A shower full of soap scum is not a pretty sight when you have guests over to your house. Water droplets that remain on shower doors and fixtures typically will continue to build up if not cleaned on a regular basis. This is due to hard water and mineral buildups.  Although hard water does not pose any serious health problems, it is a nuisance when doing household chores. For individuals with hard water, it is water that has a high concentration of dissolved minerals, which include magnesium and calcium. One of the benefits of hard water is it contributes a small amount of calcium and magnesium to dietary needs.  You can determine the hardness level of your water by contacting your water supplier. To treat hard water you can also install an electro-magnetic water conditioner.

When bathing in hard water, a film of soap curd can be left on the skin. This film can prevent the removal of bacteria and soils. When washing clothes in hard water, many times clothes can feel hard and scratchy. Even when clothes are laundered they tend to look a little dirty or dingy still. Continuous laundering in hard water can shorten the life of your garments, and damage the fibers.

Although there are hundreds of products that “claim” to eliminate the presence of soap scum and hard water spots, not all live up to the test. It’s imperative that you read the instructions carefully because many of these cleaners can ruin chrome, and brass bathroom fixtures. Also, its best to use only non-abrasive cleaners, since many of these will scratch fiberglass shower doors.

There is also the simple clean up step by just wiping down your shower doors and fixtures with a chamois, or squeegee after each shower usage. Simply take your cloth and wipe in vertical lines from the top of the shower to the bottom. One of the best tested products for not only hard water buildup, but a great multi-purpose cleaner is CLR (Calcium and lime remover). CLR can be purchased at your local supermarket. CLR can be used to clean glass, tile & grout, ceramic, shower heads and fixtures. CLR is very user-friendly, and doesn’t have harsh fumes like some of the cleaning products. Easy directions for cleaning with CLR include and application consisting of spraying, and then wiping with a towel or sponge. Depending on the concentration of soap scum in your shower, you might need to scrub various areas to remove the entirety of soap scum.

Another surprisingly successful product for cleaning stubborn soap scum is Easy- Off Fume Free Oven Cleaner (Blue can). This product is a foam consistency, making it easy to stick to shower walls without running. All you need to do is spray the area and let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Next, take a cloth and only use a little pressure to wipe off and pretso!, you have a sparkling shower! Make sure to watch spraying the calk in your shower.  Cleaning hard water buildup doesn’t have to require tons of elbow grease any longer.