chemical reaction, hence the bubbles.
- Rub onto shower doors and work into glass using a sponge or brush
- Rinse solution with warm water and finish with a microfiber cloth or squeegee
How to keep glass shower doors clean in between cleanings
Glass shower doors are a beautiful element to any bathroom, but if you don’t stay on top of the cleaning, they can quickly become unsightly.
Once you’ve completed a thorough cleaning using one of the techniques I mentioned above, there are a few things you can do to cut down on your cleaning time and keep your shower doors sparkling.
Use a squeegee or microfiber cloth
Using a squeegee or microfiber cloth to wipe down your shower doors after every use is the key to preventing hard water stains and keeping your glass looking fresh and clear in between cleanings.
I keep a squeegee in our shower and trust me, the difference it makes is amazing. I’m someone that can’t stand to see stains on my beautiful glass, and using a squeegee does the trick!
Keep a spray bottle filled with 1 part vinegar, 3 parts water
It doesn’t hurt to keep a spray bottle mixed with 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water in your shower. I like to spray down my walls about every 3 or so days and wipe clean with a microfiber cloth.
Use Rain-x to keep shower doors clean
Using Rain-x to keep shower doors free of hard water stains is a little trick I stumbled upon years ago, and wow, does it work.
Once you deep clean your shower doors using one of the methods above, finish off with a little Rain-x. Use a microfiber cloth to buff in the Rain-x, drying as you go.
Closing thoughts on cleaning shower doors with vinegar
Never underestimate the power of all-natural household cleaning products like vinegar to keep your shower doors clean.
If you’ve got a glass shower door riddled with hard water stains and soap scum, don’t attempt to use a commercial cleaning solution to clean your glass, and instead opt to clean with vinegar!
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