How to clean a shower screen with vinegar and bicarb

Shower Glass Cleaning

Shower screens always look great after installation, and they add more beauty to bathrooms. However, shower screens are susceptible to losing their beauty over time, usually due to soap scum, limescale, and mineral deposits. All these substances make shower screens appear dull, which is why it's essential to know the best way to clean a shower screen.

Cleaning a shower screen and ensuring that it sparkles daily can be challenging, but the need to take care of your shower regularly cannot be overemphasised. Also, the process isn’t as hard as it sounds.

In this article, you’ll find helpful ways to clean a shower screen with vinegar and bicarb (baking soda). We have also provided cleaning tips to help you keep your shower glass clean and sparkling every day, so read on.

Cleaning Shower Screens With Vinegar And Bicarb

Are you worried about how to remove dirty and foggy spots from your shower screen? Whether it’s flecks of toothpaste, soap scum, or shaving cream, you wouldn’t like these substances on a glass shower. You only need household ingredients like vinegar and bicarb to keep your glass shower door sparkling every day. Let’s get more acquainted with these household ingredients that you can use for cleaning showers.

Vinegar

Vinegar is mainly known for its chemical essence and intense flavour, and it is not used for house cleaning alone but for other kitchen purposes. This ingredient is a natural disinfectant, which is why it's primarily used with other liquids and water. Vinegar comprises 4% to 8% acetic acid, which makes it potent. Therefore, you should always use it with care to avoid unnecessary harm.

There are different types of vinegar, but the most common types include champagne vinegar, rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, malt vinegar, distilled white vinegar, and sherry vinegar.

In most cases, distilled white vinegar is also called white vinegar, and it is the most versatile amongst the other types of vinegar. White vinegar is used chiefly for mashed potatoes, hard-boiling eggs, and ketchup. However, it is also a suitable cleaning agent, especially when it is mixed with baking soda.

Baking Soda

The second ingredient is also a popular ingredient that is widely used for different household purposes. Baking soda is mainly used for removing foul odours and challenging stains.

It is also used in cleaning grease stains, clogged drains, stained marble, coffee cups, glass doors, ovens, and microwaves. Baking soda is a bit abrasive, which is why it works well on grease, animal messes, and proteins. It can also remove stains better than soap.

Using Household Items To Clean Glass Showers

As mentioned earlier, you can easily remove foggy and sticky stains from surfaces with household items. You don't necessarily need strong and toxic chemicals to remove these stains. Sometimes, you can use baking soda with lemon to clean your shower glass, and you'll be surprised at how effective it is. You only need to slice the lemon in half and dip it in baking soda to initiate a reaction between the acid in the lemon and the baking soda.

Another option is to use white vinegar and detergent to clean surfaces. Using soap, vinegar, essential oil, and water to clean surfaces is also common. These ingredients are often used in ensuring that shower glass does not become unattractive. Remember that prevention is better than cure. Therefore, it is best to maintain a shower glass regularly. With that said, shower glass cleaning can be done monthly, weekly, or daily.

You can easily remove hard water and soap splashes with half a cup of vinegar. All you need is to soak a cloth in vinegar and gently apply it on the stained surfaces. You can add soap to the vinegar for stains that are too strong to be removed by vinegar alone.

Here are some cleaning recipes you can try using household items:

Cleaning with Baking Soda and Vinegar

The baking soda and vinegar mixture is a powerful and helpful solution for removing stains from glass shower doors. However, when using this mixture to clean shower screens, it's essential to do it gently so that you don’t end up scratching the surface.

You might want to consider trying the following:

• Get a cup of baking soda, dish soap, and vinegar. These three ingredients will leave your shower glass sparkling.
• Take roughly one spoon of vinegar and mix it with baking soda. You'll notice that it will start foaming immediately, after which it'll become a paste.
• Use the paste to gently wipe the shower screen. Vinegar contains acid, which will quickly wipe off the soap scum and water spots. For more stubborn stains, leave the paste on the shower screen for half an hour before you scrape it off.
• Use an object like a razor blade or something similar to remove the paste. Use a scouring pad to scrub the glass screen and rinse thoroughly.

Cleaning with Vinegar, Essential Oil, and Detergent

Another mixture that you might want to put to the test is vinegar, detergent, and essential oil. You’ll also need a funnel and spray bottle. Here’s what you need to do:

• Add about half a cup of the detergent and 1.5 cups of vinegar to the spray bottle. Ensure that there’s still space in the bottle for the essential oil.
• Next, shake the bottle to mix the ingredients well and spray on the shower screen until it is completely covered in the mixture.
• Leave the vinegar and soap for 30 minutes or overnight before scrubbing. Rinse with hot water until your shower door is sparkling.

Cleaning with Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Lemon

The next recipe that you should consider trying is a mixture of lemon, baking soda, and vinegar. Here’s what you need to do:

• With a knife, cut the lemon into two and sprinkle baking soda on the lemon pulp.
• Use the lemon covered with baking soda to scrub the surface of your shower screen. Gently squeeze the juice as you scrub the surface.
• When there's no juice left in the lemon, sprinkle more baking soda on the second half of the lemon and continue scrubbing to completely cover the glass screen with baking soda and lemon.
• Leave the baking soda and lemon juice on the surface for 10 minutes before using a damp sponge to clean off the stains.
• Rinse the surface thoroughly so that you can see the stubborn stains on the surface.
• Make another mixture of vinegar and lemon juice and spray it on the stubborn stains on the shower screen. Leave the liquid on the surface for another 10 minutes.
• Use a clean cloth to wipe the lemon juice and vinegar solution off the shower screen, then use another cloth to clean the surface again.

Cleaning with Detergent and Vinegar

This is the easiest and cheapest way to clean your shower screen. All you need is a good dish detergent and vinegar. You’ll be surprised at how this mixture will leave your shower screen sparkling. The only things you'll need for this mixture are a two-sided sponge, paper towel, detergent, and vinegar.

With all of these, here’s what you should do:

• Leave your shower on for a few minutes to get it steamy and wet. Go in with all the materials mentioned earlier but leave the paper towel.
• Start cleaning the shower screen from the top so that it will be a lot easier for you to clean the lower part of the screen. Use the detergent until it starts to lather.
• Use the sponge to scrub and wipe off the screen and rinse the detergent off the shower screen and the sponge.
• By now, you would have eradicated the soap scum. Next is the mineral buildup, and this is where you'll need the vinegar. Dip the sponge in the vinegar and apply it to the shower screen. Scrub it gently on the surface, but pay attention to tough stains and rough areas. Continue scrubbing until you get a smoother feeling on the shower screen.
• Rinse the screen and sponge again, and use the paper towel to dry the screen.
• Ensure that you do this regularly to keep your shower screen sparkling. Always begin with the detergent to remove scum and continue with vinegar to remove mineral buildup.

Other Great Shower Screen Cleaners

We have provided different ways to clean your shower screen using vinegar and baking soda. However, there are so many other ways that you can clean your shower screen without spending so much. What's more, is that you'll get the desired results with these methods.

Here are some of the other household items that you can use to effectively clean up your shower screen:

Fabric Softener

A fabric softener is a handy tool that you can use to clean your shower screen. You only need to mix it with warm water to get a really effective shower screen cleaner. Use the mixture as a wipe on the surface of your shower screen and rinse it with water. Alternatively, you can also use dryer sheets to wipe the surface and make it sparkle more.

DIY Shower Screen Cleaner

There are different products available on the market that you can use to clean glass, but you can always make a great shower cleaner from household products.

Here’s what you need:

• Dishwasher rinse
• Liquid dish soap
• Rubbing alcohol
• Hydrogen peroxide

Mix these chemicals with water in a spray bottle and use it as a shower screen cleaner.

Cleaning Other Parts Of The Shower

The shower screen is not the only thing you’ll need to clean, especially if you’re going to do general bathroom cleaning as well. In fact, after cleaning the shower screen, you’ll be able to easily spot other areas of your shower that need cleaning. How do you clean these areas? Here are some ways to achieve this:

Drain Covers

If your shower drainage is looking dull, it’s a sign that you need to clean it. An effective way to clean your shower drainage is by soaking it in vinegar overnight. The drainage should look good in the morning.

Shower Screen Frames

After cleaning your shower screen, you'll be able to easily see rust stains on the frame. You can remove these stains with salt and lemon juice. Simply use two tablespoons of salt with one tablespoon of lemon juice to make a paste. Apply the paste to the shower screen frames and leave it to sit for a few minutes before scrubbing the frames.

Before rinsing with water, you can use a toothbrush to clean the dirt and rust off the shower screen frame.

Fiberglass Enclosures

Do you have a fiberglass shower enclosure? Then you’ll notice a buildup of limestone and stains on it, especially after you clean the shower screen. However, you can remove this buildup with vinegar and lemon juice.

Make a mixture of vinegar, lemon juice, and hot water, and pour the mixture into a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on the fiberglass enclosure and allow it to sit for one hour before you scrub with a sponge or toothbrush. Rinse the enclosure afterward.

You might want to consider using vinegar and baking soda if you encounter stubborn limescale. Spray vinegar on the surface and sprinkle baking soda on the vinegar. Leave for 30 minutes and scrub the area with a sponge or brush. Rinse off afterward.

How To Avoid Build Up Of Dirt

Cleaning your shower screen regularly is essential, but it's even better if you know how to stop the dirt from accumulating. When you're able to stop the accumulation of soap scum and mineral deposits, it'll be a lot easier for you to keep your shower screen sparkling every day.

Are you wondering how you can avoid the buildup of dirt on your shower screen? A good way is to avoid using bar soap in your shower. Most of the bar soaps in the market contain talc, which is the main ingredient responsible for the buildup of mineral deposits and soap scum. Rather than using a block of bar soap, you might want to consider using liquid soap since it doesn't contain talc.

Why Use Professional Cleaners?

You don't have to clean your shower screen every day. Using a liquid soap will make it easier for you. However, it's important to always keep your shower screen and other components clean. Leaving dirt on your shower screen for too long can cause unwanted damage, and replacing it can be expensive.

Vinegar and baking soda can penetrate almost any stubborn dirt and prevent mineral matter buildup. You don't have to spend so much on cleaning your shower screen. With the effective tips we have provided above, you can easily keep your shower screen sparkling every day. However, if you still can’t get those stubborn stains off, it might be time to consider professional services.