Learn how to clean glass shower doors by removing soap scum, the best products to use, and how to keep your glass shower clean.
Glass shower doors and enclosures are at the top of most people’s wish lists in hotels, homes, condos, and apartments around the world. It’s a sign of luxury and to be honest, they just look so good.
But glass showers have a downside, and that’s cleaning them. Glass shower doors will build up soap scum in a short amount of time if it’s not kept at bay with some occasional clean up. Maintaining your glass shower enclosure is the key way to keeping it clean.
What Causes Soap Scum?
When soap and hard water mix up they create soap scum and it attaches itself to everything from vinyl to tiles to your glass shower panels. On glass it’s the worst because that’s where it’s most visible. But with some maintenance rituals, you’ll never have to worry about massive amounts of soap scum on your glass shower.
How to Remove Soap Scum From Glass Showers
Our favorite way to clean glass shower doors is to mix equal parts white vinegar and a dish soap that has a grease fighting property. Simply spray the door down with your handy solution and let it sit about half an hour before using a cloth to clean the surface. When you’re done, you can wipe glass shower panels down with a window cleaner.
Another way is to use ammonia. This is a little tricky as you’ll need a lot of ventilation. Do not stand in the shower, in an unventilated bathroom, with the door closed, heavily breathing in ammonia. Just. Don’t. You’ve been warned. Also, don’t mix it with bleach. I made the mistake of thinking that if ammonia is good, ammonia with bleach would be doubly good. I was wrong. Apartment bathroom, no windows, door closed, fan off. Let’s just say I don’t remember a lot from that day.
Moving on, mix one part ammonia with 3 parts water and spray your glass shower doors. Now, whilst the glass shower panels are still wet, use an abrasive pad like fine steel wool or brush to loosen the soap scum. Rinse the glass shower enclosure down and finish up with some window cleaner. Make sure you clean pretty much your whole shower at this point, you don’t want ammonia sitting around.
Best Cleaner For Glass Shower Doors
- Vinegar
- Grease fighting dish soap
- Ammonia
How To Keep Your Glass Shower Clean
Now that you’ve cleaned your glass shower doors, let’s keep them that way. One handy trick that anyone with a glass shower should use is a squeegee. ALWAYS squeegee your glass shower panels after taking a shower, washing the dog, or having a water fight with the detachable shower head before work with your significant other (true story).
Some other steps you can take is to use liquid soaps instead of bar soaps and products with little to no oils.
If you really hate cleaning your glass shower, keep the white vinegar and dish soap spray bottle under the sink and when you’re done with the shower, give it a quick spray and wipe down.
If you have hard water issues, look into ways to soften it up a bit.
Glass Showers FAQ
How to clean glass shower doors?
Our favorite way to clean glass shower doors is to mix equal parts white vinegar and a dish soap that has a grease fighting property. Simply spray the door down with your handy solution and let it sit about half an hour before using a cloth to clean the surface. When you’re done, you can wipe glass shower panels down with a window cleaner.
How to keep glass shower doors clean?
Now that you’ve cleaned your glass shower doors, let’s keep them that way. One handy trick that anyone with a glass shower should use is a squeegee. ALWAYS squeegee your glass shower panels after taking a shower, washing the dog, or having a water fight with the detachable shower head before work with your significant other (true story).
