How to Keep Your Shower Looking Great: Tips From Nearly 20 Years of Professional Cleaning

A sparkling shower can make the entire bathroom feel cleaner. Unfortunately, showers are also one of the quickest areas of the home to develop soap scum, water spots and hard-water deposits.

At Rocking Robins Maids LLC, we’ve been professionally cleaning homes since 2007. After almost 20 years of cleaning bathrooms, we’ve learned that keeping a shower looking great is much easier than trying to restore one after months of buildup.

The biggest lesson? Start with the gentlest cleaning method that gets the job done, and don’t allow buildup to get out of control.

Here are some of the techniques we’ve learned from years of cleaning real homes.

1. Squeegee Glass Shower Doors After Each Shower

One of the easiest things you can do is also one of the most effective: keep a squeegee in the shower.

Running it over the glass after showering removes much of the water before it has a chance to dry on the surface. This can help reduce water spots and mineral buildup and keep glass looking clearer between cleanings.

It only takes a minute, but doing it consistently can make a noticeable difference.

2. Don’t Let Soap Scum Build Up

Soap scum is much easier to deal with when there’s only a light layer.

When it’s allowed to accumulate week after week, it can become a thick, cloudy film that requires considerably more work to remove.

Regularly wiping down the shower walls and glass helps prevent a small cleaning job from becoming a major scrubbing project.

After almost 20 years of cleaning homes, this is one thing we see over and over: maintenance is easier than restoration.

3. Start Gentle — Sometimes a Glass Cloth Is Enough

Before reaching for a stronger cleaning product or scrubbing tool, start with the gentlest method.

Sometimes what looks like stubborn soap scum on shower glass can actually be buffed away with a good glass-cleaning cloth.

We’ve cleaned shower doors where a little extra buffing with a glass cloth was all that was needed to bring back the shine.

If the gentle approach works, there’s no reason to use something more aggressive.

4. When a Shower Needs More Help, We Use Scum Bum

Some showers need more than a glass cloth and routine cleaning.

For neglected showers with heavier soap scum and hard-water deposits, one of our go-to professional cleaning products at Rocking Robins Maids is Scum Bum from Speed Cleaning.

We spray the product onto the appropriate surface, allow it time to dwell and do some of the work, and then scrub away the loosened buildup.

Allowing a cleaning product the proper dwell time is important. Immediately spraying and wiping doesn’t always give the product enough time to work on stubborn buildup.

Important: Scum Bum should not be used on natural stone. We also use it in a well-ventilated area and follow the manufacturer’s directions and precautions.

Disclosure: Rocking Robins Maids LLC is not affiliated with or sponsored by Speed Cleaning. We purchase Scum Bum for use in our professional cleaning work because it has worked well for us on soap scum and hard-water buildup.

5. For Really Tough Hard-Water Deposits, We May Use 0000 Steel Wool

Occasionally we encounter shower glass with hard-water deposits that won’t come off with our gentler methods.

For particularly stubborn buildup on appropriate, non-tinted shower glass, 0000-grade steel wool can be another tool we use.

The 0000 grade is extremely fine, but that doesn’t mean it should automatically be used on every shower door.

We do not recommend using steel wool on tinted glass, coated glass, or a surface that could be damaged by an abrasive material.

If you don’t know what type of glass or coating you have, don’t take the chance. Check the manufacturer’s care instructions first.

This is another reason we follow a simple rule:

Start gentle and only move to a stronger method when it’s actually necessary.

6. Don’t Forget the Shower-Door Tracks

The glass may get most of the attention, but look down.

Shower-door tracks can collect water, soap residue, hair and grime. Because they’re low and somewhat hidden, they’re also one of the areas homeowners can easily overlook.

Regularly cleaning the tracks, corners and edges of your shower can make a surprisingly big difference in how clean the entire shower looks.

7. Move Shampoo Bottles, Soap and Shower Accessories

Pick up your shampoo bottle sometime and look underneath it.

Bottles, soap dishes, razors and shower caddies can trap moisture and leave rings and residue behind.

When cleaning your shower, remove these items rather than simply cleaning around them.

It’s a small detail, but professional cleaning is often about noticing the areas that are easy to miss.

8. Keep Your Bathroom Ventilated

Moisture is part of every shower, but you don’t want that moisture trapped in the bathroom longer than necessary.

Use your bathroom exhaust fan while showering and allow it to continue running afterward according to the fan manufacturer’s recommendations.

Allowing the shower and bathroom to dry can help reduce the damp environment that contributes to unwanted buildup.

9. Remember the Fixtures

A clean shower can still look unfinished when the showerhead, handles and other fixtures are covered with water spots and residue.

Include your fixtures in your regular bathroom-cleaning routine.

A quick wipe and buff can often make them look considerably better without adding much time to the job.

10. Know What You’re Cleaning Before Choosing a Product

This may be one of the most important shower-cleaning tips we can give.

Not every shower surface should be cleaned the same way.

Glass, ceramic or porcelain tile, fiberglass, natural stone, grout, metal fixtures and specialty coatings can all have different care requirements.

A product or technique that works beautifully on one surface could damage another.

Before trying a new chemical or abrasive cleaning method, identify the surface and check its care instructions. When in doubt, start with the least aggressive method.

Our Approach After Almost 20 Years of Cleaning Showers

At Rocking Robins Maids, we don’t automatically start with the strongest product or most aggressive cleaning method.

Our approach is to work our way up depending on what the shower actually needs.

We start gently with a glass cloth.

If soap scum and hard-water buildup need more attention, Scum Bum is one of our preferred products for appropriate surfaces.

For especially stubborn hard-water deposits on appropriate non-tinted shower glass, 0000 steel wool may help with the toughest jobs.

Knowing when to stop, when to try something stronger and when a surface shouldn’t be treated aggressively at all comes from experience.

The Best Shower-Cleaning Trick Is Consistency

You don’t need to wait until your shower looks terrible to clean it.

A quick squeegee after showering, good ventilation and regular cleaning can go a long way toward keeping soap scum and hard-water deposits under control.

And when buildup does appear, remember:

Start gentle. Know your surface. Give the cleaning product time to work. Only move to a stronger method when necessary.

Robin’s Pro Tip: “After almost 20 years of cleaning homes, I’ve learned that you don’t always need to start with the strongest cleaner. Sometimes a glass cloth and a little buffing are enough. We start gentle and work our way up depending on the buildup and the surface we’re cleaning.”

— Robin Clark, Founder & Owner, Rocking Robins Maids LLC

Professional House Cleaning From Rocking Robins Maids LLC

Rocking Robins Maids LLC has been helping homeowners keep their homes clean since 2007. Our locally owned, family-run company provides professional residential cleaning, including recurring house cleaning and detailed deep cleaning.

Whether your home needs a thorough first cleaning or you’d like help keeping up with it on a regular basis, our Cleaning Technicians focus on the details that make a clean home feel truly clean.

Serving the Louisville, Kentucky area and Southern Indiana.

Rocking Robins Maids LLC
Locally Owned. Family Run. Spotlessly Done.
Professional residential cleaning since 2007