Getting the glass on your shower screen squeaky-clean can be exhausting and ineffective if you haven’t got the technique! If you struggle with this, you’re not alone. Your shower glass experiences different conditions from the rest of the glass in your house! It’s true that (especially in this time of year when it’s often pouring with range) your glass windows experience a lot of rainfall, but rainfall is quite a different story in that it’s intermittent and at nowhere near the levels of direct contact with glass.
The main struggle we hear people dealing with when cleaning shower glass is calcium/limescale buildup caused by the minerals in hard water. Different parts of Perth experience different levels of water hardness, which is an interesting phenomenon in itself; there’s a handy guide from the Water Corporation here, which finds that Yanchep and Two Rocks’ water is particularly hard, and some of the softest water can be found in Tamworth Hill. Your shower isn’t the only area of your home where you have to deal with calcium buildup, mind! A minor but predictable part of maintaining a home is descaling those appliances that come into regular contact with water, like your kettle, your coffee machine, your washing machine and dishwasher. Descaling is an important part of extending your appliances’ longevity. It’s particularly visible and unsightly on shower glass, though; if you leave the scale for long enough, your shower glass can become so hazy that you can’t see through it! It’s also not particularly hygienic, so it’s important to keep limescale on your shower glass under control.
Soap scum is another dreaded enemy of shower glass, caused by leftover residue from when you use soap in the shower. You can reduce soap scum by using liquid soap; it’s usually easier than limescale to remove, but again, it’s important to keep it under control because it’s easier to remove a thin layer than a thick one!
With that in mind, what’s the best way to keep your shower glass clean? Depending on the extent of the scale, natural remedies may prove effective, while thicker limescale and soap scum may require you to bring in the “big guns”. Let’s start with natural remedies and move on.
Vinegar
Vinegar is a very popular, eco-friendly cleaning agent found in homes everywhere, used for a variety of purposes like wiping down surfaces and adding to your laundry for a cleaner wash. It’s also quite an effective remedy for hard water stains.
For lighter stains, fill a clean spray bottle either with pure white vinegar or half-diluted with hot water (handle with care!). Next, spray on your shower glass, leave for 15+ mins, rinse well with water and leave to dry. If your stains are quite entrenched, then after spraying the vinegar solution on the shower glass, you should dampen a sponge well and sprinkle some baking soda on top. Scrub gently on both sides of the glass screen – being careful not to scratch the glass! – and leave the ingredients to react for a few minutes before rinsing well.
Citrus and salt
Hate the smell of vinegar, but looking for natural remedies? You’re in luck! Just grab a lemon or grapefruit and cover it with kitchen salt. Scrub the shower screen directly with the citrus, making sure to squeeze it well so the juice comes out. You’ll need to keep adding salt every now and then. Rinse, and enjoy your good-lookin’ shower glass!
The “big guns”
There’s quite a few bathroom and shower products out there on the market; 7 News recently highlighted a $2.50 Woolworths miracle product that will transform your shower screen in minutes, and the time-tested CLR range of products are designed to remove Calcium, Limescale and Rust (as the name suggests); their CLR Bathroom and Kitchen product is widely available in major supermarkets, and will also remove soap scum. It’s pretty easy to use, too: spray CLR Bathroom and Kitchen directly onto the stains on your (dry) shower glass, let it sit for up to 2-3 minutes, wipe your shower glass clean with a damp cloth and rinse. If the build-up persists, a half-water, half-CLR mixture on a sponge will work wonders; if it’s still there, just repeat as necessary while it dissolves build-up layer by layer. (Make sure to rinse your shower glass in between applications, though!)
We hope we’ve helped you to keep your shower glass in top-notch condition! Here at Westview Glass, we install many sorts of glass – from glass shower screens to windows, sliding doors to pet doors. We offer a variety of fully-framed or semi-frameless shower screens to suit any bathroom or en-suite. To have a new shower screen installed, simply contact us and one of our friendly team will discuss your requirements with you, visit to measure up and provide you with a detailed quote.
We love helping people to create better views in their homes through high-quality glass work, and we’d love to talk about how we can help your home to reach its full potential as well. Get in touch!
