We all have many “pins” in our Pinterest accounts. However, instead of adding new ones to the “I can do this” board, I decided to try my saved DIY’s and see if they are actually Pinterest “pass or fails”. Here is one that passes with flying colors!!!
I saved a soap scum removal idea a couple months ago, and this weekend was shocked to find it was the best cleaner I have ever used. EVER! And I’ve tried everything from: Clorox, bleach, Tilex, Clorox, you name it! This cleaning recipe calls for only 2 ingredients, and you won’t find yourself breaking your arm scrubbing for endless periods of time. Please try it, I swear you won’t ever use another tile cleaner/soap scum removal ever again 🙂
What you need:
- 1/2 cup Dawn detergent (already had)
- 1/2 cup white vinegar (heat this in the microwave until boiling) (already had)
- (1) spray bottle (already had)
- dirty shower or tub
HOW:
- Heat 1/2 cup white vinegar in microwave until boiling. Remove from microwave to cool for about 30 sec. (or at least long enough so as not to melt your spray bottle)
- Pour the white vinegar into spray bottle
- Pour 1/2 cup Dawn detergent into spray bottle
- Shake Well. It will turn into a sort of foam inside your spray bottle. Not to worry. This is good.
- Spray glass walls on inside of shower and on tile, or bottom of tub.
- Leave to soak for at least 3 hours.
- Wipe down with sponge and water. (I did this while I showered!)
FYI: Our shower is small so I only needed 1/2 cup of white vinegar and Dawn. If you have a bigger shower or tub, or are wanting to clean more than one bathroom, double your formula! Also, your bathroom will smell a little weird for a couple hours after you have wiped glass and/or tile clean, but it is nothing you can’t get rid of with a nice candle.
BEFORE PICS:
Letting the sprayed formula soak in for a couple hours:
AFTER PICTURES:
mrs. and the misc. 
Trying this! A friend and I were just talking about all the random cleaners we’ve tried and nothing works! Hoping this is the one!! Thanks for posting!
I think this is the one that will work for you! Seriously…I tried everything
Why does the vinegar have to be hot? I’m wondering because if I make “too much” can I use it later?
Never mind I used almost all…but, conclusion….the dawn really sticks to the shower curtain and the tub. I think it glues the vinegar to the surface. Will be interesting later in the day how it rinses…..I’m imagining a very SLIPPERY surface, but if it will make my clear shower curtain clear again, I’ll be happy.
Yes, it is slippery…so be careful when wiping down. I am unsure if it will clean the shower curtain… but to be honest, I would be very surprised if it did not. Let me know how it goes:)
I believe the heated vinegar aids in creating a type of “foam” solution for the spray.
I can’t wait to try this!
You should. You can also use it to clean stovetops, shower tiles, among other things!
My stove and oven need it bad!
I gave it a try yesterday. We have 2 clear vinyl shower curtains around our claw foot bathtub. (The better to see the pretty tile with I think). Usually we leave them ‘closed’ while they dry following a shower; but once dry; open and push back to one end. I have a pair I swap out every month or so and usually wash the one I take down in the front loader with laundry soap and vinegar, but the hard water marks never go away. They looked like frosted windows before I started. I mixed up this solution yesterday; sprayed it on and went out to work in my sewing room. Later in the afternoon, I came back in, and used the shower sprayer to rinse everything down. You really can’t do much scrubbing on a shower curtain. I think it really took a lot of the hard water marks off the curtains. I would definately do it again; and it would be much easier than taking them up and down for washing in the machine. Perhaps after a couple of times, they will be totally clear again. I used the original BLUE Dawn with my vinegar. It really clung to the curtain and around the tub where I also sprayed it. GREAT TIP….thanks.
You are welcome:) I am pleased to hear it worked so efficiently for your shower curtain…LUCKY you that you have a claw foot bathtub…I have always wanted one! The only other thing I can think of …is to take the shower curtain off and lay it outside on driveway (putting rocks on corners so as to prevent flyaway curtain)….spray with solution and come back several hours later and wipe down with sponge. It doesn’t sound like you used a sponge or brush as you mentioned that you just sprayed it down…This step def. helps btw 🙂
AWESOME! Got hubby to try this for me yesterday, and I am embarrassed to say that I thought the shower door in our new/old house was frosted glass!! Made all the tiles feel so squeaked clean, and now all the natural light reflects through! Thanks for the tip!! I love the pass/fail posts!
haha, Catherine you made me laugh. Those must have been some extreme “frosted-hard water” marks on your shower door :). Glad to hear it was a success and thank you for reading the post and trying!
This is great for a shower deep clean. If you want a daily shower spray, I made one a few months back and posted on it. It’s pretty much the same, but you add some water and a little tea tree oil. It’s great for a quick daily cleanser. Glad to see others posting on more natural cleaning products! Thanks for sharing it!
~Erin
http://neatenyournest.com/spring-greening-almost-green-shower-spray/
Like the idea of tea tree oil! I will definitely have to add that next time:)
I just tried it. Worked good but not any better than any foam bath room cleaners I’ve used before except it does not leave water spots. Only difference I can tell now.
DAWN IS A DISH SOAP? CAN I USE ANOTHER DETERGENT? LIKE FAIRY?
I am sure you could try it. I would be interested in learning how your shower fares…Please share 🙂
This works great to remove soap scum and clean my tile but any suggestions how to get the tile to still look clean after it’s dry. I have dark tile and it looks to still have a light film on it. Thanks!!
Shonna, I have white tile and I do spray the mixture all over, and after about five minutes I use a scrubber (with bristles). I can’t say that I notice a film (since it’s white), but I do think scrubbing the tile verses just spraying the glass helps. Let me know- I’d be curious to hear what works for you!