Four Natural Ways to Keep Your Shower Clean

After a long day at work, coming home to a hot shower is undoubtedly one of life’s simplest yet greatest pleasures. Indeed, showers are universally recognized as a place of comfort and relaxation, the place many people start and end their day with.

However, this crucial place in every home is also notoriously hard to keep squeaky clean. Harsh chemical products like ammonia, bleach, and sulfuric acids line the shelves at supermarkets, promising to keep every bit of dirt away. Many also include air fresheners in their shower spaces for an artificial scent. Experts at Victoria Plum also recommend investing in a good shower trap for better drainage too.

Now, while these products may work to keep the grime at bay, the fact is that they also come with unwanted side effects. With so many harmful chemicals cooped up in such a small space, it can drastically reduce air quality in your home. The environment suffers, too.

You might think that these are inevitable consequences to accept for a clean bathroom, but that’s not the case! In fact, here are effective yet completely natural ways to keep your showers clean without any of the chemicals.

Get new shower curtains

Even if your showers are not due for a complete overhaul anytime soon, the shower curtain is something you can change easily. If you don’t have permanently installed panels in your bathroom, chances are that you have a shower curtain to help divide the space. On its own, the shower curtain is certainly an important addition to keep the entire bathroom as dry as possible, but on top of just having one, it’s important to have the right one.

Plastic or vinyl shower curtains actually release more than a hundred chemicals, known as volatile organic compounds, into your bathroom, which is why you might sense a strange smell when you unpackage one for the first time. As it comes into contact with heat and detergents from regular use, the toxins are released even more quickly. Those with sensitivities may experience symptoms from exposure, ranging from eye and nasal irritation to asthma.

As such, it’s advisable to switch from a plastic shower curtain to a polyester or cotton one, though you’ll have to wash and dry these often to avoid mold. It’s not too difficult either, as all you need is a bucket of soapy water. You can add salt or white vinegar to the mix for an extra shine. After soaking, hang it up until it is completely dry — and voila, you have a safe and clean shower curtain.

Use the right tools

It’s no secret that showers need to be cleaned often to be kept spick and span, but many of us often succumb to laziness. After all, cleaning the bathroom is a lot of hard work, with intense scrubbing and wiping that might just leave you aching all over.

Well, that might be the case for some, but definitely not for those with an arsenal of the right cleaning tools that help you clean without feeling like you’ve been to a Crossfit class. For one, you can toss out the tiny scrubbing toothbrush for a new powered scrubber, which helps to remove stains effortlessly. If you already have a power drill, try looking for scrubbers that come as drill attachments to save cost.

As for all the tedious wiping work you have to do over mirrors, tiles, counters, and panels, a new steam cleaner will help to remove just about all the dirt off them, layer by layer without all the unnecessary legwork. With these tools, cleaning your shower just became so much easier and way less daunting to complete even on a weekday night.

Get into a routine of daily cleaning

Showers have a reputation of being a hassle to clean, so it’s no surprise that many do leave it to do over the weekend, or even just on one day a month. Well, to cut down on those days with ridiculously long cleaning times, the solution is simple.

Instead of doing a tough deep clean once in a while, go for drying your showers every day. It doesn’t have to be a terribly long process — just grab a microfiber cloth and wipe down wet surfaces, and use a blade to dry your shower screens. In fact, a couple of quick swooshes should take you no longer than five minutes. Additionally, you can turn on your exhaust fan and leave it for 15 minutes to make sure your bathroom is desert dry.

This will prevent the build-up of dirt and mold which have a tendency to thrive in moist environments and get rain of pesky watermarks that stain your mirrors and shower screens. And when you do get down to deep cleaning, it’ll be a much easier affair.

Skip the toxic detergents

While we’re talking about harmful chemicals, we have to emphasize those in detergents and cleaning solutions. These factory-produced solutions are primed to kill bacteria and clear out the grime in your showers, but as a result, they can actually be toxic to humans as well.

So in avoiding these sorts of unhealthy toxins, what can we use to make sure our showers are clean? Well, we can actually make our own cleaning solutions that are similarly effective, but much less dangerous. These natural cleaning solutions are made with ingredients you can easily find around your house, especially in your kitchen. For one, a popular recipe is to mix vinegar and bicarbonate soda for a solution that works as well as bleach. This works well with stains and general shine.

For tougher problems like getting rid of stubborn grime, go for a white vinegar and water mix. With one part vinegar to four parts water, mix well and heat in the microwave for about a minute. After cooling, pour this mixture into a spray bottle and spray over the affected surface. Leave for three minutes and then wipe off with a cloth. The grime should be softened and come right off, all without harmful cleaning products and chemicals.

Conclusion

To conclude, everyone loves a clean shower, and having one is a surefire way to let the anxieties melt away after a tough day. While keeping it clean requires some effort, with these four steps, you can have it not only much easier but toxin-free too.