The best soap scum remover and tub and shower cleaner ever!

Homemade Soap Scum Remover with Vinegar

Dishwashing liquid and vinegar in a spray bottle - the best homemade shower cleaner

One of my biggest cleaning hurdles has been keeping my bathtub free of soap scum.

We have very hard water where I live and there are 5 people in my family and 1 bathroom. That makes for a lot of showers and baths and a lot of soap scum.

I have used ready-made cleaners in the past and they worked but not that great, plus they cost more and they contain chemicals.

Homemade Soap Scum Remover That Really Works!

I was a little skeptical when I kept seeing this homemade shower and bathtub cleaning recipe show up but it was so inexpensive and easy to make I thought I’d give it a try.

When I originally posted this cleaning tip over 7 years ago, I used the Aldi brand of blue dishwashing liquid and it worked perfectly fine.

Large bottles of Heinz Cleaning Vinegar and Dawn Dishwashing Soap and a scrubbing wand

I now use Dawn, I buy the big containers from Sam’s Club now, and it does work just a tad bit better but if you want to try it without Dawn, give it a whirl. You’ll still like the results.

One caveat, there is a fairly strong vinegar smell while doing this and if that scent bothers you, turn on your bathroom fan or open a window. The smell clears up quickly so no worries about any lingering aroma.

Enough for at least 4 Tub and Shower Cleanings

Best DIY Soap Scum Remover

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Active Time: 5 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 7 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $1.00

The best soap scum remover and tub and shower cleaner ever. There are only two ingredients in this Homemade Soap Scum Remover with Vinegar and it works great to not only remove soap scum but to clean your tub, shower, and glass doors. It works!

Materials

Tools

See above for tools!

Instructions

For use in the spray bottle, measure out 4 ounces of vinegar and heat in microwave about 45 seconds. Once the vinegar is heated carefully pour it into the spray bottle. Add 4 ounces of the dishwashing liquid. Place the lid on the bottle and shake thoroughly. Now, spray the surface you wish to clean and let the gel sit for about 1 hour. Once the time has lapsed, scrub or wipe off the cleaning solution and rinse thoroughly. Next, stand back and enjoy the glow!

If using the wand, follow the above directions but use 2 ounces of vinegar and 2 ounces of Dawn dishwashing liquid.

This disgusting picture is of my bathtub before.

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Hideous, I know, but look at the afters!

Why It Works

Vinegar is naturally acidic and that’s what makes it so good for cleaning. The acid counteracts build up, including soap scum, and works to dissolve it away.

Adding Dawn makes it that much more powerful. The full recipe for Dawn isn’t readily available but it is known that Dawn contains chemical compounds that reduce the surface tension of a liquid and when that liquid is dissolved, grease and ickiness are gone!

What are some of your favorite ways to use Vinegar (or Dawn)? I’d love to hear your tips.

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Best DIY Soap Scum Remover

Happy Cleaning!

Hugs,

22 Comments

Jelli on June 8, 2012 at 10:44 am

That looks fabulously clean. I've seen another tip that uses dampened dryer sheets to wipe off soap scum, and that works pretty well too. I'll have to give this a go and see which I like best. Thanks so much for sharing.Reply

mb on June 8, 2012 at 11:01 am
Thanks for stopping by, Jelli! I will have to try the dryer sheet tip...p.s. I love your name. : )Reply

Julia Stansel on June 9, 2012 at 4:06 pm

Thought I would share a cheap easy trick for cleaning the toilet with you since you got the sink and tub covered there. Pour some baking soda in the toilet, a little or alot depending on how bad it needs cleaned. Then pour vinegar into the toilet. It creates a chemical reaction you should remember from elementary school science. As the carbon dioxide is being created it actually cleans the toilet. When it stops fizzing just running the toilet brush around, and everything should come completely clean. If not, add a little more vinegar. Then toilet brush again and flush. So easy!Reply

mb on June 9, 2012 at 11:21 pm
Thanks for the great tip, Julia! I will have to try this.Reply
Tammy Sides on October 1, 2012 at 6:02 pm
I use the vinegar and baking soda to clean and deodorize the drains.Reply
- Alice on October 8, 2019 at 12:08 pm
  I tried the vinegar and dawn, however I guess it was too hot and melted my bottle.Reply

Amber @ Recipes We Love on June 10, 2012 at 8:37 am

I have got to try this! I was thinking the other day after i cleaned that shower doors that thye didn't look any better! I have the same Shaklee bottle. Love their products too but have ran out!Reply

mb on June 10, 2012 at 9:36 am
Those bottles are awesome...they seem to last so much longer than other spray bottles I've bought. Thanks for stopping by. : )Reply

Debra Kapellakis on June 11, 2012 at 12:28 pm

I don't have Dawn here. I will use the dish washing liquid I have and hope it will also will work.Reply

mb on June 11, 2012 at 6:09 pm
I'm wondering if it is just the 'blue' that makes the difference....let me know if it works for you. : )Reply

Sue on October 2, 2012 at 3:49 pm

Will this work on the mineral deposits on glass shower doors? If not, what will? I'm afraid I might have to replace the entire glass in my shower because it looks so bad.Reply

Mary Beth on October 2, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Sue, I'm not sure if it will work or not but the vinegar and the dish soap won't hurt the glass so I would give it a try. If it does work, once the shower doors are clean, I would coat them with a layer of car wax. I used to do that all the time and it kept mine nice and shiny for months. I would appreciate it if you could let me know if that works ~ fingers crossed and hoping it does! Thank you so much for stopping by. Mary BethReply

Mary Beth on October 2, 2012 at 3:57 pm

You're welcome, Anne ~ thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and comment! Have a wonderful day. mbReply

Kris on October 2, 2012 at 7:42 pm

Years ago, way before we had city water, our shower would get "orange" from the hard water...so hard to clean and we were going to have company...and I was going to let them use our bedroom and bath...well someone said.."clean it with Snowbowl" (toilet bowl cleaner) well yeah worked great but so strong, from then on Ive had the worst time cleaning my shower and shower floor, think the Snowbowl took the finish off...I will try this....its so embarrassing and I dont have money to rip out and retile.....thanks!Reply

Patricia M. on October 3, 2012 at 4:44 pm

This product sounds great, but does it have to be hot to work?Reply

Mary Beth on October 3, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Hi Patricia ~ It did cool down as I used it so I'm not sure if perhaps the reason to heat it is that it changes something chemically with the vinegar. I don't know enough about chemistry to figure that out. It may be that it needs to be warmed so that the dishwashing liquid mixes better with the vinegar. I would say to try a smaller amount at room temperature and see what kind of results you get if you don't want to warm up the vinegar. Thanks so much for stopping by! mbReply

Anne on October 5, 2012 at 2:06 pm

regarding Dawn detergent...I know Dawn has safe degreasers that other many dish detergents do not have. (We use it to clean wildlife after oil spills). Don't know if it makes a difference cleaning the shower, but maybe if you had to clean a really cruddy one?...Reply

Mary Beth on October 6, 2012 at 1:00 am
Hi Anne, I had another comment over at Hometalk regarding using an organic dishwashing liquid and the commenter said she had a good result so I think most soaps will work well. Have a wonderful weekend! mary bethReply
Mary on February 20, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Dawn kills fleas and ticks on your pooch as well, Just remember to use a conditioner after...you know those little bottles you get in motel rooms?Reply

THALIA on March 20, 2013 at 9:25 am

This stuff is a miracle!!!! I love it! the best part is that it doesn't give asthma or allergies!!! I can't thank you enough!!Reply

Diane on July 18, 2019 at 11:03 pm

Vinegar is THE BEST! Sometimes I clean apartments between tenants... not a fun job and rarely does anyone leave their tub squeaky clean. What has worked for me is a Dobi scrubby... the one that's thin with a sponge side and a scrubby side and straight vinegar. In a flash, I can get the built-up soap gunk off the shower walls. And because there's already soap on the shower walls just straight vinegar does the job for me. I have had some that had something other than soap... maybe grease of some sort... I really don't want to know... so with those I also use BonAmi another old fashioned cleanser that doesn't scratch. Usually, between the two it makes pretty fast work of some tough jobs and no harmful chemicals. As always... I LOVE your tips, Mary Beth! You're the BEST!!!!Reply

Mary Beth on July 19, 2019 at 6:57 pm
Thank you so much, Diane, and I love your tips, too! I use BonAmi often and Bar Keepers Friend for scrubbing sometimes if I need a little extra somethin'. <3Reply

The best soap scum remover and tub and shower cleaner ever!

Homemade Soap Scum Remover with Vinegar

Homemade Soap Scum Remover That Really Works!