Question:

My shower door is stained and I’ve tried everything to clean it. I even left a commercial solution on too long, and it etched into the glass. Help!

Answer:

A stained shower door certainly can dampen the shine of a freshly cleaned bathroom. Whether glass or fiberglass, shower doors can be tricky to clean because you have to find the balance between a tough and a gentle treatment.

Before you take sponges and cleaning solutions to your door, be sure that you’re not using tools that are too harsh. To eliminate soap scum and lime, your first instinct may be to attack the tough grit with the strongest cleaners available. Be forewarned: You may end up damaging the door. Harsh chemicals can etch into glass and fiberglass, and harsh sponges can scratch those surfaces, leaving you with a door that when it has dried, has a white, chalky appearance.

Choose your tools wisely. Read the labels on sponges before purchasing them. Most will say what they should be used for, and many are color-coded. For example, meshlike white sponges are intended for cleaning bathrooms, standard blue sponges are for the kitchen, and abrasive green sponges are for heavy-duty work, such as cleaning a grill. Never use a green sponge on a bathroom surface. White and blue sponges and those that are labeled for use in bathrooms are gentle enough for shower doors.

A good multisurface spray is the best cleaning solution for treating soap scum, lime scale, and water marks. Saturate the door with the cleaner, let it sit for three to five minutes (or as the directions instruct), wipe well with a soft sponge or cloth, and rinse thoroughly. If the shower door is etched, then the soap scum and lime scale will probably have settled into the recessed areas. To ease the grime out, add a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Extra Power to your arsenal. This tool is soft enough to squeeze into the etchings yet abrasive enough to clean them without causing further damage.

After a thorough cleaning, an application of lemon oil will help serve as a shield from shower grime. Twice a month, apply a generous coating to the shower door with a soft cloth. (The best cloths to use are soft cotton rags or microfiber cleaning cloths.) Real Simple likes Holloway House Lemon Oil for the purity of its scent, but any lemon oil should work well. If the etching on the shower door is deep or prone to buildup, treat it with lemon oil once a week. This extra step will protect your glass or fiberglass door and freshen your shower between deep cleanings.

Ashley Phillips
Editorial Assistant