Seeking Solution to Shower Soap Scum and Mold

I haven't read the other responses, but I swear by Bar Keeper's Friend. It's a powder that you sprinkle where it's needed, wet a cloth, and wipe away. There is very little scrubbing involved, but it's pretty powerful stuff, so wear gloves. I bought my supply at Wal-Mart and it was $1.88 if I remember correctly.

I use vinegar and baking soda. You can make a paste w/the vinegar and baking soda, then use a magic sponge, should take it right off.

I would suggest KABOOM, you can get it at Home Depot, Lowes, maybe Fry's and Safeway. I was having the hardest time finding something that worked for me. Then I tried this and it works wonders.
Good Luck
A. M

Hello T.! =D
Now this one I know! LOL I had a small side job in my apartment complex to do "clean outs" after tenats leave and I had some NIGHTMARES!! SOOOOOO..these 2 things have really worked. Weird but works.

You can do this one while you are in there doing your own shower- if you wanted to.
Being that it is soap scum- it is killed by its own kind. Get a clean sponge with scrubby side. Pour alot of shampoo into sponge to create lots of sudds. If you are doing your hair- then put all the excess spear on walls(best to have water off while doing this). With the sponge- using scrubber side out touching shower wall & make small circles in rows to you have done each side in sections- with refilling the sponge with more shampoo to make lather. Your goal is to have scrubbed a foamy layer on the entire wall...LET STAND FOR A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME..if in shower continue with conditioner & the wait time to leave it in..LOL & you are about to get out..LOL & you just rinse the walls with the shower head or with your hand. This works like a miracle on the glass doors. They come back almost frightning clear. The foam eats at the scum & rinses.

A very old Native American lady told me this is how to do the black mold-funcky comadena bathrooms that really worked for me. I agreed I would clean my new apartment for a discount on the move in..you know the ones..LOL So I came for a BIG surprise.
Make a paste with Comet scrubbing powder & water- enough water to make it like finger paint. Because you basically want to smear this diluted Comet all over the entire shower. SHe did it with her bare hands. I personally had medical gloves & a hankerchief on my face, Do it as fast as you can & get out & shut the door with the fan on for an hour, Come back & wipe clean. I would use an old toothbrush for the mold area..or a hand scrub brush too scrub & rinse clean.

Please email if I was confusing. Hope it works for you & good luck.

The soft scrub with bleach works great on that,but the trick to using it is to leave it on for a couple of HOURS. I have the black mold that is on my grout and I put it on there and leave it for about 1-2 hours and come back and it comes right off. As far as the soap scum put a thick coat all over the bottom (when the tub is completely dry) and let it sit for a couple of hours 4 tops. I know it doesn't seem like works after it failed before but I love using it and it works great just have to leave it for a while... hope that helps!! Besidees at least it won't hurt you can just use what you have left in the bottle!

My cleaning lady swears by using mineral oil on glass doors with water spots. I think I also read this on the "queen of clean" website. If you don't want to use all of those harsh chemicals and inhale them I also make a mixture of lavender liquid soap and baking soda until it makes a paste and scrub with the rough side of a sponge. Whole foods has a wonderful all natural lavender oil liquid soap. Your lungs won't burn when cleaning and it smells wonderful! Good luck.

Try a pumice stone and ajax.

i have the same problem, so any advice would be appreciated:)

Try lemon oil. I think you find it in the wood cleaning supplies next to Pledge etc. HTH

Trish, I have the perfect solution for these cleaning problems AND it is environmentally friendly! Scour off and Basic H from Shaklee will easily tackle these problems. I have a couple of cleaning companies using them and that was a major fear of one of them, showers and tubs. This is my website if you want to check them out. www.shaklee.net/cathyroe
If your kids get into them and eat them, nothing will happen!
Hope that helps! Good Luck, C.

I had the same problem. I used a mixture of half vinegar and soapt water. Also, tea tree essential oil works well on fungus. I sprayed the problem areas and used a toothbrush to clean it. I could not believe that something that costs a buck something worked. I wasted money on all those harsh chemicals that were poisoning the air that my family breathed and they did not work. But the vinegar worked for me. Also the tea tree oil you could but in a natural grocer store like Vitamin Cottage. The oil also works on athlete's foot any skin conditions that is caused by candida. Good Luck!!
J.

mr Clean magic eraser and a little elbow grease.

Lime Away worked great on my shower...spray it on and leave it for like 10 minutes...I couldnt believe how clean it was...like new! Good LUCK!

Hi T.!
I used to own a B&B and we would put together Oxyclean with water and made a paste. Scrub it around the area. I let is soak for about an hour and then rinse. It will be beautiful and really clean!

Have a good day!
MC

I have something that works like a charm on soap scum and calcium buildup any where there is water. You can only buy it through the company I market for and the prices are so reasonable it's much less than anything you'd buy out in the store. It's environmentally friendly and safe around the kids. You're probably wondering how it can work, right? I thought the same thing until I saw it with my own eyes. If it doesn't work like I say it does there's a 100% money-back guarantee. When you start buying from this company they even give you $100 in FREE products. NO other store does this. I invite you to give me a call. You can reach me through my website by filling out the contact form.

www.GreenKidzRUs.com - watch the videos too!

Have you tried CLR? That stuff is great as far as I am concerned. Another thing, get one of those shower sprays that you spray on the entire shower after the last shower of the morning. They keep the shower clean after you get it clean initially.

Good luck, let us know how you end up getting it clean.

there is a show I watched it was called how clean, they used lemon juice cause it had acid and the acid eats up the dirt and they also used a sos pad, then after that they took a rag and wiped it clean.

At Dollar Tree of all places I found a shower cleaner called "The Works" and it's amazing. Our prefab shower floor was black and I squirted this stuff on, let it sit for a minute or two and then used a handled scrubber I bought at Dollar Tree and it came clean! It took very little effort and time (like 5 mintues!) I was shocked. For a buck, it's worth a try!

T.,
have you tried tilex mold and mildew? It works awesome I just spray and walk away also Kaboom works really good on the soap scum. This is another one I spray and walk away with.
Good Luck
B. Garcia
Barbgarcia.com
Himalayan GoChi juice representitive

plug up the drain with plastic wrap on wet drain area. cover the floor with paper towels that have been soaked in lime away. leave it on for 12 hrs then wipe the scum away with the paoer twoels as much as you can then rinse off and if you have to scrub with a greenie. make sure that you check it periodically and make sure the paoer towels stay wet with the lime away. I keep a spray bottle of diluted belach in the shower on the floor. it took a while but i trained everyone to spray the shower with the bleach water after they shower. i use thescented clorox for that bottle. it doesnt take much just a quick spray, when the next person turns on the water to shower it will rinse off. I had a bunch of boys that were in sports. myoldest went to school in grenada west indies and came back with terible athletes foot and we started doing ti when he came back so it wouldnt spread.

TILEX works great on the black mildew. Spray on then leave for the recommended time.
SCRUB FREE works wonders on the glass shower doors. I get all the calcium stains off with that.
I had a house cleaner who used to wet the floor floor, sprinkle the dry powder cleaners, like Comet, leave that overnight. It will penetrate most stains too.

I had the same problem with soap scum while we were renting a house. I tried everything. Even the stuff where you practically had to wear a protective suit to use. All it did was turn the soap scum to a gummy mess and smear it around. Then I tried Holy Cow. All I had to say was "Holy Cow!! It worked!" I used it and the entire mess was gone! No more gummy goo smeared all over. Totally and completely gone. It was inexpensive (under $3, I think), has a pleasant smell and works on a lot of things. It doesent have any harsh chemicals or anything and it is safe for most surfaces. Get the green one. You can find it a Walgreen's. I have also been seeing it in some Walmart stores, too. Hope this helps you, it did wonders for me.

If you havn't tried it already, I would try a magic eraser. I am amazed at what those things remove. For the hard soap scum you may go through a couple of them but I think it will work. We have hard water and they removed some crud off of the floor of our shower.

Another solution is using vinegar, rubbing alcohol and/or the Magic Eraser.

Funny that you are asking this, I just read an article about W-d forty. and it said you can use it for this reason and works wonders on the film on the shower. I have to agree to about the mr. clean dry erasers I love them and I use them in my tub. Works wonders. you do have to use a little elbow grease put in a little hot water and you are set.

My sister had a similar problem with the bottom of a fiberglas shower enclosure, and she painted it! I don't know what type of paint it was, but I presume something that the hardware store told her would work. If you can't get the stains out, cover them over. Good luck.

Bar Keepers Friend and Bon Ami are great.
I hope you get it all out. Just a suggestion on tile/marble showers. We used an item called pro clean when our showers were new and it has kept them in great shape after 14 years.
I'm thinking if you wax the shower walls and doors it will help prevent soap scum and hard water stains. We used the Pro Clean on the tile in our pool too.

Take care,
K.

Pumice stone. Our tub was the same way when we moved in, we tried just about every cleaner out there, including homemade ones.... got the gray out but not the scum. Then my husband's grandmother suggested using pumice stones (like you use to get calluses off your feet)... worked like a charm! Also works on hard water stains.