Dirty shower doors can ruin an otherwise sparkling-clean bathroom. The soap scum that accumulates isn’t just unsightly; it contains body oils and skin particles that provide for a perfect bacteria breeding ground.
Supermarket shelves in Chicago are filled with bathroom cleaners that promise to cut through soap scum, but the cleansers don’t always work and those that do often contain harsh chemicals that can irritate your skin.
Cleaning shower doors can be more safe and more pleasant, then, when you use chemical-free household products, many of which you likely have in your kitchen already.
White vinegar makes an excellent soap scum remover, for example.
To remove soap scum from your shower doors using white vinegar, pour non-diluted white vinegar into a spray bottle, and then spray your shower doors until the soap-scummy sections are completely saturated. Let the vinegar sit for several minutes. This allows the white vinegar time begin breaking down the soap scum.
Spritz the surface again, if necessary, to keep the surface wet.
After the white vinegar has had some time to work, wipe the soap scum away with a non-scratching sponge.
If the soap scum is particularly stubborn, cutting through it completely may require a mild abrasive.
After letting the vinegar soak for several minutes, sprinkle baking powder on your sponge and remove the soap scum using a moderate amount of pressure and small circular motions. If your shower doors are textured, you may need to switch to a scrub brush to get into the crevasses.
Reapply baking soda and re-spritz the doors with vinegar as needed to remove the soap scum completely. Then, just rinse away the residue with hot water.
Give the shower floor a final rinse after the residue drains.
