How to Clean a Cloudy Shower Screen
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Work out which of the two things you have got
A cloudy shower screen is nearly always one of two problems, and people get nowhere because they keep attacking the wrong one with the wrong thing. Soap scum is a greasy film left where soap reacts with the minerals in the water, and it feels slightly slippery under a dry finger. Limescale is a hard mineral deposit and it feels gritty and slightly raised, and you often see it worst where a shower head has been dripping onto one spot for years.
Run a dry finger down the glass before you start. Slippery wants a detergent. Gritty wants an acid.
Soap scum comes off with detergent
Sugar soap or a decent multi purpose cleaner cuts through the film, because it is fat you are dealing with rather than mineral. Mix it up warm, put it on, leave it 10 minutes so it can soften what is there rather than scrubbing at it dry, then work it with a sponge or a soft cloth.
Methylated spirits on a cloth is the other one worth knowing, and it is very good on a light film because it takes the residue off and then evaporates rather than leaving anything behind.
Limescale needs an acid
White vinegar is the household one and it works. Warm it slightly, put it on the glass, and give it 15 or 20 minutes before you touch it, because the reaction takes time and impatient scrubbing is what wears people out. Heavy build-up will take two goes, and that is normal rather than a sign you have done it wrong.
Keep the vinegar on the glass and off everything else. This is the part that matters, because vinegar is an acid and it will dull and pit an aluminium frame, an anodised finish or a powder coated one. So do the glass with vinegar and do the frame and the tracks with plain warm soapy water, and never let the vinegar sit on the metal while you go and do something else.
Do not mix vinegar with anything containing bleach. That gives off chlorine gas, in a small room, with the door shut.
Be careful with the abrasive route
Baking soda on a damp sponge is mildly abrasive and it will shift stubborn patches on plain glass. It will also put fine scratches into a screen that has a water repellent coating on it, and once that coating has gone the screen fogs up faster than it did before. If your screen came with the house and you have no idea whether it is coated, try a small patch low down where nobody looks.
Never take a scourer or a scraper to it.
The seals and the tracks
The rubber seal along the bottom of the door is where mould gets a foothold, and an old toothbrush with warm soapy water on it does the job. Dry it afterwards, because mould needs the moisture more than it needs the grime. If the seal has gone hard and cracked it has stopped sealing anyway, and replacing it is a small job.
The bottom track collects water and grit. Get it dry after cleaning rather than leaving it wet.
The bit that actually keeps it clear
Every hour of scrubbing above can be avoided by 10 seconds with a squeegee. Pull the water off the glass after the last shower of the morning and there is no film to form and no mineral left behind to dry hard, which is the whole mechanism. Leave a window open or run the fan for a while afterwards and you take the mould problem out at the same time.
It is a genuinely boring answer and it is the only one that lasts.
Shop related products
- Kilsoot Glass Cleaner 500ml. For the finish pass once the build-up has gone.
- Sugar Soap 750ml. What soap scum actually responds to.
- Methylated Spirits 1L. Takes a light film off and leaves nothing behind.
- Plastic Bucket with Lid 5L. Mix it warm and keep it handy.
- Autoking Noodle and Mesh Sponge. Soft enough for glass, with a bit of grip for the seals.
There is more in the cleaning range online.
Did you know we also stock window squeegees with a soft grip handle, along with a long handled floor squeegee, and neither of those is listed on the website. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.
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I am a total convert to the squeegee, and I accept that this is not the most thrilling opinion I hold.
Cheers,
Candeece
