How to Clean a Tub and Shower

Before you tackle cleaning the tub or shower, get all your supplies and equipment gathered together and place in the bathroom next to the tub or shower for easy access during cleaning. These supplies include a liquid spray bathroom cleaner such as Scrub Free or Kaboom, an abrasive cleaner like Comet or Soft Scrub, a cleaner for mildew and mold, and lime remover. You'll also need a sponge with a rough side, plenty of rags, a toothbrush and gloves. Depending on how just how dirty this tub or shower is, possibly a hard-bristled brush, a old plastic card or other similar item, and a butter knife you never plan on needing again in your kitchen. Also, grab a screw driver if your cleaning a stand-alone shower.

If your tub or shower is already pretty clean, you can probably clean it fine by spraying all surfaces with a basic bathroom cleaner and wiping dry with a rag. However, we'll assume that you could figure that one out for yourself. In our example, we're going to imagine that this is the grossest, dirtiest, most soap-scummed covered tub or shower that you have ever seen in your life. Feel free to skip any steps or directions not related to your circumstances.

Put your gloves on. Start with the walls, doing one wall at a time. First, spray them down with a cleaner and wipe with a rag. This will get off recent surface dirt and let you see what's left to deal with on those walls. Then spray the wall down a second time and scrub every inch of it, using the rough side of your sponge. Spray again and wipe dry with a rag. If you're lucky, the wall has come clean and you're ready to move on to the next one -- good for you! If not, you're going to have to work harder on this one.

Start by determining what's making this wall "dirty". Is there built up soap scum? I've seen tubs and showers where you can literally scrape the soap scum off in layers. If that's what plaguing yours, you can easily remove it, but it's a time-consuming task. Spray it down with your bathroom cleanser (yes, again). Let it sit for several minutes. Then, using a hard plastic item such as an old credit card, scrape the wall, starting at the top and moving down. Use more cleanser throughout this process as needed to keep the soap scum soft and make it easier to remove. Are there stains? And if so, what? Red, brown and orange stains are mildew and the area should be sprayed, scrubbed, cleansed with water and wiped dry. For other stains, try a little bit of a mild abrasive cleanser sprinkled or squirted directly onto the area (you only need a little). Dampen your sponge and scrub the area thoroughly. Rinse and dry. Repeat this process on all walls, cleaning soap dishes, shower caddies and shelves as you go.

When the walls are done, move on to the tub area. Sprinkle your abrasive cleanser in the bottom of the tub and wet your sponge. Sprinkle some water from your sponge over the cleanser. Scrub the inside tub area, cleaning the back, sides, front and bottom of the tub one at a time to insure you don't miss anything. Rinse clean and dry. Use the same steps as above to remove any build up or stubborn stains.

To clean the faucets, overflow valve, drain and shower head, use your hard water deposit cleaner. Be sure to follow the directions on the bottle carefully and never get this mixed with other cleaners as it can release toxic fumes. Generally, you spray the area with the cleaner, scrub it with the rough side of your sponge, rinse and dry. You may also encounter mildew on the shower head which can be removed similarly by spraying by mildew remover, scrubbing, rinsing and drying. For heavily mildewed shower heads, you can soak the shower head in a cup of the cleaner (just hold the cup up to immerse the shower head) for at least several seconds and then finish cleaning as usual. And remember, as a last resort you can always buy an inexpensive shower head and simply replace it.

If you are cleaning a stand-alone shower, the drain may need some extra attention. Often these drains get clogged with hair and no matter how many times you clean the drain and pull out the stray hairs, more hairs just keep popping out. This is also a step for anyone who can smell a damp, moldy-type scent coming from the shower drain. Using your screw driver, remove the drain cover. Remove all hair and debris from inside the drain. Clean with mold and mildew remover, rinse thoroughly and clean and replace the cover.

Now, if you're lucky you only have the outer tub ledge and tub front to spray and wipe clean and you are done. Otherwise, you still have shower doors to clean. To clean the doors, first try spraying with your general bathroom cleanser and scrubbing with the sponge. Wipe down, spray again and wipe dry. If the doors are still not clean at this point, spray with a lime/hard water deposit remover and repeat the process of scrubbing, rinsing and drying. Be sure to clean chrome edges and handles while your doing the doors. Lastly, pay close attention to the bottom track of the shower doors. There is almost always a nasty build-up here and you'll need your hard water deposit remover, mildew remover and toothbrush to clean this area thoroughly. In addition, you can use an old butter knife, covered with a rag to get into little crevices where the toothbrush can't reach or where you need to apply more leverage or friction to clean.

Finish up by doing a final wipe on the tub or shower floor and checking faucets to remove any "stray spray" that may have settled there while you were cleaning other areas. Congratulations! You're done and you've got a perfectly clean tub or shower. To avoid repeating this time-consuming task in the future, wipe your shower or tub dry after each use and wipe down all surfaces with a bathroom cleaner and rag at least once a week. Regular cleaning maintenance will keep your tub or shower looking great and will make cleaning it a simple task.