How to Make Ugly Soap Scum, Mildew, and Water Marks Disappear Like Magic

/Updated /173 Comments/in , /by Mary Hunt

When all three messages landed in my inbox on the same day, the problem of soap scum, shower mildew, and hard water buildup grabbed my attention.

 

A bunch of items that are on display

I’ve been told that if one person actually writes to me with a problem, that represents a thousand other readers with a similar situation. True or just slightly exaggerated, either way, three in one day tells me there’s a lot of this problem going on!

How do you remove soap scum from shower walls and floor—and the hard water spots from shower doors? Diane

My shower mat has turned almost black. I have tried to clean it, but unsuccessfully. Can you help me? Ronnie

We recently remodeled our kitchen with stainless appliances. We have treated well water. The very first week we had a large water stain in the water dispenser area that I can’t get off. It looks terrible! Is there any way to remove it? Help! Pat

Quite possibly one of the best tips to ever land my mailbox came from a professional property manager guy. He handles rental apartments and lots of them. As an apartment is vacated, his job is to see that it is thoroughly cleaned and made ready for the next occupants. 

This reader told me that the biggest challenge is always the bathroom, specifically the tub and shower. He kindly left specific details to my imagination but let me know that “gross” is not strong enough to describe what he often finds.

And that’s when he gave me his super magical potion—the only product he uses to return showers, tubs, tile, enclosures, faucets, and doors to their sparkling clean and sanitized selves.

I gave his unbelievably simple recipe a try. In what has to be more than 25 years since I got that letter (we’re talking pre-Internet, pre-Pinterest … maybe pre-historic), I’ve used nothing else to clean tubs, showers, sinks, toilets, patio furniture—just about anything that will stand still long enough to get sprayed, and can be rinsed easily. This must be rinsed off.

Ingredients

To make your own Tub Tile and Shower Cleaner you will need three things:

  • empty spray bottle
  • Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid
  • white vinegar

Shower and Bottle

 

To make

Pour one cup blue Dawn into a 32-ounce spray bottle; 1/2 cup Dawn if you are using a 16-ounce bottle. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with white vinegar. (Or one-part blue Dawn to three-parts vinegar, regardless of the size of the spray bottle.) Apply sprayer top; shake gently to mix.

A bottle on a table

To use

Spray liberally on the area to be cleaned—shower and tub walls,* floors, doors and faucets. Allow to sit from 30 minutes up to overnight, depending on the severity of the problem. All of the offensive gunk and grime will break down and become soft and gooey. Simply rinse it away. For especially challenging situations—or if this is the initial treatment—use a sponge or brush to gently scrub the surfaces before rinsing.

To treat mildew

While this Tub, Tile and Shower Cleaner works to loosen and remove most mildew, if you see a lot of black growth you will want to pretreat with full strength liquid chlorine bleach* before proceeding as above.

MORE: Simple Solutions for 3 Common Laundry Problems

To maintain

Here’s the best thing about this cleaner—if you use it weekly you will never have to scrub again. Once each week I spray down the walls, doors, tracks, faucets, shampoo caddy—everything within reach—with this magical cleaner while I am in the shower*. Before I step out, I use the handheld sprayer to rinse it all away. No scrubbing required. It dries sparkling clean without using a squeegee or wiping down with a towel. And not a watermark to be seen. Simply brilliant! 

By the way, this homemade product works in other areas of the house, too. I’ve used it to remove watermarks that show up on the refrigerator’s in-door water dispenser area (letting it sit for a while then rinsing very well), the sink and faucets, too.

I can’t wait to get your feedback once you give this super simple cleaning and maintenance homemade product a try. Before and after pictures would be great!

*And now for three important cautions …

CAUTION: Never, ever allow chlorine bleach to come in contact with other products, especially vinegar. This could produce chlorine gas, which is deadly. Don’t panic. Simply make sure you rinse the chlorine bleach away completely before proceeding to clean with this awesome homemade tub, tile and shower cleaner.

CAUTION: Always make sure you are using a non-slip rubber mat in the shower or tub before attempting in-shower maintenance!

CAUTION: Never use this on granite shower walls or countertops as vinegar can damage the sealant that makes granite look so beautiful. Granite needs to be re-sealed annually. Don’t forget! Alternatively, in this recipe, you can substitute rubbing alcohol for white vinegar. Just don’t expect the same dramatic, magical results.

First published: 3-30-15; Updated 8-20-23

 

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173 replies
« Older CommentsNewer Comments »
    • Mary Hunt says:

      Try it … just know that the original blue Dawn has a proprietary formulation that P&G keeps secret. I don’t know why, but it’s different in a very special way 🙂

      Reply
      • Mary Hunt says:

        I’ll give that a guarded yes … with the stipulation that you test it in an inconspicuous place. I’m not certain what “vinyl” walls you’re talking about. So test, assess and if all is well, then go for it! And let us know.

  2. SteveH says:

    Kudos the the gentleman that came up with this concoction, and to you for publishing it. This stuff is nothing short of amazing. It might take a second application for particularly stubborn spots. I used this for the first time today. I sprayed down the tub at lunch time, and let it sit until early evening. Stuff that I would normally have to scrub till my arms hurt using the commercial cleaner and a brush took a minor brushing and came right up. What I like the best is that you don’t need to wear a gas mask or scuba gear while using it. Even my wife’s sensitive nose wasn’t offended in the least by it. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Jen says:

      LOL… Thank you for this comment. I thought I was the only one who needed a gas mask or scuba gear while cleaning. I hope this product works, because my tub gets seriously neglected and it is gross and embarrassing but I get bronchitis when I clean and am sick with it for MONTHS!

      Reply
  3. Marilyn B says:

    So Jules (below in thread) asked what do you use on granite. My shower has 2 large glass sides and 2 tiled walls. BUT I have a granite floor in the shower stall. My shower has had 25 years of hard well water. I can see using your formula on the vertical walls but HELP …. My floor of granite is not to have vinegar on it. (I’ll lay towels down)
    Suggestions???

    Reply
    • Mary Hunt says:

      This cannot damage the granite itself … but if you are careful to keep it well sealed with granite sealer (once a year is recommended) the vinegar will eat away at the SEALANT. If you don’t care about that, go ahead and use this on granite It will make it dull and even show a kind of haze like unpolished granite!

      Reply
  5. Sage0925 says:

    Well, just made my first application. The shower wasn’t too bad to start with (spent the day scrubbing it, which is why I’m now on this website), but I have one stubborn corner in the downstairs shower. I hope this stuff is as advertised, because both of my bathrooms are tile, and I don’t fancy having to spend an entire day in each scrubbing it down.

    I don’t ever take anybody’s word for anything on the internet. but I researched other sites and their comments, and seems this is the way to go.

    30 mins later, well, I’ll give you that it’s good with soap scum. Easy removal. Removed some of the hard water stains, but not most, so I’m giving it another go. In defense of this product, though, I will say that I don’t know how long that stuff has been there (just bought the house last September, and I don’t use that shower, and my husband just doesn’t pay attention to that sort of thing), nor how badly the previous owner may have scratched up the tile in attempt to clean it. Does a bang up job on soap scum though, very easy to remove.

    Reply
  7. Adam Sant says:

    Duuuuude! Thank you! 10 years of soap scum gone!!! We had tried so many products and I found this recipe, we had the ingredients on hand and whipped some up. We doused our (fiberglass insert) shower with it, waited only 30 minutes and all the soap scum that had been so stubborn for years was all jellied-up and gooey and with a bit of gentle scrubbing, it came right off! Like the couple below, we spent the rest of the day marveling at our re-born shower. And all the shower fixtures are free of hard water stains and look re-born as well! Again…thanks so very much for posting the recipe and how to use it!

    Reply
  9. WW says:

    I followed your directions and it left a white glaze, looked like soap scum. It was worse than when I initially started and it was very difficult to remove. I tried to scrub it off and I tried to scrape it off with no luck. I ended up going back over the tiles in the shower with another shower cleaner, scrubbing bubbles and it helped. Any feedback on what would have caused this?

    Reply
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