how to clean shower floor
Tips and tricks on how to clean shower floor and walls so you can keep a healthy and clean home with less effort.
Cleaning the bathroom is the hardest job, especially if you have a lot of people living in your home. The shower floor is not usually a very "pretty" job and requires a little bit of elbow grease and effort to get those tough stains off the floor. No one wants to shower on a moldy floor and sometimes even though you are cleaning the shower floor it's still molding, rusting, and getting grimy faster than you can keep it clean.
But not to worry, you can still make your shower floor glimmer and shine and keep it microbe and parasite-free. Remember that cleaning the shower floor on a regular basis will also help keep the grime and soap scum at bay, which can get quite slippery and unsafe too.
I have some awesome, easy-to-follow tips and I'm so excited to share with you how to clean shower the floor, the right way, making this whole chore much easier and helping you keep a clean shower floor.
*This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure here.
A Note About Store Bought Bathroom Cleaners
Many store-bought bathroom cleaners had harmful chemicals in them which are not great for the health of your family. Making your own cleaners can reduce pollution to our waterways and the air, as well as minimize the impact on ozone depletion and climate change. There is no packaging either when you make your own cleaners, so that's a plus
Effective Tools For Cleaning The Shower Floor
Before we start cleaning the floor, we need to make sure we have the right tools at our disposal. We want to avoid using anything that could damage the shower floor, and most shower floors will require non-abrasive soap and softer scrubbing brushes.
The Cleaner: The best cleaner to use on your shower floor is the very simple, all-around effective Dawn Dish soap. If you don't have that on hand, you can always try Lysol or another mild non-abrasive cleaner. You're really looking for a cleaner here that can cut through tough grease and grime, which is why Dawn Dish Soap is my go-to tool for the job.
The Tool: You can use a simple two-sided sponge, a soft brush, or a microfiber cloth to clean the shower. You may want to opt for the scrub brush as the main tool though because there is a little elbow grease involved and a scrub brush can make the whole job simpler.
Cleaners And Tools To Avoid: Do not use ammonia on your shower floors as that can damage fibreglass surfaces and even discolor tile. You'll also want to avoid using steel wool which could damage the finish on your flooring.
How To Clean The Shower Floor
Step 1: Apply Cleaner and Scrub
The very first thing you'll want to do is dampen the floor and apply the cleaner that you chose. In my case, it's dawn dish soap straight from the bottle. You don't need to use a lot, a little bit of blue dawn goes a long way.
When you've finished adding the dish soap to the floor, use your cloth to spread it around, making sure to cover the entire surface with the cleaner.
After you've applied the cleaner everywhere, use your scrub brush and gently scrub the floor. Be sure to get the drain area really well as that is where a lot of the grime builds up naturally.
Step 2: Rinse Away
After you've applied the cleaner, rinse it all away with the showerhead. Make sure to get all the soap away from the corners and any other creases that you have on your floor.
Step 3: Dry
Even though it is a shower, you do need to dry the floor when you are finished washing away all your cleaner. You can use a good absorbent microfiber cloth to do the drying, and it shouldn't take too long at all. This step is important as it helps prevent further mildew and grime to build up after your cleaning session.
Realistically, this is all you need to do in order to get your shower floor clean, but if you are still looking at some stains and thinking you need to clean a little more to be happy with the result then I do have more tips for you.
How To Clean A shower Floor That Has Tough Stains
There are a few different ways to remove really tough stains off your shower floor:
- Baking Soda
- Vinegar
- Lemon Juice
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Bleach
- Fabric Softener
These are the same methods I discuss when I talk about cleaning tough mold off the bathtub caulking too.
Baking Soda
You can use baking soda on so many different parts of your home, and the shower floor is no exception.
Baking soda can cut through soap scum but isn't terribly effective when it comes to rust.
To use baking soda to clean your shower floor make a paste that is half water and half baking soda and then use a sponge to spread it around the floor. You can let it sit and cut through the grime, or scrub right away.
When you are finished scrubbing, rinse the baking soda away. If you really wanted to, now is a good time to clean the drain as well since you already have the baking soda on the shower floor, rinse it away with vinegar before rinsing with water and this can help clear the drains.
Vinegar
Sometimes it's the watermarks that stick around, sometimes it's a little bit of rust. Whatever the culprit that is making the stain impossible to remove, try some vinegar on it.
A little bit of white vinegar, the kind you have in the pantry, should cut through those tough stains because of its high levels of acid.
If you can plug the drain in any way, do so before you pour the vinegar onto the shower floor. If you cannot plug the drain in any way, soak some paper towels in vinegar and cover the shower floor with soaked paper towels. Rags will work for this too.
You can either pour the vinegar from a large spout or use a spray bottle to distribute the vinegar on the shower floor. Once the vinegar is on there, let it sit for 10 minutes.
After ten minutes, look at your stains and see if you need to scrub a little further. Scrub if needed, if not, then rinse off the vinegar with the showerhead.
Don't forget to dry the floor.
Lemon Juice
Just like the acid in the vinegar, lemon juice will work the very same way. Lemon juice is excellent for getting rid of rust.
Just pour the juice (fresh is best) right over the stain and wait a few hours for it to do its thing.
Scrub if needed, and rinse off with water when finished.
Remember to dry the floor when you are all done!
Hydrogen Peroxide
If you are seeing dark spots on a lighter-coloured shower floor or even a bathtub you can get rid of these stains with Hydrogen Peroxide.
Use a paper towel or a microfiber cloth (white is best since it'll likely change color after this) and soak it with hydrogen peroxide and nothing else. Put the wet cloth onto the stain and let it sit. If the stain is super tough then you can let it sit overnight.
Rinse off with the showerhead and dry the floor when you are all finished.
Bleach
If the stains are really tough, then you can use bleach. I personally do not love using the bleach route but sometimes, it's a must if the stain or mold is really really bad.
You can remove mold from the shower floor by applying bleach to the stain and then using a scrub brush on the bad spots. It's a good idea to use some sort of a mask and long gloves when working with bleach and other chemicals that are harsh like bleach. If you must leave it overnight, leave the bathroom fan on or leave the window open to air out the bleach smell.
You can also keep applying the bleach if you notice it's going to take some serious time and treatment to remove the mold from your shower floor.
Don't forget to rinse well when you are finished. If you are using the bleach route, I would go the extra step and scrub the floor with dawn dish soap once again just to remove as much of the bleach as possible.
Don't forget to dry the floor too when you're done, or all that work you just did to get rid of the mold is going to be null and void!
Fabric Softener
You heard it, fabric softener! It's actually really good at tackling soap scum. Just mix 1/2 cup of fabric softener with 1 cup of WARM water and spray onto the soap scum on the shower floor. Get all the crevices and let them sit for five to thirty minutes, depending on how yucky the gunk on your shower floor is.
Use a wet sponge or a soft brush and loosen the grime away. Rinse the shower floor and dry off with a microfiber cloth.
Tips For Keeping The Shower Floor Clean
Dry Floor Regularly
Because mold loves moist warm areas, the shower floor is a great place to set up camp. Make sure to dry your shower floors when you are finished with your daily wash, or use the bathroom fan and open a window if you can to dry out the entire bathroom and prevent that mold from growing.
Dry Doors and Walls Too
A lot of times when you are finished in the shower, the shower walls are wet too. Dry them off and prevent that water from dripping onto your dry shower floors to help prevent the growth of mold.
Use The Right Solution
Depending on your floor type, you may want to find the right solution for your flooring needs. The most popular floor types are tile, stone, and fiberglass. If your floor is made from tile you should use mild and soft cleaners and hard sponges for scrubbing. The vinegar or the baking soda route will be best for tile floors if you have tough stains. Dawn dish soap will be suitable as a weekly cleaner for the shower floor. If your floor is made from fiberglass then you don't really have to worry too much about the solutions you use, and it can take on bleach very well. For fiberglass floors, you should avoid using a hard scrub brush to avoid damaging it, but a soft brush will be ok. Stone floors on the other hand are a little tougher to clean because they take in soap scum and grime a lot easier. Preventing, in this case, is better than cleaning. Remember that preventing a dirty shower floor is as simple as drying the floor after using it. You can use dawn dish soap on stone floors, but they may be tougher to clean. I would avoid harsh cleaners on the stone in order to avoid damaging the floor.
Clean Regularly
You should be cleaning your floors every time the shower is used to make the cleaning job much easier on yourself later on. Preventative measures now will save your back later when you're scrubbing the shower floors and walls so it is important that you take them. If you cannot dry your shower floor daily, then you should be spending one day a week cleaning the shower floor, not when you notice a funny smell or a stain pop up.
How to Clean Shower Floor Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Mop The Shower Floor?
Yes, you can mop your shower floor! This makes the cleaning of the floor easy, especially if you're mopping it on a daily basis. Just use a dry mop in the shower to soak up all the moisture after a shower or use a microfiber cloth to keep the areas that the mop can't reach dry.
What Is Best Time to Clean Your Shower Floors
The best time is right away after a shower. Because you just showered the air will be steamy and water will help loosen up any dirt and scum that is leftover in the shower. You can even keep an old toothbrush for cleaning the get into the crevices when the shower is still steamy.
How Often Should You Deep Clean Your Shower Floors?
I would love to tell you that it's best to clean your shower floors weekly as that is ideal, however, most people are so busy with this and with proper daily drying, you can get away with cleaning the shower floor on a monthly basis. You don't want to go longer than a month before cleaning your shower floor to prevent foot infections and not notice the growth of mold and fungi. You protect your feet from possible infections when you keep your shower floors clean.
I Heard you Can Use Oven Cleaner On Plastic Shower floors, Is this True?
You can use oven cleaner, but keep in mind that it is more toxic than some of the other solutions I offered up (other than the bleach but i stated my concerns over it.)
This is how you would use oven cleaner on your shower floor:
Put on gloves
Get can of Easy-Off oven cleaner non-fume (blue can)
Shake can well and spray liberally on the shower floor
Let sit overnight
Rinse thoroughly
Dry floor
Wrapping Up On How To Clean Shower Floor
Cleaning the shower floor shouldn't be a daunting task, and it won't be if you keep up on it. You can even use a daily shower spray on the shower floor if you need to. It's when the soap scum builds up that the job of cleaning the shower floor gets more difficult. You can avoid the headache with regular maintenance and cleaning.
Be sure to start cleaning from the top of the shower to the bottom of the shower, ending with the floors as this is the proper way to clean pretty much anything and everything.
More Bathroom Cleaning Articles
- How to Quickly and Efficiently Green Clean the Bathroom
- How To Clean Bathroom Rugs Of All Types
- How To Clean A Shower Curtain That Is Plastic
- Powerful DIY Daily Shower Cleaner (Homemade Spray)
- How To Remove Black Mold From Shower Caulk
- The One Thing You Need To Do To Keep Your Toilet Clean Longer
- How To Clean Shower Doors With Vinegar
how to clean shower floor
Source: https://thecleaningmommy.com/how-to-clean-shower-floor/
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