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Cleaning a shower | Autopia Forum-Auto Detailing & Car Care Discussion Forum

Cleaning a shower

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agtjamesb007

New member
Hi Guys,

I decided to give my DA a shot at cleaning the soap scum in my shower. The scum with the hard water makes for a backbreaking nightmare of a job. Magic erasers just crumble, it gets that bad.

So I am wondering what attachment would be best. Do you think a brush, like an upholstery brush would be good, or would something like a wool pad be better?

Thanks!
 
Once a year I clean mine with comet- then DA with 5-1/2 flat LC white pad and FG400. Rinse- iso wipe and apply a coat of CanCoat. Seems to work very well for me.
I as well have hard water from my well
 
My preference is chemicals. The Zep or Home Depot soap scum cleaners work great for me on tile and grout.
 
I`m gonna try some Griot`s white glass pads with different glass polishes on my Pixie in a week.
 
Gee, sounds like people let `em get, uhm...in need of serious cleaning. Why not just wipe them down every use and then do a quickie during the weekly housekeeping? Only takes a few minutes...

Even with our softened water I`d hate to let such stuff go for long.
 
I keep an old California Water Blade in my shower and squeegee after each use. I also use only body wash--means no soap scum build up. Using this leads to minimum shower clean ups for me.
 
Bill D said:
I keep an old California Water Blade in my shower and squeegee after each use.
Click to expand...

Same here! Then I follow up with a WWMF (since I no longer use those when Detailing).

Heh heh, coulda/woulda/shoulda had a *SHOWER* unit instead of a tub w/shower :o As if I`d ever take the time for a bath instead...what *WAS* I thinking?!? The shower stalls we have in the other baths are *SO* quick/easy to do by comparison...
 
jtford95 and yamabob: "Once a year I clean mine with comet- then DA with 5-1/2 flat LC white pad and FG400. Rinse- iso wipe and apply a coat of CanCoat. Seems to work very well for me.
I as well have hard water from my well"

Are you using these products and attachments on tile or gel-coated fiberglass? I`m reluctant to be too aggressive on my fiberglass shower walls for fear of removing or damaging the glossy gel-coat.
I was considering trying a chemical cleaner product like Klasse AIO with a white polishing pad. Would the cleaner do the job or are you thinking an abrasive polish is required?
Would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks
 
Dan said:
My preference is chemicals. The Zep or Home Depot soap scum cleaners work great for me on tile and grout.
Click to expand...

Same, and we squeegee after each shower as best as possible.

I bought the ZEP Shower, Tile & Tub (acidic) a couple of weeks ago and have used it several times. It`s the first shower "scum" cleaner I`ve purchased that actually works. Agitation is still required, result I`ve had is pleasing. It is acidic so it`s got to be kept away from marble surfaces. Good product, $8/gallon at Lowe`s.
 
Funny no one mentioned plastic razor blades or larger plastic putty knives for scraping off REALLY accumulated soap scum. That may be a necessary first step.
But if the soap scum THAT bad, maybe you need to consider cleaning your shower on a more-regular basis. (Hypocrite Captain Obvious who cleans his shower like once a month and it looks it!)

I think it has been mentioned in house-care forums that some soaps are more prone to leaving soap scum on tub/shower tile or fiberglass. I think it was bar soaps more-so than the liquid soaps.

I would like to know if there is a "safe" cleaner for cleaning off hard-water deposits on fiberglass. WAIT! I have some Optimum`s MRD Mineral Deposit Remover that I have not used much that might be a "safe" fiberglass shower cleaning product. i "dislike" this product because it it not a wipe-on-wipe-off stand-alone product. It does require a `separate` wash product, like OPT Opti-Clean to used with it to clean it off. it did work great on on house windows after a home power-wash company washed our exterior aluminum siding, but never rinsed off the windows. Their service was much cheap compared to other quotes we got from other home power wash services, and now I know why. What ever soap formula this "cheaper" washing service used left a nasty film on the exterior outside window pain glass. OPT MDS to the rescue, and yes, it did work well to remove that film and "other" acid-rain deposits that seems to accumulate over time on the exterior side of windows. I cleaned them then with OPT Power Clean diluted 3:1 and water, wiped dry it a chamois (hey I still have some and put it to good use), THEN cleaned with a widow cleaner and window microfiber clothe. Lot of my own time invested, but the windows are clean.
 
Dan said:
My preference is chemicals. The Zep or Home Depot soap scum cleaners work great for me on tile and grout.
Click to expand...
I do this also, comes out real good, make sure to put bathroom vent on to help remove chemical smell/fumes.
 
ZeroDfx said:
...Are you using these products and attachments on tile or gel-coated fiberglass? I`m reluctant to be too aggressive on my fiberglass shower walls for fear of removing or damaging the glossy gel-coat....
Click to expand...

I would absolutely love to know how much of a top coat you have to work with on a fiberglass shower, or even cultured marble (or whatever you call the manufactured ceramic looking stuff a lot of bathroom vanities are made out of).

Our fiberglass shower upstairs is clean, but is just kinda lifeless from all the scuffs from years of cleaning. It`s also got a fair amount of water spotting etched into it.

Similar for the vanities - they`re clean and don`t have any staining, but you can tell there could be a whole lot more shine if you took a machine and some compound to them. I did a little experiment on our ugly vanity in the basement with a quick hit of One Step Sealant on an orange polishing pad - it looked a lot better but there were deeper scratches that could use some more cycles. I just don`t know much about the material (or where exactly to learn more about it) - is there a coating on it, or is it just that the top surface gets polished?

I`ve threatened that at some point I`m going to bring my polishers upstairs, but I`m reluctant to go too crazy not knowing exactly what I`m working with.
 
I have been using Chemicals and a car wash mop on a stick. Works well and doesn`t scratch and saves my back. The car wash mop is dedicated for shower duty only.
 
I have cleaned fiberglass showers in 2 of my last homes I rented. i googled the subject and found solutions.
The first was Arm & Hammer no fume oven cleaner. Sprayed it on and let it set for 2 hours and it was removed easily with wet rags.
Second method was from a cleaning site. Half and half white vinegar and blue Dawn detergent(Dawn is always mentioned for dish soap anymore). Be sure to pour the vinegar into the soap. i sprayed it on the dry scum and wiped it off with a wet rags an hour later and it removed everything easily.
Both methods left a clean shower but I preferred the Dawn.
Wipe it down like the others say and you wont need the treatments.
 
Oneheadlite said:
I would absolutely love to know how much of a top coat you have to work with on a fiberglass shower, or even cultured marble (or whatever you call the manufactured ceramic looking stuff a lot of bathroom vanities are made out of).

Our fiberglass shower upstairs is clean, but is just kinda lifeless from all the scuffs from years of cleaning. It`s also got a fair amount of water spotting etched into it.

Similar for the vanities - they`re clean and don`t have any staining, but you can tell there could be a whole lot more shine if you took a machine and some compound to them. I did a little experiment on our ugly vanity in the basement with a quick hit of One Step Sealant on an orange polishing pad - it looked a lot better but there were deeper scratches that could use some more cycles. I just don`t know much about the material (or where exactly to learn more about it) - is there a coating on it, or is it just that the top surface gets polished?

I`ve threatened that at some point I`m going to bring my polishers upstairs, but I`m reluctant to go too crazy not knowing exactly what I`m working with.
Click to expand...

This is precisely my concern: will I do more good or more harm by trying the techniques and materials we know work well on paint? May have to do a test spot like always and take it from there.
 
ZeroDfx said:
This is precisely my concern: will I do more good or more harm by trying the techniques and materials we know work well on paint? May have to do a test spot like always and take it from there.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I am going to do to mine... Put some Meguiars 105 on a foam pad, wet it so it thins the little amount out, and bring the Rotary up slow, and watch what it does..
I have these solid white bathroom countertops that came with this house, and they were all scratched up and dull, but I could tell they had a little shine.
Did the same thing, but used a small Lake Country Purple Foam Wool Pad and M105, and I actually got these big ugly white countertops to really shine!!!
Guess they are some kind of stone or something..
Took a lot of time and wore out a few of those pads, but it was so worth it...
Good luck with your project !
Dan F
 
So laziness got the better of my shower and I had some real nasty stuff get into the grout. My usual zep grout cleaner had minimal effects even with lots of scrubbing.

YouTube to the rescue with a recommendation to use gel toilet bowl cleaner. No effort, just squeezing it onto the grout and letting it sit brought it back to brand new. Even did a nice job reviving my caulking.
 
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