Glass shower doors are expensive bathroom fixtures that make any shower area look sophisticated. However, when these glass doors are filled with hard water spots, mold, and other forms of grime, they can look unkempt and just plain unattractive.
Cleaning glass is a surprisingly difficult task, as glass is prone to scratching, etching, and blurring. The glass panels in your shower are exceptionally susceptible to mineral stains, which happens when water evaporates and leaves trace amounts of mineral deposits behind.
You may permanently solve this problem by installing a device to create soft water that flows through your pipes, but these are expensive and require extensive renovations to be done over a considerable amount of time. Instead, check out these cleaning solutions to keep your glass shower doors looking like crystals with little to no effort!
How to Keep Glass Shower Doors Clean: 7 Best Habits to Remember
Put a Water-resistant Coating on your Glass Shower Doors
A water-resistant coating on glass shower doors can help maintain the crystal surface of the glass. Water repellents like Rain-X are typically used by homeowners as the first line of defense in cleaning glass shower doors as the product would create a waterproof barrier to prevent soap scum and mineral deposits from building up.
We recommend you use a microfiber cloth, soft sponge, or a soft cloth to apply the water-resistant coating in an even layer. Let the solution dry to form a protective coating, and re-apply as per manufacturer's instructions, or when you start to see the effects of the water repellent wear off.
Turn on the Fan to Decrease Humidity
Turning on the exhaust fan or the ceiling fan lets the air circulate within the room, and prevents humidity from building up. This decreases the chances of mold and mildew growing between the panels of your shower glass, as well as the grout of your tiles.
Keep the bathroom door and the shower door open as well to remove any barriers in letting the air circulate. Keeping your glass doors dry is a key way to keep mold away from your bathroom, causing you to clean shower doors much less often than usual.
Use a Squeegee to Remove Excess Water
A habit as simple as taking a squeegee to remove excess water from the shower doors can already be of great help in keeping these shower doors clear. Keep a squeegee nearby the shower area, and use this every after-shower to remove soapy buildup, as well as excess water droplets from the glass doors.
Put a little elbow grease into it, and you can prevent hard water spots from forming later on. Doing this habit everyday will get your shower area free of dirt and grime.
Use Castile Soap or Dish Detergent to Clean Glass Shower Doors
You may be thinking that soap is already one of the major issues of glass doors, so why would I clean a glass shower with more soap? Castile and liquid dish soap both dissolve the scum left over by soap, as well as hard water stains, and they don't leave scum of their own!
Use the soaps only when diluted, and you can use the liquid soap solution to clean shower glass with a microfiber cloth. Wipe dry, and marvel at the pristine, clear glass door. Keep a spray bottle of the soap solution on hand for a quick clean anytime!
Use a Vinegar Spray to Keep Mineral Deposits Away
Vinegar is an acid, and many homeowners know that distilled white vinegar makes a terrific cleaning solution to clear off general grime, soap scum, and hard water stains. Be sure to use distilled vinegar, as apple cider vinegar may cause staining on the glass surface of your shower enclosure.
Take a spray bottle, and fill half the bottle up with distilled white vinegar, and half with water. This creates a powerful cleaning solution that dissolves mineral deposits left behind by hard water, and will keep glass shower doors crystal clear. Add in some baking soda, and you have a gentle abrasive scrubber as well!
Use Lemon and Salt to Scrub out the Soap Scum
When the soap scum buildup won't easily come out, reach for a couple of pantry staples: lemon, and rock salt! The acidity of the lemon, combined with the abrasion of the salt, combines to create a natural, DIY scrubber that lifts soap scum as the lemon juice dissolves it.
Use the lemon scrubber to clean the shower door, and add baking soda for particularly stubborn spots. Go in gentle, circular motions to prevent scratching the glass surface, and keep the bathroom door open while you work to keep the glass clean, as the open door would provide proper air circulation to dry the glass faster.
Wipe each Glass Shower Door Dry
Since moisture is your main enemy in keeping glass shower doors sparkling clean, wiping each glass shower door panel dry after using the shower area is a great way to prevent stains in the future, saving you the time and effort it takes to clean your shower doors.
Another good way to keep your shower doors dry and clean is to sprinkle baking soda on moist areas, and use that to scrub out any hardened scum or minerals. Wipe dry with a soft piece of cloth, and repeat the process after each use.
Bathroom Maintenance
If you’re still running into issues with cleaning and maintaining your glass shower doors, then it’s time to call a professional cleaning service company. Get in touch with us here at Luce Home, or check out our blog for more home cleaning-related tips and tricks.
