How to remove soap scum from clear shower door?
M
future will:
1) Squeegee
2) Try Rain-X for prevention
3) Try gel instead of bar soap
However, the question NOW remains: How do I clean the glass? Ugh!
I've tried a vinegar and water solution, and Bon Ami cleanser. It's
better, but still not clear. I've read that an ammonia solution would
work, but I'm pretty chemically sensitive and hate to use something so
strong and toxic. However, if it's the only way, I'll ventilate and wear
a mask.
Any helpful insight would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to tackle the
job this weekend!
Thanks,
Michelle
Herself
> I've tried a vinegar and water solution, and Bon Ami cleanser. It's
> better, but still not clear. I've read that an ammonia solution would
> work, but I'm pretty chemically sensitive and hate to use something so
> strong and toxic. However, if it's the only way, I'll ventilate and wear
> a mask.
Try this...get a towel that you don't care about. Secure it over the
door, so that most of it is hanging on the part you want cleaned. Soak
it with vinegar and water solution (straight vin would be better, if you
can handle that) overnight. Then rinse and squeegee. Then replace
doors with curtain that can be thrown in the wash :-).
Just an idea, I've no clue if it will work. But it makes sense since it
would be how I get lime off the showerhead.
--
Meself
mom to P, 23/12/01
Sandra Loosemore
plastic bottle. It'll knock you out if you get a good whiff of it,
though, so open the window and try to avoid breathing the spray.
-Sandra
Lloyd Randall
M <sur...@NOSPAMearthlink.net> wrote:
On fiberglass, I had little luck with Tilex and no luck with vinegar. I
tried several other substances. I didn't dare try scouring powder.
Scrubbing with a paste of baking soda was quick and effective. I've
also tried a paste of baking soda and salt on a cloth. I think it's a
little faster for big surfaces.
--
Best Regards,
Lloyd
Dorot29701
you might want to add Lime Away to the mix. I had several years acumulation of
both soap scum and hard water and finally gave up and bought new shower doors.
Dorothy
Bev
news:surf2me-031194...@news01.west.earthlink.net...
Use paper towels and straight vinegar. Wet the towels in vinegar
and lay them against the door - the easiest way to do this seems
to be to tear off a strip of toweling, lay it up against the door
and spray thoroughly with the vinegar until the towel is
saturated and clings to the door. Repeat til the door is
covered. Spray more vinegar every hour or so not allowing the
towels to dry out. After a day of this, the scum should be gone.
Worked for me and the shower door was caked with lime.
An alternative is to use aluminum jelly - like naval jelly but
not as harsh.
Bev C
Bill Seurer
> You may have soap scum plus hard water deposits. If spray on Comet didn't work
> you might want to add Lime Away to the mix.
Hopefully you aren't suggesting mixing cleaners together. NEVER MIX
STUFF LIKE THAT! You can cause strange chemical reactions that release
toxic fumes, cause bottles to melt, and who knows what else. No, I'm
not kidding either.
to...@sbcglobal.net
high-pressure soap & water to clean those puppies up in a hurry.
--Tock
Heather Jones
: OK, I've got soap scum built up on my bathroom shower door and in the
: 1) Squeegee
: 2) Try Rain-X for prevention
: 3) Try gel instead of bar soap
: However, the question NOW remains: How do I clean the glass? Ugh!
In my experience, the Tilex Soap Scum stuff actually works. Spray it
on, leave it a little while, then wipe it off.
--heather
--
Heather Jones heather_jones(at)pobox(dot)com
http://www.haphazard.org http://www.savorysecrets.com
Sara Hawk
"M" <sur...@NOSPAMearthlink.net> wrote in message
news:surf2me-031194...@news01.west.earthlink.net...
There's a little known bathroom cleaner called The Works that is usually
found in Dollar Stores and Wal-Mart here where I live. The cool part is
that it works both on soap scum and hard water stains. I had both in my
shower and I used The Works to effectively eliminate all of it and have that
shiny new shower feeling (at least until the first shower). Before I found
this, I had to use a bathroom cleaner (Lysol in my case, but others worked
too) and a lime remover (Lime-a-Way or CLR). This way I could only use one
cleaning solution and cut my cleaning time (and my exposure to that
cleaners - I always sneeze and itch after cleaning my bathroom). Now, I
think I'm going to use Clean Shower, hopefully put off the shower cleaning
even longer.
Of course, as usual, YMMV.
~sara
Patscga
Use white vinegar straight from the bottle. Do not dilute. Wash with clear
water, then polish with Windex.
Next time, don't let it get so dirty. Use one of those rubber things you can
buy at any bath or linen store and wipe the doors down every time you shower.
Pat
Beckett
> > I've tried a vinegar and water solution,
spent a long time researching this issue! I tried every bathroom
cleaner I could find. The only thing that worked for me was Baking
Soda! It somehow dissolves the gunk on the door. Use it on a sponge
with a little water and then scrub the doors with that. Then rinse it
off with water or vinegar in a spray bottle. For basic maintenance, I
just use vinegar (full strength) and I also squeegee the doors after
showering.
Good Luck!
Mitch Skool
> future will:
>
> 1) Squeegee
> 2) Try Rain-X for prevention
> 3) Try gel instead of bar soap
>
> However, the question NOW remains: How do I clean the glass? Ugh!
Go to a hardware or auto store and get an alkaline degreaser. You can
find it in a spray bottle in the cleaners area. Spray it on heavily
and wait 15 minutes. Wash off with a sponge and water and gape in
amazement. After years of
get-naked-scrub-like-a-manic-with-bon-ami-for-30-minutes, this works
brilliantly. It will cut through soap films so thick they're 3-D (or
really, 3-K, i.e. 3 kids, one bathroom, 6 months in a "temporary"
apartment.)
Mitch
shinypenny
For a tough job, I've had the most success with Tilex. Spray then
leave the room. Come back in a few hours or end of the day and rinse.
But if you're looking for something less harsh, I suggest just using a
little bit of shampoo on one of those plastic scrunchie things they
sell for less than a dollar (you're supposed to use them on your
skin). Try a clarifying shampoo, as they are specially formulated to
rid your hair of all kinds of build-up. I have highlighted blonde hair
that tends to turn greenish if it gets too much chlorine or lime from
the water. Clarifying shampoo or shampoo designed specifically for
blonde, highlighted hair works miracles on hair *and* shower walls.
Also works great for scrubbing down the bathroom walls that tend to
get splattered with hairspray.
I had the worse time trying to get the hairspray off until I put some
logic to it and thought to try a little shampoo! My thought is that
soap scum is not just soap; it's a mixture of soap plus hard-water
deposits, lime, hair gel, mousse, hair spray, dirt, and dead skin
cells. Shampoo gets this stuff out of your hair; logically, it should
also work on your shower stall.
I've found the scrunchie works great because it scours yet doesn't
scratch the finish. I don't have a glass shower door anymore, but this
is what I use weekly to scour out the fiberglass tub, wipe down the
marble walls, and scrub the plastic shower curtain.
Also, if you really don't want to use harsh chemicals, just try being
persistent. Continue to scrub the shower with the shampoo and scrunchy
every day for a couple of weeks, rinse thoroughly, then follow with
the squeegee after you stop the shower. Over time, the soap scum
should eventually disappear, a little each day, just as it slowly
appeared. Then you can switch to daily squeegeeing and weekly scouring
for maintenance.
Good luck!
jen
Lloyd Randall
shinype...@yahoo.com (shinypenny) wrote:
>
> For a tough job, I've had the most success with Tilex. Spray then
> leave the room. Come back in a few hours or end of the day and rinse.
>
For years, that was the best I could do. It was slow, difficult, hard
on my hands, and unpleasant to breathe
>
> I had the worse time trying to get the hairspray off until I put some
> logic to it and thought to try a little shampoo! My thought is that
> soap scum is not just soap; it's a mixture of soap plus hard-water
> deposits, lime, hair gel, mousse, hair spray, dirt, and dead skin
> cells. Shampoo gets this stuff out of your hair; logically, it should
> also work on your shower stall.
Soft soap is potassium with a fatty acid. Hard soap is sodium with a
fatty acid. Soap scum is *supposed* to be calcium and/or magnesium with
a fatty acid. Calcium and magnesium are in hard water. They can
replace the sodium and potassium in soap, resulting in deposits that
aren't water soluble. (Soap scum is an excellent lubricant for some
applications.)
However, it seems that the same remedy doesn't work for everyone. Like
you, I think not all soap scum is the same. It may be due to
differences among the fatty acids in different soaps and the differences
between calcium and magnesium.
>
>
> Also, if you really don't want to use harsh chemicals, just try being
> persistent. Continue to scrub the shower with the shampoo and scrunchy
> every day for a couple of weeks, rinse thoroughly, then follow with
> the squeegee after you stop the shower. Over time, the soap scum
> should eventually disappear, a little each day, just as it slowly
> appeared. Then you can switch to daily squeegeeing and weekly scouring
> for maintenance.
>
Baking soda on a handiwipe is so quick and effective for me that I don't
bother with the job until the walls become discolored. I think maybe it
turns the soap scum back into soap, while the bicarbonate becomes
magnesium bicarbonate and calcium bicarbonate. These substances are
water soluble.
--
Best Regards,
Lloyd
FH
> found in Dollar Stores and Wal-Mart here where I live. The cool part is
> that it works both on soap scum and hard water stains. I had both in my
> shower and I used The Works to effectively eliminate all of it and have
that
> shiny new shower feeling (at least until the first shower). Before I
found
> this, I had to use a bathroom cleaner (Lysol in my case, but others worked
> too) and a lime remover (Lime-a-Way or CLR). This way I could only use
one
> cleaning solution and cut my cleaning time (and my exposure to that
> cleaners - I always sneeze and itch after cleaning my bathroom). Now, I
> think I'm going to use Clean Shower, hopefully put off the shower cleaning
> even longer.
>
> Of course, as usual, YMMV.
>
> ~sara
Sara;
i bought The Works today and applied it to my water stained shower doors....
i left it on for about 6-7 mins and rinsed it off, i didn't see any
difference personally.... how long did you allow it to set?
Lobo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delete the obvious to reply to me personally.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lloyd Randall" <br...@eels.net> wrote in message
news:broth-1F86FD....@corp-radius.supernews.com...
Medusa
> razor blade
>
I had to resort to this in one rental. It did do the trick but slightly
scratched the tile. Sandblasting was my next choice.
ArleneG
doesn't scratch the tile
Medusa <med...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:f21348f076a94e51...@news.teranews.com...
TripFarmer
Trip
In article <20030922145328...@mb-m06.aol.com>, pat...@aol.com
says...
sacquebouche
>> I had to resort to this in one rental. It did do the trick but slightly
>> scratched the tile. Sandblasting was my next choice.
>>
>
>use an expired credit card. It scrapes off the soap scum but the plastic
>doesn't scratch the tile
Finally a use for AOL CDs, break in half and scrape with the straight
edge. It will not scratch, works great.
Jeff Holshouser
can buy it at Wal-Mart. Take the doors off their hinge and lay them down in
the tub or outside. Spray heavily and leave for a few minutes. Scrub with
a nylon covered sponge. Rinse well.
"sacquebouche" <dc*hollet*2@earth*link.net> wrote in message
news:a6ngnvc2f51k0unkk...@4ax.com...
Heidi
grease. I think it was a hint from heloise...or something on those
lines, and let me tell you, it really works!
Good luck,
Heidi
Mary Shafer
wrote:
> Soft soap is potassium with a fatty acid. Hard soap is sodium with a
> fatty acid. Soap scum is *supposed* to be calcium and/or magnesium with
> a fatty acid. Calcium and magnesium are in hard water. They can
> replace the sodium and potassium in soap, resulting in deposits that
> aren't water soluble. (Soap scum is an excellent lubricant for some
> applications.)
I have had good luck using Citra-Solv on soap scum that seems
resistant to other remedies. I just spray it on, let it set, and wipe
it off with a sponge with the white 3M scrubber on one side.
--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer
mil...@qnet.com
lauralee
use "Bar Keepers Friend" it's in a container like comet. usually found
on the top shelf at the store . works awsome
it has muratic acid in it so be careful not to leave it on too long or
it will etch the surface.
Charlie Spitzer
"lauralee" <ban...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:c5fbe38e.0310...@posting.google.com...
it is oxalic acid, not muratic.
Sandy Bray
Will-DoT
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Sandy
"lauralee" <ban...@aol.com> wrote in message
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Wayne Boatwright
"Sandy Bray" <bsa...@fidnet.com> wrote in
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Dreamer
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