How to Clean a Shower
If the grime in your shower looks like something that would be more at home in a horror flick than in, well, your home, it’s time to take control.
Instructions
- Step 1: Ventilate room Ventilate the room by turning on any fans and opening any doors or windows.
- Step 2: Put on gloves Put on your gloves.
- Step 3: Remove shower items Remove any soaps, shampoos, razors, or mats from your shower.
- Step 4: Wipe down doors Wipe down the shower doors with a sponge soaked in white vinegar.
- Step 5: Rinse walls & floor Use your bucket or bowl to quickly rinse the walls and floor of your shower.
- Step 6: Clean drain Remove any hair from the drain.
- Step 7: Scrub tiles Scrub your shower tiles with your sponge and the all-purpose cleaner.
- TIP: For hardcore mold, mix ¼ cup of liquid chlorine bleach with six cups of water, scrub, then rinse.
- Step 8: Scrub & rinse For a porcelain or enamel tub, apply a mildly abrasive cleaner or the all-purpose one, and let it stand according to product directions. Scrub the tub with your brush, then rinse well.
- TIP: For a fiberglass or acrylic tub, gently apply a nonabrasive cleaning product with a sponge. Rub gently, being careful not to scratch the tub, then rinse well.
- Step 9: Scrub stains For stubborn stains or rings on porcelain or enamel tubs, try scrubbing with baking soda on a damp sponge. Rinse well.
- Step 10: Dry with cloth Wipe the surfaces of your shower and tub dry with a clean cloth.
- Step 11: Clean fixtures Using a sponge, clean the fixtures with an all-purpose cleaner.
- TIP: If you damaged any grout or caulking in your shower or tub while you are scrubbing, repair it as soon as you’re done—and before using the shower—to prevent water damage.
- Step 12: Unclog drain If you are able, remove the cap on your drain and reach down and pull out any clogged hairs.
- Step 13: Soak showerhead If you are able, remove the shower-head and take it apart, soaking the pieces overnight in a bucket or bowl of white vinegar to remove any buildup. In the morning, scrub it with an old toothbrush and clean the holes with a toothpick.
- Step 14: Reattach showerhead Reattach the showerhead, run it clean for a minute, then hop right in to wash your troubles away…
- FACT: The famous 'shower scene' from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho lasts only 45 seconds but took 7 days to shoot!
You Will Need
- A pair of rubber gloves
- A sponge
- White vinegar
- Water
- A bucket or large bowl
- A mild all-purpose cleaner
- Mildly abrasive bathtub cleaner
- A scrub brush
- Baking soda
- A clean cloth
- An old toothbrush
- A toothpick
- Liquid chlorine bleach (optional)
- A nonabrasive cleaning product
- for fiberglass or acrylic tubs (optional)