How to Clean Shower Wall Tiles

Having a clean bathroom and shower is such a good feeling, but can be so hard to maintain as we all know. Mold, mildew, rust, lime and soap scum can make cleaning your shower a real challenge, but with a little elbow grease, you can have your shower wall tiles sparkling clean in no time.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Toilet Bowl Cleaner
• Brush with long handle

1. For daily maintenance of your shower, wipe down the entire shower wall(s) before exiting. Standing water is the main cause of mold and mildew.

2. For your weekly cleaning, pour a good quality brand of TOILET BOWL CLEANER on each wall of your shower and some on the tub, too. Use a claer, gel type instead of a blue colored cleaner, such as Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach. Let the cleaner sit for at least 15 minutes. Then scrub down the shower and shower tiles with a brush. Use a brush with a long handle to make the job easier on your back and knees. Mold and mildew will be easily cleaned away with the toilet bowl cleaner, it's really amazing how fast it works, too.

3. If you still have rust stains after the cleaning with the toilet bowl cleaner, get a good cleaner that is specifically for rust, such as LIME AWAY or CLR.

4. For tough soap scum build up on your shower tiles, use the following mixture:
   
   1/2 cup baking soda
   1/3 cup ammonia
   1/4 cup white vinegar
   6 cups water
   
   If you have a spray bottle, add the ingredients to one and spray the mixture on your shower walls. Let sit for at least 15 minutes and then scrub away the soap scum.

5. For added protection and shine, you may want to wax your shower tile walls with CAR WAX, once or twice a year.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your shower dry, by wiping down the tile walls after showering to make cleaning easier.
• Read warning labels on cleaners
• Do not mix bleach and ammonia together

Resources

• Book: The House That Cleans Itself: Creative Solutions for a Clean and Orderly House in Less Time Than You Can Imagine
• How to Save Money on Laundry Products

[joni04]

on 6/22/2009 Thanks for the tips and the soap scum removal recipe!

[evgnspaces]

on 6/19/2009 Nice ideas for shower walls. I hadn't thought of using toilet cleaner. The car wax is a good idea to stop water from beading up.

[xtraordinary]

on 5/25/2009 Excellent article on a job that's not very much fun. 5 stars!

[Gardengates]

on 5/10/2009 Thanks for all these handy tips to keep the job of shower cleaning easier and more efficient!