Vinegar is touted as being one of the best homemade remedies for every type of cleaning woe. Tough grime? Vinegar. Hard water marks? Vinegar. Limescale? Vinegar.
So when I saw a two-ingredient remedy for getting rid of soap scum and hard water marks from shower glass, I took one look at my bathroom and realised it was due a good scrub. Living in London means that unsightly hard water marks are fairly common, unless you’re actively scrubbing, wiping and swiping after every shower.
Usually Windolene is my go-to, so seeing how well a homemade remedy could match up piqued my interest. One TikTok by a professional cleaner, Hannah (Your Cleaning Specialist on TikTok), recommended a solution of cleaning or white vinegar and washing up liquid.
That’s all you need, allegedly. Vinegar is a good natural ingredient to use as it contains high levels of acetic acid.
The acetic acid will be able to help cut through any grime build up as the vinegar kills any lingering bacteria. The hack uses a bucket to mix up the solution, but as I don’t own a bucket, I measured out the ingredients in millilitres into a jug. Even a whiff of vinegar is enough to make anyone wince.
You can either dunk the sponge into the cleaning solution, but I opted to put it in a near-empty spray bottle. Although you may need to spritz generously, it does make it easier to condense the solution and carry it around.
I advise anyone who’s sensitive to smells to be wary around this solution. I liberally sprayed the solution over my shower glass, buffing it in as much as I can with the rough side of a sponge.
Then, we wait. I left it for the maximum recommended time – 20 minutes – hoping it would work its magic.
Now for round two. The washing up liquid becomes more sudsy the second time around, and the overpowering vinegar stench gets slightly easier to palate.
Applying as much pressure as I can without flinging the shower glass into the sink, I try to see if any of the water marks disappeared after the first layer. Really, I couldn’t tell.
The moment of truth arrives when I turn on the shower. It doesn’t indicate whether to use hot or cold, so I went with warm teetering on the verge of hot just so I don’t burn my feet.
Carefully rinsing and avoiding flooding the floor, the suds trickle away to reveal a perfectly transparent glass, bouncing off light from every angle.
The homemade remedy worked like a charm. Yes a little bit of elbow grease is required, but I spent all of a few minutes applying, scrubbing and then rinsing.
While it may be a pain to wait for 15 to 20 minutes to soak, the results speak for themselves. They are really worth it.
How to remove soap scum and hard water marks
In a bucket combine one cup of vinegar with one fourth of a cup of washing up liquid and one cup of water. Use a non-scratchy sponge to apply the solution to the shower glass.
Or for stubborn stains, apply with a scourer. Make sure you’ve worked the solution thoroughly.
Leave to sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the time is up, make sure to work the solution in once again to “agitate” it.
Wash off with water, and your glass should be crystal clear.
