Return to the Cleaning Tips Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
Posted by
kristinamaria (
My Page) on
Thu, Jan 15, 09 at 14:42
| I have extremely hard water and have clear glass shower doors in my master bath. I can't get the hard water stains off to keep it clean. I have tried everything it seems...all those harsh, yucky, expensive chemicals...bar keepers friend,hydrogen peroxide. Someone mentioned vinegar...could that work? They look soooo horrid and I am so embarassed. Any suggestions would be great! thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
Welcome to GardenWeb, kristinamaria.
Yes, vinegar should do it. Pour it in a spray bottle and spray on the glass, let it work on the calcium build-up for a couple minutes and then wipe off. Long term, you should look at getting some type of water softener, and you should squeegee the glass after every shower to keep the calcium from building up. If the vinegar doesn't do the job, you can move to something like Lime-Away or CLR, but try the vinegar first - it's cheaper and less corrosive to the metal parts in the shower. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| Thanks for the welcome and the idea...I'm going to try it tommorrow! |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| Also if you use Rain-X on the shower doors, they won't get mucked up. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| Fabric softener sheets. Wet then scrub. Wipe residue off with a damp cloth, then squeegy. I tried Rain-X once. Almost passed out from the fumes. Can't be good for you and must be applied from inside the shower with the doors closed. Have noticed it is often recommended though..... JR |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| If you are able to get it off, mine was so bad from renter not cleaning properly, you are lucky. Mine was so bad that nothing would get it all off. We tried razor blades to scrape it off. If you are able to get it clean there is a spray that home improvement sells. It is in a pink can and is something like Gel Gloss? It seals the glass from water stains. You reapply every few months and it works great. My pool cleaner sprays my french doors and I plan to use it on the new doors. The old ones were ruined by my not tackling this early on. I used it on my shower and it keeps it really nice. After getting it really clean, use squeegy, stay on it. Do not let it get that bad again. It will become one of your most important and rewarding chores. |
consider switching to curtain
| | |
| I had a sliding glass shower door and tried to keep it clean (never ending battle) but the grout/adhesive goo that sealed the door to surrounding plastic shower walls also became dirty and peeling off. I tried to repair the goo stuff and finally gave up. I unscrewed the shower door frame, removed it, cleaned up the plastic shower edges, and began to use a shower curtain. The curtain rod squeezes in the top of the shower edges and I have a pretty plastic curtain that has gentle flower designs on it. The curtain background is an opaque white with kinda white splotches. There is no "liner" since the pretty curtain is plastic itself. Water stains are not an issue because of the white splotches in the design - you can't tell if there is a water stain or not. No mildew probs now since the whole thing airs out better with the doors gone. I LOVE it. No more work! Just normal cleaning the shower, no more gross stuff. Light goes through the curtain but you cannot see the person in shower. Rachel |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| What you will have to do is use a heavy duty cleaner like Lime-Away or CLR and use several applications. Use the cleaner with a scrubbing pad. It may be too far gone to look like new. After you have done the heavy duty cleaning, then keep up with the regular cleaning after each showering. Keep a squeegee in the shower. Keep a spray bottle of vinegar and water next to the shower. Spray the shower down after each use, then squeegee it off. If you do not have a sqeegee or spray bottle, just take your towel and wipe down the shower. If someone has one of those closed-in showers, always leave the door open for a while. Allow the shower to dry. People close those doors; leaving a hot, moist shower to get mold and mildew. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| I had the same issue. We live in a very hard water area (lime is our big culprit). I searched here for suggestions and tried EVERY, and I mean EVERY recommended cleaner. CLR, an auto glass cleaner I had to special order, vinegar, dryer sheets, steam, blah blah blah. They all did next to nothing. Finally discovered something that works: High-strength vinegar. I got it at the grocery store, sold with the regular vinegar, in a gallon jug. I sprayed it all over the doors, applied paper towels, and sprayed them again so it would soak for awhile. Scrubbed with a scotch brite type pad and it came off. Regular vinegar had done nothing, it had been like spraying water. The high-strength vinegar was like a miracle. I could actually see the cloudy mineral deposits coming off as I sprayed. This was after literally 4 yrs of shower door heck. I was so incredibly happy!! I now pick it up every time I go to that grocery store to keep a gallon of it on reserve at all times. Hope it works for you! |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU sweetbean! *with HUGE smile on face, jumping up n down!* I tried so much stuff (some that I thought would choke me to death!) I saw your post and gave vinegar a try. You were RIGHT! It came off with such ease I stood in amazement just staring! I will use good old fashioned CHEAP VINEGAR FOREVER! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! *with HUGE smile on my face!* |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| I am having the same problem in my son's shower. I tried vinegar,plus a few other things today, without success. I will try soaking the paper towels on the doors for a while to see if it works. To maintain the doors clean, I recommend the Method brand shower spray. I use this in my shower because it's too high for me to reach with a squeegee and it's as clear as the day it was installed. Once I get my son's door clean I will insist he use it too. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| just tried vinegar again on mine, this time really saturating the doors and letting it soak. Nope, didn't work. I'm so frustrated. wasn't high strength vinegar and I didn't use a Scotch Brite pad perhaps I'll try that.... |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| I have this theory that many, not all but many, locations in the Southwest US have significant boron in the water. If that is the case I don't think all the vinegar in the world is going to help. Some dollar stores sell a cleaner with a very, very dilute HCL [Muratic acid, Hydrochloric acid]. This will remove boron. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| I would suggest that the marks may not be hard water deposits but etching of the glass, which cannot be removed. I had to replace a whole glass shower surround due to horrible etching. We have a water softener in our house...and have to be very careful not to use too much detergent in the dishwasher or the glassware etches. Same thing happened in the shower. The glass company suggested we switch from bar soap to body wash (which I don't like.) But, I did switch from Tone soap to Dove and squeegee the glass religiously. So far, no further etching. I suspect that the folks not having luck with vinegar may actually have etched glass. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| My sister always washed her glass shower down with CHEAP shampoo while in the shower. Her doors sparkled. I started washing mine the same way and it works. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
Just posted an answer to a similar thread on this forum:
Try Mr. Clean Bathroom & Shower Eraser. Works great, no chemicals. I even have been known to scrub the shower stall a bit while showering myself. |
RE: HELP! Clear Glass Shower Doors w/ hard water stains
| | |
| My doors aren't etched, I can remove the deposits with my fingernail. Can I safely use a Scotch Brite type pad on glass? It isn't soap scum. I tried Mr. Clean eraser but not a special bathroom one. I talked to the water bureau and they supplemented our high mountain lake water with groundwater in February and it had a high mineral content. They didn't know what minerals or how to remove. Said I was the only caller. We have soft water here and I haven't had hard water deposits on anything since I lived in Arizona. My doors are less than six months old. Previous doors were used for sixteen years with none of this mineral deposits. Lemi shine worked in the dishwasher and cleaned up all my cobalt blue ceramic dishes which had deposits on them and it worked on my tub spout but not the doors. |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Cleaning Tips Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
