How To Super Clean a Shower (After 19 Years of Nothing Working...)

[@heidefries1825]

My hubby is an after hours grease monkey so our shower can be a challenge to clean. After trying lots of different products I found the best cleaner is simply 1-1/2 cups of "hot" white vinegar, 1/4 cup of Dawn dish soap and some baking soda. A 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup makes heating the vinegar in the microwave for a few minutes a snap and then add the soap. Pour the mixed solution into a heavy duty spray bottle, wet the shower/tub with water, sprinkle baking soda on the floor and spray the mix onto the surface. Lightly scrub the floor first then walls (the baking soda will eventually get to the walls as you scrub) and let it set for about 30 minutes, scrub again as necessary. Rinse with cold water (to minimize suds) and it's sparkling clean! I also tried a few different brushes through the years and found an automotive brush that has nice bristle firmness, shaped head with rounded edges that have a bumper and length handles for me (of course, it's all trial and error). BTW, vinegar is acidic and should never be used on surfaces like marble or granite.

[@dickfournier7610]

After all that cleaning you're going to need a shower! Lol

[@vladislavovich100]

The key is a baking soda.

[@saylorzg3793]

Have you tried bar keepers, friend? I also use bowl cleaner in the shower with tile.

[@SweetColo]

@@vladislavovich100how much baking soda?

[@dittohead7044]

Regular Vinegar or the stronger one from the hardware store?

[@querrythis]

Your excitement is shared as I have experienced the same reaction. Been doing all my cleaning and laundry, for years now, with a mixture of vinegar + baking soda. Remove all the labour and clean as hell. Those marketers have done a good job at convincing us of their useless and costly products.

[@wbell539]

I am so delighted that this has brightened your day.

[@seriouslyreally5413]

👍its my old old granny trick. Its not "dirt," Its hard water residue, calcium and mineral deposits that build up on the fiberglass and acrylic shower pans. the Textured dots on the floor causes the water to cling to the floor where it evaporates slowly leaving the hard water scale. "CLR " cleaner ( not the bathroom foam spray but the hard water scale remover in the grey bottle) poured on the area full strength and allowed to remain for about 2 hrs will dissolve the build up. Or DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR is cheapest, but takes longer. The secret is keeping the treated area wet with the cleaner while it's working to dissolve the build up. (The CLR is a gel and doesn't evaporate as quickly.) Or you can soak a dish towel dripping wet with the distilled white vinegar and cover it with plastic to keep it wet and let it soak over night. I use the vinegar to de-scale the showerhead too. Unscrew it and soak it in a bowl of straight vinegar overnight. Use a nylon brush to clean out the spray holes of the loosened crusty calcium, rinse and reattach.

[@tomclayton6875]

Do you use anything special to get rid of soap buildup? I have to scrape the tiles with a plastic scraper now.

[@pisicacutecat4869]

Thank you for the tips. I will try the vinegar.

[@athenablack3839]

The shower looks great! I keep a dishwasher sponge filled with a couple drops of Dawn, a few tablespoons of peroxide, a few tablespoons of isopropyl alcohol, a teaspoon of Rinsaid, and water. It's amazing at cutting soap scum and hard water spots, but also leaves a nice shine. I have to say, you have the best intro music of any KZbin tutorial I've ever seen. 🎉

[@sherimowery3251]

That looks amazing! I will try this on my tub. Just in case anyone doesn’t know…I read not to use vinegar on tile grout because it dissolves the seal and then it will get dirty very quickly. But I use Hydrogen peroxide and a grout brush with good results. I need to reseal the grout as well.

[@rebeccaramirez7665]

Vinegar soaked paper towels were all I needed to clean my shower pan. Thanks for the tip!

[@helpinguonline]

Happy to help!

[@robertdenson3375]

Vinegar, a little dawn soap mix, a rotary stiff bristle brush hooked into my dewalt drill. The key is let it sit for 20 min . Perfect..... Never tried it with baking soda too.

[@kimberlyann1960]

I did the same thing using baking soda. I sprinkled a good amount of baking soda over the entire area. Then I sprayed vinegar over that and let it sit overnight. Use the really good scrub brush and it cleaned it beautifully. No toxic chemicals.

[@Geonious]

$1.25 Store (formerly known as the $1 Store) has Lime Away toilet gel. That stuff works in minutes. Squirt some out on the tub. Use a scrub brush to scrub it in and spread it around. Wait 5 minutes. Get the scrub brush nice and wet and scrub over it again. Rinse. If the tub is heavily soiled let the second scrubbing soak for another 5 or so minutes. Scrub again and rinse if the tub is clean. If not, repeat the scrubbing. I do my tub once a week and it takes less than 10min to get it spotless and shiny.

[@slab817]

That looks really good - I've been battling this same war for about 4 years (even to the point where I've had contractor bids to consider replacing the pan altogether with a tile flooring in the shower). I'm going to use this method, thanks for sharing!

[@danigirl1318]

Did it work for you? I’m so curious

[@kingbee4474]

Did it work?

[@slab817]

@@danigirl1318 Yes! This process worked great....sorry about the late response. I'm just seeing this because I had to come back to the video to remember what I did to clean it, now that the pan has accumulated that stubborn dirt again

[@slab817]

@@kingbee4474 It did! This was a tremendous find. Sorry about the late response, I'm just seeing this because I had to come back and re-watch the video :)

[@TwentyOneThirty]

I tried your method and it worked like magic. Trust me when I say I tried literally every method to clean my shower floor and NOTHING worked. I just let the cleaner do its thing overnight and with little elbow grease and a scrub brush, the 20 years of stain came off like magic. Just wanted to thank you for posting the video. Subscribed.

[@helpinguonline]

Glad it helped!

[@cluebin8398]

The paper towel strategy works on caked up oven surface grease as well, but ammonia is the agent used instead of vinegar. Also putting saran wrap or some kind of thin plastic tarp over the paper towels keeps the liquid from evaporating so it dwells on the crud even longer.

[@durban6276]

Another heads up: ammonia and vinegar should not be mixed!

[@sherimowery3251]

I’m not sure I could stand using ammonia and then wipe out the oven. Maybe a heavy duty mask would help.

[@marisamartini1975]

What about just plug up the drain and pour enough to have it puddle?

[@wytchyprepper3370]

Half vinegar half Dawn dish soap in one of those dish wand scrubbies works amazing. I keep it in my shower and about once a week i scrub everything down and rinse. Easy peasy!

[@klomax7089]

This is exciting! We have this same problem and it makes me not wanna even use our shower even though we do actually clean it. Can’t wait to try this! 👍🏽

[@xander9316]

whats really sad is that getting our shower bases clean excites us...... I feel so old now lol!

[@davidsbookcase]

I'm with ya....:-)

[@dbrooks1904]

OMG...I can relate to this too well. 😅😅😅

[@5p3ctre3]

😂

[@abbyrock5684]

Our shower pan has one of those pebbly finishes. I tried everything and nothing worked. We were going to replace it but then one evening after just having cleaned the oven, I thought to try oven cleaner. We had the cheap low fume dollar store version. It worked beautifully! The shower pan looked brand new. I do use dawn and vinegar for the doors and it works very well.

[@christinef7739]

Toilets are made of porcelain, you have what looks like a fiberglass shower pan. Using a harsh cleanser meant for porcelain on it is a bad idea. After soaking the area in vinegar like you did, try using a little baking soda on a clean, damp sponge rather than an abrasive brush. It's going to clean as well but won't leave micro-abrasions on the surface.

[@dianemoye6844]

If you would have listened, he said it was fiberglass😮

[@quesomom5437]

I hear ya and agree, but I bet after 19 years of trying to clean that pan, he has already scratched the heck out of it! It this point those scratches will need the micro fine particulate cleaners such as baking soda, Bar Keeper's Friend, or Mr. Clean Eraser.

[@montamiddleton9318]

If you had listened he also said using harsh cleaners and brushes or sponges, like Mr Clean miracle sponges will leave tiny scrapes on the pan making dirt nearly impossible to remove from the areas scrubbed to hard. Dirt will get in the tiny crevices and stay there.

[@margareth1504]

So impressed and I really do love how excited you are to achieve that beautiful clean and finally ! 🎉

[@Johnwilson-dl9nm]

Wow! I just tried this. IT REALLY WORKS! Thanks.

[@leslietiwari8625]

I'm having the same problem with my shower floor. Scrubbed and tried everything. Thanks for this tip. I'll try it

[@starryluma1806]

Use a magic eraser! That’s the secret to a clean shower😉👍

[@TwentyOneThirty]

@@starryluma1806 for me the magic eraser didn’t work at all. I tried this method and it worked great

[@MizuMint00]

So did it work?

[@diamond6256]

Looks great, you might want to do this in the summer so you can open windows, that is when I do this. Also. I used to have that gold frame shower with the small door and got frameless with a full door. Makes all the difference.

[@haciendadad]

I am pretty impressed with the use of paper towels too!

[@rubywingo6030]

Half vinegar and half water in a spray bottle, sprayed on glass shower doors and wiped with a fabric softener sheet gets rid of soap scum build up. You may have to use a few sheets and your bathroom may smell like a pickle for a tiny bit, but it turns out beautifully!❤

[@fridaytax]

Cleaning vinegar with a few drops of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle on your glass also works. Shake up the bottle, spray, scrub lightly with your tile scrubber, rinse and vóila, all shiny clean

[@amylong6066]

The vinegar trick is amazing! Thanks!

[@helpinguonline]

You're so welcome!

[@willyb5017]

Same battle...just tried easy off oven cleaner. Spray on, come back in 15 minutes. Scrubbed completely clean (as in looks brand new) in less than 5 minutes. Forget all this other stuff.

[@DChristina]

No doubt it works but very toxic stuff. Bad to breathe for our furry friends, plus goes into the wastewater and affects our environment.

[@SweetColo]

Brilliant!!❤

[@ih4630]

When it’s time to clean the bathtub, I put a couple of inches of water in the tub and pour some vinegar into it… Leave for 20 minutes… Drain and then use baking soda for a light scrubbing…Works like magic

[@BonnieRogers-i1j]

Thank you very much for this welcomed way of cleaning the bottom of my tub. The best to you always.

[@helpinguonline]

Any time!… and thank you

[@TheCoregon]

My mom always used powdered laundry detergent and a little bleach and water then scrubbed shower and tub with broom because of arthritis. It comes out sparkling!

[@SteveP-p7d]

It has worked for me as well. I am grateful for your tips

[@constance4014]

I have not tried this. But my husband does mechanic work and gets a variety of grease in our shower and it is a full time job to keep it clean. I just want to say if you use the toilet bowl cleaner be very careful. It can take the finish off or dull your chrome, stainless steel or other metals that your fixtures are made of. So just be sure to test if you think it might get on those items. But his shower looks great. But it seems like a lot of work.

[@dittohead7044]

I’m excited you were excited 😆

[@lucsmith2092]

The key to this is to use CLEANING vinegar, not cooking vinegar. The cleaning variety has a much higher acidity than the cooking one and so it works.

[@Rhaspun]

Yes. I just bought some cleaning vinegar from Lowes. 30% solution. $21 for a gallon. I soaked some paper towels to clean along the edge of the rim of the toilet and it is spotless.

[@seriouslyreally5413]

nope, I've used the same distilled white vinegar I use for making pickles (4-5% acetic acid) and it works just fine if used full strength and allowed to soak overnight. The secret is soaking a towel with the vinegar and keeping the towel application wet with the the vinegar the whole treatment time. 30% vinegar solutions are very astringent and are less safe to have around the house. You need to wear rubber gloves in handling it. I use it to kill weeds.

[@Practice_Kindness-1st]

How awesome is that! You got me motivated to try this myself. Now I have to wait till tomorrow! Good job! 🙌

[@anthonyspina4093]

I've used CLR and works like a charm.

[@lindasuehundley6864]

Love, love, love your excitement! Got the toilet bowl cleaner today. Th!

[@helpinguonline]

It sure was exciting getting that done after all those years! Thanks for watching

[@itsjustjoan]

I can't believe it either, so happy to see this!

[@chrisbond6823]

Vinegar and baking soda work well for glass cook top as well. For shower get a cordless drill and brush attachment.

[@tcoffey6]

Thank you thank you have tried everything on my finerglass shower. I have hope that this will work

[@kathleenwagg3030]

So happy for you and your shower tray from U.K. ❤

[@helpinguonline]

Thanks

[@claudiamiller7730]

Spray on oven cleaner works nicely on those gripper bars that are molded into the shower & tub bases, also.💕

[@Passionhearted1]

Thanks for sharing! Stay blessed ❤️

[@helpinguonline]

Thank you! You too!

[@janicegiffin7011]

I can't wait to try this. Thank you for sharing

[@introvert22]

I have a fiberglass shower floor and it never gets really clean. I will try this, although I have cleaned with vinegar and baking soda before, Maybe letting it sit over night will make the difference.

[@kamiahbundy4972]

I had a tub with a textured bottom. I had no problem keeping the walls and tub clean but as the years went by the bottom was becoming ever more dingy. Once, I wanted to take a bath but I had no hot water. So I started boiling water; four pots at a time. I began noticing something in the tub which intensified each time I added more boiling water. Anyway, before you start scrubbing, you might want to try that. It may just cut down your scrubbing time.

[@areesiragusa6720]

Thank you very much. I'll try.👍😊

[@eleniv7512]

Nice video. Easy Off Cold Oven cleaner (Blue Can) has worked for me especially for touch stains

[@TheLolacat1]

this guy made me chuckle...

[@candicebaker2663]

Thank you sooo much! I have the same shower. And the same problem! I've used everything! Thank you again. I'll try this trick tonight and let you know if it worked on my stains of over 12 yrs!

[@icandivideos5743]

Thank you for sharing this!!!!

[@dennisbohner6876]

I use industrial (30%) vinegar and I mix it with Dawn to apply to the glass to remove those deposits. A Scotch abrasive pad makes short work of the floors using a cleanser (Comet). The only problem is that the vinegar odor is STRONG.

[@SPEEDOFDOG]

Dawn and vinegar 50/50 or 2/3 vinegar 1/3 dawn works wonders. Put it in a spray bottle and let sit overnight 👍👍

[@gracec1665]

I use Oxiclean for everything! It's amazing.

[@bretsalowitz2822]

I did the same with the paper towel with Clorox. Very cool to know vinegar works like that too

[@jovoorheescollinsmphbsnbch6245]

Thank you!!!! I am going to try this now.....

[@liv4909]

Wow, i have cleaning day today and i'm actually gonna go and buy some new cleaning supplies before i get starting, haha i'm adding white vinegar to my list! my shower is in dire need of a deep scrub.. thank you for the tip!

[@LKN4WAR]

Wondering if after it’s clean you could panel prep it and spray it with 2K clear coat to seal it up.

[@robbrad4532]

Sometimes that final grime is mold. The vinegar over night killed the mold. I used a house cleaner to kill the mold and my shower pan.

[@susanmeredith5456]

Wonderfully helpful! Thanks!

[@chasensteele]

I used the shower dilution of LAs Most Awesome and sprayed daily after use and would scrub during next shower. Once I got all the dirt up I treat weekly with Wet and Forget.

[@victoriab4361]

Also just putting white vinegar in a bowl and adding baking soda, they bubble then pour over, use a soft scrubbing brush and it will keep your shower great.

[@helpinguonline]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@rdnretiredatlast4918]

We left our 6% vinegar (not 5% distilled vinegar) on overnight (12 hours) with a paper towel. At first (when we lifted off the paper towel), it didn’t look like it worked BUT as soon as we started wiping / scrubbing away at the stain, the stain LIFTED OFF! We rinsed the area and OH MY GOSH! Wow! Nothing has worked to this point. THIS WORKS!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[@lauraking379]

Dawn dish soap and white vinegar works great mixed up in a spray bottle

[@susannebrule3160]

Looks fantastic what kind of brush are you using?

[@helpinguonline]

A stiff nylon brush

[@TheJanet4321]

I'm going to try this. Have tried everything including oven cleaner - nothing has worked. Update: This didn't work for me, however, I am going to try sprinkling some baking soda, covering with a paper towel, and then pouring vinegar over that. The water and baking soda form an acid. Hope that works!

[@jpjp3873]

Did it work?

[@dominicricciardi4711]

@@jpjp3873 did it work??

[@v.l.7656]

Scrub daddy power paste

[@dprice5980]

This is August 2023 and I’m just now seeing this. Great job! And I’m so happy for you!😀

[@helpinguonline]

Thanks

[@eleniv7512]

Do you use the toilet bowl cleaner on touch grout stains? I have a tiled kitchen floor in an older home. appreciate your feedback. have a great day.

[@gedward777]

You can use newspapers instead of paper towels, this also works on the stains under the washing machine.

[@diggndeeper]

What do you use to clean the glass walls? Same approach?

[@helpinguonline]

They have always been very easy to clean. I just spray them down with something like Lysol all purpose cleaner and use a scotch pad and they clean right up.

[@Brandi62]

@@helpinguonlinenot my frosted or textured ones! I have tried everything to get them clean.

[@vdoubleu-o4u]

Have you tried easy off oven cleaner? The spray bottle kind.

[@lawaincooley6788]

That stuff works wonders on tile grout!!!

[@iseeflowers]

So do we still need to clean it with the Clorox toilet bowl cleaner or we can just use the vinegar?

[@karentilley4356]

No. That caustic chemical did basically nothing . - Please only use Clorox type toilet bowl cleaner in porcelain toilets.

[@marisawoods]

Nothing I've ever used has worked except easy off oven cleaner (with the blue lid.) Spray, let it sit for a few minutes and it usually just melts away, but a gentle scrub will ease it off. Spot test first.

[@mashakalinkina7207]

Barkeepers friend works Amazingly. DONT leave it on overnight though. Takes just a few minutes. Kills hard water + rust staining on the toilet & shower instantly after nothing else working-aside from toilet bleach which works but only 1/8th as well.

[@mashakalinkina7207]

I had the same excited reaction to seeing how well barkeepers friend work on the toilet & shower which were the Bane of my cleaning existence. :) And its Chhheap too.

[@robkenny100]

Great sound!!

[@nitrops001]

Great video just tried this over night. The wife said I stains wouldn't come up but literally almost brand new looking now Ann's I didn't even scrub it just wiped it up with the paper towels that had been sitting all night

[@helpinguonline]

Great to hear!... and nice work!

[@pepperminthomecrafts8269]

Thank you! I have this very same problem right now. I'll try the vinegar tonight. New subbie here. Take care

[@helpinguonline]

Wishing you the best and welcome

[@adeliawilliams4884]

Did you leave the bleach gel on the shower floor when you added the paper towels and poured the vinegar? I'm unclear as to just using vinegar soaked paper towels or both?

[@helpinguonline]

Just the vinegar for the soaked paper towels. Be very careful about what chemicals you are mixing / using together

[@Msleelee9487]

I’m gonna try it but nothing has work so far it’s embarrassing when you scub until your hand and back is tired and family come and stare at it and use the other bathroom 🙄I clean all the time I’m not filthy but I was close to buying another shower insert I will give this a try 😅

[@NicoleOrji]

I need that broom my knees cannot take a long scrubbing session anymore.

[@MikaMarie]

White vinegar and dawn is the best.

[@randallthomas5207]

Pull the drain plate and install a plumbers test plug. Fill the base wit hot water, and then sprinkle a cup of oxyclean over he water and let it set over night. Next morning the pan is clean as new.

[@kirbyd0g]

Good Job!

[@helpinguonline]

Thanks!

[@cherylmiddleton2308]

Great trick! Did you use regular white vinegar (cooking strength) or the 30% white vinegar? Can you do a video on how to get hard water spots off of sink fixtures? My drain plugs in my sinks are all messed up from having mineral deposits on them--this happened before I got a water softerner.

[@helpinguonline]

Just used regular White Distilled Vinegar 5%. It works great for hard water deposits. I am on a well and over time my shower heads clog up with hard water deposits. I take them off and soak them in the same vinegar and voila... just like new.

[@hazelco8622]

The complete fix is to tile the floor with non-slip tile. Fiberglass is notorious, scrubbing gives micro-abrasions that make it harder and harder to clean. After 9 years it is worth the change, it is a small space and not many tiles.

[@ekraszewski]

I had the same trouble until I replaced the fiberglass shower pan with a porcelain cast iron pan. No more problems. Not the cheapest solution, though.

[@carolynvines1044]

How do you clean the glass enclosure?

[@helpinguonline]

Hi squeegee after each shower and then once every month or two any spray cleaner and an abrasive sponge makes it like new

[@KillingHunterYT]

Believe it mate!

[@bertoredbeard2060]

So question, you think if I laid out paper towels covering my shower and sprayed with vinegar, you think it would clean it all?

[@helpinguonline]

It worked great for me. I don’t know what made your shower pan dirty… Vinegar may or may not help your situation depending on What it is

[@yiyisun4607]

thanks for sharing

[@abrolkiran]

How do you suggest to clean the drain? I gave exactly the same kind of shower and drain. The drain doesn't come out

[@helpinguonline]

Unfortunately those plastic drain covers discolor with age. thus it is not a cleaning issue. I haven't tried this... but maybe you could take some fine grit wet sand paper and cut through the old plastic layer that has discolored.?. If that works you may want to wax it from time to time to make it last longer. You can also pop it out and replace it. There are videos online that show how to do that.

[@vashtibascombe701]

I replaced my shower drain with a stainless steel one that I bought online

[@pauldejesus9644]

great video

[@helpinguonline]

Thanks!

[@cindycox9496]

Yes!

[@Spiggle.]

I tried this with white vinegar that has 10% acidity, let it sit for 17 hours, just went to scrub over the top and guess what? As far as i can tell it did absolutely nothing, even with some baking soda under there too, the grime and bits are still stuck to the shower floor, it's as if they have been glued on. I might try that easy off oven cleaner with the blue lid next, but so far all I'm doing is wasting money.

[@paulinedavis8734]

Try safe non toxic KRUD KUTTER on fibreglass. Spray on, leave for 5-10 minutes, rinse off & can use dish soap for a shin, but never use abrasive scrubber or cleaner.

[@user-ed7si9no7i]

Consider putting some automotive wax on it to bring back the shine and it will be easier to keep it clean. Looks great!

[@judyshroyer1566]

I've read this several times. I'm thinking it might make the floor slippery. What is your experience with that?

[@mrslavanderblu]

Nope. You don’t want to slip and fall in the shower.

[@HamBone86]

Not a good idea!

[@ExelleVision]

😂

[@Jacklal24]

Nobody has time like you have for cleaning.

[@traceystarling1930]

Oven cleaner and Mr clean sponges work great

[@MB-wx2jp]

Did you ever try the Mr Clean magic eraser??

[@Truth1561]

I can't believe noone suggested white vinegar to you icer those 19 tears; I've been using it since the 80s! You just need to be careful not to get onto unsealed soft tikes and grout which can dissolve in the vinegar.

[@kristinebailey6554]

I have been using Meguire's Wheel Cleaner from an auto parts store. Takes off all gummy, gunky stuff in kitchen and bath.

[@SweetColo]

Me too!! I thought that was just my secret weapon 😂❤