“How do I get rid of soap scum?”
I get asked this question all the time. People literally stop me while I’m shopping, or call me, just to ask me this question, so apparently it’s a bit of a problem! I wrote a post about this last year but it was a “reverse Ask Anna” post and I was asking for help from you! So now when I get asked the question “how do I get rid of my soap scum” I tell people, “Go to the post I wrote and read all the comments, my readers had some great tips!” I don’t know why it took me so long, but I finally decided to compile all the best tips from my readers into one post, so that from now on when people ask me this question, I can just send them to this post! Okay so here we go…
8 tips for how to remove soap scum
{given to me by my readers in the comments of this post}
#1 Bar Keepers Friend {Powder version}
What to do: Wet down the shower doors and a sponge, sprinkle Bar Keepers Friend on your sponge and then scrub scrub scrub. Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
What to do: Wet down the shower doors. Squirt the cook top cleaner all over the doors and spread it around with a sponge. Let it sit for 2 minutes, then wet the sponge and scrub the doors. Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
#2 1/2: I had one reader that suggested making a paste out of the Bar Keepers Friend and the ceramic cook top cleaner. What have you got to loose, right?
What to do: Wet down the shower doors. Squirt the toilet bowl cleaner all over the doors and spread it around with a sponge. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then wet the sponge and scrub the doors. Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
What to do: Spray shower doors with Scrubbing Bubbles. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Wet a sponge and scrub until the doors come clean. Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
What to do: Wet down the shower doors and a sponge. Spread the clear shampoo all over the shower doors and then scrub scrub scrub with the sponge. Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
What to do: Rub on the lemon furniture oil. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Sprinkle a mild detergent {like dishwasher detergent or the Bar Keepers Friend} on a wet sponge and then scrub the shower door. Rinse and repeat until all the soap scum is gone. The reader said, “It may take a few rounds but the citric acid will eat through the dried on soap scum.“ Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
#7 Shout
What to do: Spray the shower doors with Shout {or another laundry stain remover}. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Using a wet sponge, scrub doors clean. Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
Using a paint scraper, scrape the soap scum right off the doors. Once the soap scum is gone rinse the shower doors with warm water and squeegee them dry.
Now that your shower doors are clean and soap scum free, here’s how to keep them that way and prevent soap scum in the future!
#1 Always use a squeegee, after every shower! Using a squeegee to get all the water off the shower doors, will prevent future water stains and soap scum build up.
#2 Wipe shower doors with lemon oil every other week. This will prevent anything (water, soap scum, shampoo residue) from sticking to the doors.
#3 Treat shower doors with Rain-X once a month. {This will do the same thing as the lemon oil, it’s just a different product that’s made for glass.}
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Hi Anna! I totally needed this post! We have glass shower doors in our bathroom and I have a love/hate relationship with them. They look beautiful but are SO difficult to clean! Thanks for the help!
Beth {Design Your Dwelling} recently posted..Wedding Wednesday – Wedding Binder
Vinegar and blue Dawn (equal parts), so sparkly clear you won’t believe your eyes, just rub on, wait and wipe of, almost no scrubbing necessary! It’s a dream. I found it on pinterest http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/2012/01/dawn-vinegar-soap-scum-killa.html
It’s so easy and cheap.
I was just going to post this. It was amazing when I did this on my shower that had a textured bottom, so it got s mixture of hard water/soap scum/body gunk (Gross,I know) that turned the bottom of the tub greyish. I would use about two Mr. Clean sponges on it until this cheap and easy solution that took almost no elbow grease.
ok here is a slightly related post about those pesky bathroom stains :) i have a rubber thing on the bottom of my shower door to prevent the water from escaping; i guess you could call it a seal? well inside it is black from mold. and i’ve tried every which way to get inside and clean it, to no avail. any hints or tips? thank you!!
melissa pidal recently posted..Slavery and despair
do the above ideas work on fiberglass tubs too?
Yep! The soap scum should be even easier to get off of fiberglass!
I hang a clear shower curtain inside the shower (behind the doors). I keep 2 on hand they are pretty inexpensive at walmart. Every couple of weeks I exchange the dirty one for a clean one. I put the shower curtain in the washing machine when I wash my towlels and then I hang dry the curtain. I only windex the shower doors and the track every so often.
seriously, color me surprised that we’re not touting baking soda/ vinegar combo. lol. i use mostly conventional cleaners but i might try a baking soda/ lemon juice paste considering all the votes for barkeepers scour and citric acid. makes sense? someone, quick! test it for me? =D
I recently found another solution which is worth trying because I love it. I use a lot of sugar scrub which is oily so not only do I get soap scum but I have an oily buildup too. Use equal parts of blue liquid dishwashing soap (like Dawn but it can be another store brand like Walmart sells) and warm vinegar – in a spray bottle. Shake it up and spray it on. Let is wait for about 30 minutes and then wipe it off, and rinse. Its like magic!
It’s fun to see all the different tips. Magic erasers, or the generic equivalent, is all I ever seem to need. I like to use it along with scrubbing bubbles, but it doesn’t seem to matter if I have any cleaning product aside from the magic eraser. It is my best cleaning friend!
Liz
Liz recently posted..The Masquerade
Spray doors and tub/shower with Kaboom and let it set about 15 minutes. Go back and re-spray the Kaboom and scrub with a Magic Eraser. Dirt and soap scum comes right off!! This works on any surface, including a tub that has had the surface restored!! Then use a Dawn and vinegar, half and half solution to maintain a clean shower.
I find best results are achieved by cleaning after someone’s taken a shower. If not, rinse the walls down with hot water, spray method’s tub & tile cleaner let sit for 2-3 mins then use a damp microfibre cloth to wipe down walls/tub., follow up with a hot rinse. Works each time and w/o elbow grease for me.
Helen @ my lil adventures recently posted..Food Waste Friday (10/19/12)
I’ve had a lot of success with a mixture of one part plain Dawn and one part hot vinegar. Put it in a spray bottle, spray down the shower, let it sit 30 minutes, then scrub off with a nylon scrubbie sponge.
The Happy Mother recently posted..Unsolicited Advice: Glass Shower Door Edition, Part II
Ha, love this topic…now that I no longer have shower doors. Got rid of them with my last house. It was the first place I ever had glass shower doors and THE LAST. Battling soap scum was the pits. I like all the suggestions in your post, but I think you should’ve added one more and that would be…..GET RID OF YOUR SHOWER DOORS. When you do that you permanently get rid of your soap scum problem. LOL. Great post. Thanks!
Sheila recently posted..IS IT FROSTED GLASS?
Hi Anna,
I just started receiving your newsletter. I read on your website about keeping towels fluffy, soft & absorbent without the use of a fabric softener. Instead of printing it then, I got distracted & forgot to print it. Help, please.
Here’s the post you’re looking for: http://askannamoseley.com/2012/03/vinegar-tips-laundry-day-1/
:)
I clean houses for a living and I can tell you people that live in areas with hard water is the worst! I have tried everything and this is what I have found:
a lot of people think their problem is soap scum but its not, its hard water build up! bar keepers friend is great but doesn’t always do the job, I finally went to a window washing company and found a scrubber that is safe for using on glass and it takes it completely off! it is the best thing ever, it also takes soap scum off. They also sell hard water cleaners with it that are environmentally friendly and do help! Once I get it all cleaned off I put lemon oil on it.
You have to be careful with rain- x and turtle wax since it can ruin granite or other porous stone.
good hints for shower doors. i don’t have shower doors. I have soap scum on my cheap builder grade plastic or acrylic shower walls. I can’t use barkeepers friend, ti scratches. I will try these other things though. I did find out that the powdered soap off of an sos bad works great, but that is hard to get, lol and sos is kind of hazardous, I don’t want to be breathing that in. I;ll try some of these and see if it helps. Thanks! I enjoy your posts! oh, I also heard that once you get those doors clean, use some rainX on the… from the car store.
I have very hard water too. I’ll check a janitorial supply… thanks
There is a product out there to prevent water buildup and staining. I use it on granite, shower doors, whatever. It fills in the tiny little spots on the glass and granite surface to keep the buildup from having somewhere to ‘root’. It’s called Invisible Shield. Try it!
Also, for removal, try spot x. Awesome on granite and glass. No scratching.
Enjoy!
I’ve used car paste wax on fiber glass tus/enclosures./ I think I will try using on my shower door also. After cleaning it good as you suggested.
Hi, I have one shower with glass doors, and one shower that has a shower curtain. I am trying to find ways to clean the plastic shower curtain that is behind our cloth curtain. I paid quit a bit for it and I would like to keep it if possible,….it is very heavy duty, but full of soap build up…any thoughts ? Thank you
Sorry, somehow I didn’t see this comment before tonight! Here’s a post I wrote about cleaning shower curtains: http://askannamoseley.com/2011/06/reader-question-cleaning-the-shower-curtain/
Have you ever tried Malamine foam??
You will never need another cleaner again. It strips it straight off with no effort required.
Just wet the foam and wipe over. The foam will rub away and you’ll need to replace them regulary, but well worth it.
I buy it in bulk lots as its perfect for “almost” every household surface.