how to clean shower glass doors

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Your bathroom is beautiful, but it annoys you to even look at those shower doors. The stains are obvious, and they compromise the appearance of the entire room. If you picked glass as the door material, it would be vulnerable to stains. That's why you should know more about how to clean glass shower doors, and it's what we are focusing on in this article.

We'll cover everything from the items required for the cleaning process to the steps to take to ensure the doors look shiny. Check out what you should know about the glass shower door cleaning and maintenance!

How often should you clean shower doors?

You'll find the best answer to this question is regularly. The experts recommend giving the glass shower door a basic scrub each time you take a shower. You can also make thorough cleaning a weekly or monthly task. This doesn't have to be a strict schedule. However, if you notice the grime is building up, it's smart to act as soon as possible. That way, you'll ensure the stains are easier to deal with while cleaning.

Getting ready

How to Clean Glass Shower Doors and Keep Them Clean Longer The first thing to take care of is to acquire proper supplies. It's critical to have a reliable cleaning solution, such as the Rain-X Shower Door Cleaner. These products are designed to interact with hard stains and soap scum and remove them from glass surfaces.

Now, here's a quick overview of the items you might require:

An empty spray bottle (or two) or a professional cleaning solution
White vinegar
Dish soap
A clean sponge or cloth

Safety tips

If you have sensitive skin, gloves are always recommended when cleaning glass and other surfaces. They are particularly important if you plan on using ammonia and other strong substances. Another thing to note is that you should always ensure proper ventilation in the room. That means you should open bathroom windows or at least keep the door open. You don't want the scents to make you woozy and cause other problems if you inhale them.

Let's start cleaning

Are you ready to make your doors sparkle? If you got all the items from the required list ready, you could proceed to the actual cleaning. Dirt ans hard water stains can even appear on steam shower doors in case of hard water. Here are the steps to take to deal with those dirty shower doors!

Step 1: preparing the solution to apply to doors

How to Clean Glass Shower Doors and Keep Them Clean Longer You can always go for a professional solution like the Rejuvenate Scrub Free Soap Scum Remover and that's how to clean soap scum off glass shower doors. It can be convenient for various surfaces and keep them clean efficiently. Alternatively, it's possible to whip up your own DIY cleaning solution for glass shower doors.

Pick an empty spray bottle that you want to use. Here is the mix that you want to add to it:

White vinegar (make sure it's distilled) – you'll need about a half of a cup.
Soap – a dish soap will do; add around a quarter of a single cup.
Water – a cup will be sufficient.

The vinegar should strengthen the soap's effectiveness with its specific characteristics. Its acidity is what ensures it can deal with persistent stains and grime that's noticeable on those shower doors. And it's worth noting that it's safe to use on glass surfaces. There's no danger of rough chemicals damaging the material or compromising its longevity.

Step 2: apply the solution thoroughly

How to Clean Glass Shower Doors and Keep Them Clean Longer You want to check if the elements in the spray bottle are properly mixed. Once the solution is ready, apply it to the glass shower doors. It's crucial to be patient and apply it thoroughly. Start from the top and move your way down to the bottom of the glass shower doors.

Make sure to apply the spray evenly because you want it to cover every inch of the glass surface. Crevices and corners are critical since that's where the doors often face grime buildup.

Once you apply the cleaning solution, give it some time to interact with the surface. The experts recommend leaving a DIY mix for 30-60 minutes or check out the instructions on the bottle of the product you used. This time is imperative for the substances to interact with the grime and stains and make them easy to remove. That's why you should be patient until that process occurs.

Step 3: it's scrubbing time

How to Clean Glass Shower Doors and Keep Them Clean Longer We've now arrived to the most difficult part of the process. It's time to do some scrubbing, and you'll need to use some force in the process. As you move from one corner to another, you'll notice that it's easier to remove the grime than before. However, some spots will require good old-fashioned scrubbing.

You want to use a cloth or sponge that is clean. They should ideally be new, especially if you want your glass to be sparkly, as if you only installed the shower doors. Make sure to check the surface you already scrubbed. If it's necessary, spend some more time on a particular spot to ensure maximum results.

Step 4: rinsing process

It's convenient to use the shower to rinse the shower doors. You want to be thorough and rinse the entire glass surface. Most showers are capable of reaching every corner, but some might not have the desired reach. If that happens, you can easily resolve a problem with a drink pitcher. Use it to rinse the hard-to-reach areas. Another thing to consider is that you don't want to spray yourself with water. The odds are some water will end up on the bathroom floor, so make sure that it doesn't get dirty in the process of cleaning your doors. this method works for most glass types, e.g. that's how to treated glass shower doors.

Now, let's look at the results. Do you notice any water streaks on your glass shower doors? If the answer is yes, perhaps you'll need ammonia to remove them. Water quality in some areas might not be at the highest level, and that could cause streaks to appear on glass surfaces.

You'll need another spray bottle where you will add some warm water (two quarts) and a couple of tablespoons of ammonia. Ammonia has multiple applications around the house, but please note that it's a strong solution. You should never mix it with other substances if you don't know what you are doing. Additionally, make sure to open the bathroom door or a window for optimal ventilation. While working with an ammonia-filled solution, use gloves that will protect your hands.

Apply the new spraying solution to the glass surface and leave it for a couple of minutes to interact with the stains. Now, use a dry cloth to clean everything. You should notice the results immediately.

Can you clean glass shower doors with a dryer sheet?

How to Clean Glass Shower Doors and Keep Them Clean Longer The answer is yes since this is among the methods used for cleaning persistent stains. If you have grime you can't deal with the usual way, how about using a dryer sheet trick? Grab a sheet and make it a bit wet. Apply it to the shower door to clean it from top to bottom. Now, soak a cloth or a paper towel in warm water and rinse the doors. This process could get that grime off and make your glass doors sparkle.

How to clean glass shower door tracks

How to Clean Glass Shower Doors and Keep Them Clean Longer Not all doors have tracks – frameless units don't use them. However, if there are tracks on your glass door installation, it's imperative to clean them, too. The grime might be unnoticeable in these areas until you get a closer look. However, if you want to maximize the longevity of your unit, you should regularly clean this area.

Check out these steps for cleaning shower door tracks:

Use a paper towel to slit in the track, or make sure the drain hole is plugged.
Grab some white vinegar (distilled) and apply it to the track. Once it's filled, allow it to interact for several hours. You can even leave it overnight, but make sure no one will use the shower in the meantime.
You can soak most of the vinegar with paper towels. Now, grab a toothbrush you don't plan on using anymore. Use it to remove any debris and stains. You might need to use some scrubbing to remove the grime.

Here is another trick – you can use paper towels or a soft cloth to remove anything that builds up in the tracks every time you use the shower. That way, you'll ensure that stains don't build up as quickly.

How to clean glass shower doors by type

There are great varieties of glass and treatment that are used to make shower doors. You'll find that while some glass shower doors require gentle scrubbing and others might be hard to wash even with more effort put into the task. Below we'll show you general solutions to most common glass types.

Frosted glass

So how to clean frosted glass shower doors? Such glass requires almost carefulness, gentle motions and cleaners without acidic components. You should also act quickly, never leaving any water or solution to sit on the glass, this will simply create more stains to scrub off. You can use the following video for windows cleaning to understand how easy it can be to treat frosted shower glass:

Etched glass

Cleaning glass with patterns can be a tricky deal. Etched glass is simply a glass with multiple micro cuts that look like whited surface in contrast to clear areas. In might look like you need to be delicate with such glass and use special solutions. And you do. But no more than with the regular glass. General instruction from above will do the job just right.

Additional tips for keeping glass shower doors clean

You've done the most demanding part of the job – the glass shower doors are clean again. Is there something you can do to ensure they remain that way?

Check out these tips that will help you keep the glass shower doors in top condition:

Acquire a squeegee – this little tool is a perfect asset for a quick glass shower door clean. Each time you get out of the shower, use a squeegee, like AmazerBath Shower Squeegee, and you'll notice the grime doesn't build up as quickly. Make sure to start from one corner and cover the entire surface properly.

Optimal ventilation – if your bathroom isn't ventilated properly, that might increase the odds of mildew and mold appearing. As soon as you finish showering, open the shower doors and keep them that way until the next session. It's an excellent way to release humidity. Additionally, open the window and activate the vent after leaving the shower or even before you enter it.
Filtered water. Good investment would be to buy a high-quality shower filter for hard water. This will have a great impact on your health, improve waterflow and make water softer, thus leaving less stains to clean off the shower doors. You will also notice that even shower panels work better with such device.
Regular cleaning – we'll pinpoint the importance of regular cleaning once again. It ensures that you don't even have to deal with hard stains. A quick and regular scrub can secure that you invest less time overall in keeping the doors in perfect condition.

Final Thoughts

This guide should help you deal with dirty glass shower doors and make them clean again. It's crucial that you go through the cleaning process regularly. That way, you can avoid persistent stains that are hard to remove.

Now that you know how to clean glass shower doors, you should be comfortable with the process. The whole cleaning doesn't have to take more than a few minutes. A single look at sparkling doors that are stain-free will ensure the process was worth your while.