The Best Homemade Shower Cleaner
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Published: Jul 06, 2017
Updated: Sep 07, 2022
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This Homemade Shower Cleaner is a great way to replace pricey and chemical-filled shower cleaners from the store. Try the best 2 ingredients homemade shower cleaner on tough soap scum or for daily shower cleaning. IT WORKS! Homemade cleaners are my favorite! With just two ingredients this shower cleaner will have your tub and walls sparkling again!
The Best Homemade Shower Cleaner
If you have young children in the house, keeping chemicals away from them is important. But, tub and shower maintenance is important too! I love that this cleaning solution doesn’t contain bleach or other harsh chemicals that many tub and tile cleaners do.
Other than having a sparkly clean shower, I love the smell it leaves. Why? Because it doesn’t leave a smell! Using vinegar is an old-fashioned and well-known trick to DIY cleaning. You smell the vinegar when you’re making the cleaning solution, but you don’t smell it when you’re done cleaning.
Ingredients:
-
Dawn Dish Soap
-
Plain white vinegar (any brand)
Why put dish soap in a shower cleaner?
When combined with an equal part of vinegar, this is a solution that many people have been using for years to remove soap scum without scrubbing.
How do you use vinegar for cleaning?
Vinegar will help melt soap scum and tub and shower buildup, clean sinks, appliances, and just about anything. Use this to wipe down your shower or tub when you are done and your shower will always be clean!
Using this shower cleaner, the vinegar will penetrate the buildup and the dish soap will cut through the pesky soap residue. They are a duo that really works like magic together! Use this solution daily as a maintenance cleaner or about once a week for deeper cleanings.
This shower cleaner has been called several things on Pinterest, but no matter what, it is tried and true! I often buy the ingredients in bulk which makes this homemade shower cleaner a breeze to make for just a few cents. What’s not to love about money-saving household cleaners?
More DIY Cleaners by Smart School House to Try Next:

Homemade Shower Cleaner
Supplies
- Dawn Dish Soap
- Plain white vinegar (any brand)
- Sponge
Instructions
- If you can, use a sponge with a soap dispensing dishwand like this. But, you can really save this cleaning solution in any container that works for you. The wand is super convenient and it can hang in the shower.
- Fill 1/2 of the container with Dawn Dish Soap
- Fill the other 1/2 of the container with vinegar
- Shake it up before you use it.
How do you keep the solution in? My leaks out.
It is a great idea to keep clean your shower and save money!
Vinegar WILL ETCH stone surfaces, i.e. Granite
To clean hard water off of shower doors, use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Works amazing. Also works well on tile to get rid of soap scum.
Our shower doors had a special coating on them to repel water but I think it has worn off by now. We are going to put rainX that you usually use on a car windshield because it repels water, too.
DOes it help with mold also? I have to clean twice a week to keep the mold out.
I ‘ve had a few spots of mold and got some 3% hydrogen peroxide from the pharmacy/drugstore, filled it into a small drip bottle. Wiped dry the moldy areas with a microfibre cloth and dapped a small amount of the H2O2 on there, repeated daily for ~4weeks, stopped the patches
Hi,
Was wondering if it is just for tile showers or can it be used on other types of shower walls? Thanks
Can you use it on shower doors?
Is it just for tile or will it work on onyx, quartz or other man made products without harming the finish?
I use this combination but also add baking soda. It works really well!
Does it work on glass shower doors?
The best cleaner ever; however, make sure you rinse the stall floor well because it can get pretty slick!
Can you please tell me why these types of home remedies always say ‘Dawn’ dish washing detergent, not just any detergent. Is it different, or would any dishwashing detergent work? I don’t think we have Dawn here in Australia.
Julie – Dawn is absolutely incredible….. It’s amazing how it cuts grease….. We live on a river and several years ago a tropical storm caused a tidal surge which flooded yards and homes. Many people had oil tanks (for heating fuel) that were pushed into the water causing oil spills….. Even after the water level lessened – there were spots of oil residue in the grass. All you had to do was squeeze a few drops of Dawn and the oil “magically” disappeared.
Could you possibly order from Amazon?
(BTW – we see frequent commercials where they show ducks and other waterfowl being carefully cleaned with Dawn after oil spills – it’s true….. Dawn has saved the lives of thousands of waterfowl).
Hope I’ve helped you understand…..
I would ask the same question – why DAWN your answer does not say what the difference is between DAWN & any other dish liquid product – we don’t have DAWN in Thailand
ANY DISH WAS THAT CUTS GREASE WILL WORK. I HAVE USED SEVERAL DIFFERENT BRANDS. I USUALLY USE DAWN BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT I KEEP IN MY KITCHEN AND IN THE WASH ROOM TO REMOVE STAINS.
I you don’t rinse it off you can fall in the shower or tub. It does work really well.
This definitely works! It removes all soap build up off shower doors . THey went from milky to clear .
I have older doors that have hard water deposits remaining after cleaning, any suggestions to help get this off ? Or is the glass possibly etched from the mineral deposits?
Try Vodka in a spray bottle and let it stay on for at least 5 minutes then remove. Can mix 50/50 with white vinegar as well.
Can this be used on tile/grout?
Is this for tile showers or fiberglass or either/both?
what do you use to clean glass shower. i have water stain on my glass shower can’t get it off.
Try Fuller Brush,Dissolve. Works great.
Bars keepers powder is excellent for glass showers
DO YOU HAVE TO STILL WIPE IT DOWN SO NO SPOTS?
Have to try it
Do you need to rinse off
Great question! Yes, you should rinse it off:) You can let it soak for even better results before rinsing it too!
Any suggestions for hardwater rust stains?
We have exceptionally hard water on our acreage, very high mineral content that would leave deep red rusty stains. We installed reverse osmosis water softner which help immensely. Second step is to stay ahead of the cleaning so the water residue is never there long enough to create staining. I plan to try this chemical free cleaner to see how it works with that in mind.
This works for me, but I also scrub the tub, walls, and head with bleach first.
No bleach for me ..I used to be a bleacj queen. I kept getting sinus infections. I now use Odo Ban. Amazing stuff…It can be bought in Home Depot ir Sam’s club. Dilute with water 50%.
Bar keepers friend u can get it at family doller dollar general and maybe other places my mom has country water and it does wonders
It really does work. Luv this