Pesky streaks, soap scum, and hard water stains can take away the net appearance of the shower door.
Well, let’s walk through some of the effective strategies that you can use to clean the shower doors. When cleaning the shower doors, you aim at preventing grime and stain from building up.
When cleaning the shower doors, things can be a bit challenging and frustrating, especially if you have overlapping sliding shower doors.
For example, the sliding glass shower doors tend to overlap from each side by approximately 4 inches when closed. In addition, when you slide it to either direction, the 4-inch overlap is still covered.
There is no other more straightforward way of getting into the 4-inch strip of the overlapping sliding shower doors apart from completely taking off the shower doors.
Unfortunately, that’s another heavy and time-consuming task. Furthermore, you might need the service of door technicians, which will cost an extra lot of expense that was not on the budget.
To clean the 4-inch overlap of the sliding shower door, most individuals opt to squeeze a thin mop into the space or splashing regular water detergents and leaving it only at that.
However, the method is not effective since it leaves the stains intact and more pronounced. The thin cleaning materials leave streaks since you can’t make it to slide the soaked towel effectively through the overlap.
Cleaning the overlapping sliding shower doors is not a walk in the park, but don’t worry, there is always a better way to do it.
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How to Clean Overlapping Sliding Shower Doors: Simple Hacks
The main culprits that cause stains and marks on overlapping shower doors are soap scum and hard water. The hard water stains cannot be seen easily, but they are harmless.
On the other hand, the soap scum involves a composition of harbor dirt and bacteria. Therefore it’s best to keep your shower door free from the soap scum to avoid infections. Here are some of the cleaning tips:
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How to Remove Hard Water Stains
Water-rich in mineral content, specifically magnesium and calcium, are known as hard water.
They are not harmful if one drinks or is used in washing. However, the only problem with hard water is making the cleaning process, including showering, harder.
When the hard water is left to dry on any surface, they leave a mineral film that stains the glass, mostly the transparent ones.
To get rid of hard water stains on shower doors, you need a gentle and non-abrasive cleaner.
Otherwise, you might scratch the glass heavily, making it crack. In addition, be keen to avoid scouring the pads. A brush with soft plastic bristles and a damp sponge works well.
Windex and the other cleaners are solely designed to clean glass, but you can use the distilled white vinegar if you don’t want the harsh chemicals. Warm the vinegar for approximately 30 seconds, then pour it into the spray bottle.
Spray the vinegar on the glass door to form a mist. Let the vinegar soak at the shower door for around 5 to 30 minutes, then scrub the glass gently and later rinse.
For the severe hard water stain, you need the warmed vinegar mixed with the grease-cutting soap. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes before scrubbing it off.
Note: If your shower is made from natural stone tiles, avoid vinegar or other acidic cleaners because they can damage and denature the stone. Instead, you can use the dish soap plus the baking sodas.
Apply the mixture and spread using a damp sponge as you scrub the glass lightly before rinsing.
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How To Get rid of the Soap scum
Soap scum that typically builds up in shower doors is annoying and difficult to clean. For this, you need to add a little vinegar to the baking soda.
The mixture will produce foam, but a paste you can apply on the shower door is formed when the bubble settles down.
Spread it over the soap scum and let it settle there for 15 minutes before scrubbing it off with a soft sponge. Rinse it later with clean running water.
If you don’t have or you dislike vinegar, you can use a lemon cut into two halves.
Dip the lemon into the baking soda and allow it to bubble gently—the formed product is the one you can use to scrub directly into the soap scum on the shower door.
You can sprinkle little table salt on the overlapping areas and try scrubbing the area using a thin towel. Salt is abrasive so do it gently to avoid scratching the glass.
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How to Get Rid Of Streak
After doing a thorough cleaning, you can find cleaning solutions or water streaks on the glass. To get a perfect shine off the shower door, use a mixture of water and ammonia.
Combine two tablespoons of ammonia with two cups of water, then spray the moisture on the sliding shower doors. Please leave it to air-dry for three minutes, then buff the streaks using a dry microfiber cloth.
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How to clean the Overlapping Sliding Shower Door Tracks
Sliding shower doors have the probability of trapping a lot of hard water stains, mold, and mildew, plus the soap scum along the metal track. Shower door tracks are tricky spots to clean since you can’t easily scrub or sponge.
It would help if you had foaming bathroom cleaners such as scrubbing bubbles to get into the hard-to-reach areas of the sliding shower doors.
Alternatively, distilled white vinegar still works in cleaning the track of the sliding shower doors. You have to plug a small hole that allows water to drain from the tracks after filling it with vinegar.
When you pour the vinegar into the track, please leave it to sit there overnight so that it can dissolve the grime. The following day, soak the other vinegar with the paper towel and use the old toothbrush to scrub the loose debris.
Conclusion: How to Keep the Overlapping Sliding Shower Door Clean
You can’t prevent the hard water stain and the soap scum completely, but you can stop the grime from building up. Always avoid letting the water droplets dry up on the shower door.
Scrape the shower doors after use and keep squeegee inside the bathroom for convenience. After the squeegee, consider using the daily spray.
You can stop the soap scum formation by installing a water softening system to also prevent hard water stains.
It’s pretty expensive, but it will make things easier.
When you need help in removing the stubborn hard water stain and soap scum in the sliding shower door, you can still hire professional service from a nearby commercial cleaning company.
