Ok, feels like I tried every damn thing here.
How to get those shower screens sparking?
Tried:
This is insane; all the YouTube vids are a scam! š¤¬
How to clean these suckers!!!
As a hard soap bar user, it's common problem.
1) Coat shower screen with Easy-off Bam Soap Scum & Shine spray bottle
2) Wait 10 mins
3) Spray any window cleaner blue liquid (Coles brand is fine)
4) Scrub well with a cloth or sponge
Flawlessly clean every time.
I agree with Easy off Bam being the best shower cleaner. Admittedly I haven't tried the window cleaner except for a final streak free window clean at the end.
i believe the active ingredient is formic acid, so if you have that lying around you may be able to make your own version of it :)
…yeh i think easy off bam is the one weve got…seems to do the job
Watch out for the aerosol version - it's a totally different product to the trigger pack;caustic vs acidic.
The aerosol is more spectacular to use but (in my experience) largely ineffectual.
https://www.drchemical.com.au/chemistry-at-home/bam-vs-bam-vā¦
@AnneThorpe - Are you saying to get the spray, instead of the aerosol?
I disagree the aerosol works better for me.
Apparently thereās been a formula change and itās not as good. NIFTI is the preferred replacement
I totally agree with using Easy Off Bam. You need to use the Active Foam but don't let it sit too long. Spray the whole shower, scour, rinse and job done!
I think it's the Grime & Soap Scum one that was changed.
I find that using Rain-x, the stuff that you use for car windows (after cleaning the water stains) helps to bead water after showers so reduces build up to begin with. Also, do a quick squeegee once in a while.
Maybe CLR (Calcium, Lime. Rust) remover…….
"CLR Calcium, Lime & Rust Remover is a powerful formula that quickly and easily dissolves and removes tough calcium and lime deposits as well as surface rust stains from bathtubs, toilet bowls, sinks, glass, chrome, fiberglass, stainless steel, most coffee makers, humidifiers, dishwashers, washing machines and .."
Unfortunately I can report that this is useless in my experience.
…but the commercial made it sound AMAZING. …..decanters & soap scum??! it promised SO MUCH
I agree - it does nothing!
Also agree. Tried this one with no result.
I concur.
CLR works for us.
CLR works wonders for rust but had to use it as concentrate, canāt comment on scale.
Foam cannon and pressure washer ;)
A cannon would do just fine
Any deals on bathroom renovation?
C4?
steam cleaner
Jif cleaner works really well for me
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/21979/jif-ā¦
Warning it's slightly abrasive so be careful working it hard on other surfaces
I agree. I use jif and it just requires a light wipe with cloth before washing it off and finishing off with some Windex.
Yeah once etched it is impossible to clean. Hard soap is worse for the glass than liquid soap.
Yes exactly. If pure CLR doesn't work then your glass is probably etched. You can try buffing out the etch with ultra fine steel wool and bar keepers friend. That worked on one of my shower doors but couldn't get the other perfect.
My carpet cleaner here will polish out etching. Costs $150 for about two hours of buffing with a compound.
Use some Hydrochloric Acid and water it down. Spray on stains leave for a short while then rinse. Use gloves and make sure to have good ventilation.
In a word 'NO'.
Nah nah, 100% pure. There can't be soap scum if there's no wall left.
And goggle/safety glasses and a respirator.
Hydrocloric acid releases shit you donāt want to breath once it starts reacting with limescale. It can also eat rubber seals, silastic sealant and metal fittings…
will it work, yes. Is it a good idea, definitely not.
I'd be very cautious with this approach - beware of what your shower frame and fittings are made from or you may end up destroying more than you clean. Not to mention the personal hazards you're exposing yourself to.
Try CLR clear, unless its glass cancer. If it is, you are screwed as it gets in the glass.
i found these work well to keep my screens clean
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/247510/chuā¦
get Melamine Sponge instead, same thing.
These didnt work, tried it.
Are you using soap bars or liquid soap?
The liquid soap doesn't leave the scum like the soap bars do
Liquid soap.
Clr works a treat for me.
I donāt dilute it, I just scrub it on leave for a bit and wash off.
Perfect for a house inspection ;)
Sulfamic acid. You can buy it in granulated form from Bunnings and mix it up as you need it. On really thick limescale, like toilets, you mix it really strong, for shower screens and basins/taps, you can water it down much further.
When we moved to the house we are in now, there was a layer of limescale in the toilets that was about 5mm thick and whitish brown. Nothing would move it. It would chip off with a screw driver, but nothing would remove it. Got onto one of the industrial cleaners we have at work and they said try sulphamic acid.
Bought some at Bunnings, mixed it up with some warm water to help it dissolve. Emptied the toilet out and poured the mix in and the limescale dissolved as I was watching it. Took about 8 mins to dissolve it. Hit the remainder with the toilet brush and the toilet looked like new.
Watered it down more and sprayed it on the glass shower screen, give it about 30 seconds to a minute and just hose it off.
whats the commercial name of the sulfamic acid product you bought from bunnings? ive checked the website and it was concrete cleaner?
i tried both spellings - sulfamic and sulphamic without much success.
thanks
Iām not at home at the moment, but I think it is called something like āscalexā
Edit: pretty sure this is the stuff I have at home.
thank you
https://www.bunnings.com.au/glitz-2l-calcium-scale-and-rust-ā¦ Glitz Calcium, scale and rust remover has sulfamic acid at 20g/litre in its MSDS https://2ecffd01e1ab3e9383f0-07db7b9624bbdf022e3b5395236d5cfā¦
plus some glycolic and phosphoric acid.
I just read that the scalex linked above is 100% sulfamic acid
We had a similar toilet with a thick cake of limescale, Bondall Hydrochloric acid (sold as pool acid in the Bunnings pool section) worked wonders. Poured in about 200ml neat, left overnight, the whole thing lifted off and floated away!
Oh no doubt. Any acid would work as limescale is an alkaline substance. The only problem with hydrochloric acid is itās safety to handle compared to sulfamic acid. The problem with hydrochloric acid is when it hits limescale, it tends to break down into water and releases chlorine as a gas.
I would not use hydrochloric acid without a respirator, gloves and goggles.
I nearly killed myself once breathing in chlorine gas in a small room - so yeah that's serious
Eucalyptus oil mix with vinegar. Spray leaves it for 5m-10mins then scrub it off
Hydrofluoric acid can be used to etch glass, so I wouldnāt suggest it around bathrooms. It can also cause severe, deep burns if it comes into contact with human skin.
Thanks guys, will try
Easy-off Bam Soap Scum & Shine & if that doesn't work, sulfamic acid tomorrow!
We use these to keep the shower tiles & glass clean of soap scum.
https://www.bigw.com.au/product/method-daily-bathroom-cleaneā¦
https://www.bigw.com.au/product/method-daily-shower-cleaner-ā¦
If it's very old / tough stains then below with a bit of elbow grease will do wonders:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/simple-green-475g-shower-glass-rā¦
After that you can ensure it stays that way with weekly spraying of bathroom cleaner.
Have you tried heads and shoulders… Wash your hair then use the remnants in the glass with your hand… It cuts away the grime etc on ours….
White vinegar and bi-carb.
You are adding an acid to and alkali. All you are doing here is making fizzing CO2 bubbles and neutralising any benefit either the vinegar or bi-carb had. (Bi-carb has no reaction with limescale other than bi-carb powder being a mild abrasive.)
Limescale is an alkaline substance, much like bicarbonate, (calcium carbonate and sodium carbonate) so itās best to spray vinegar directly onto the limescale, as it will produce the same reaction as adding vinegar to bi-carb. Adding bi-carb to vinegar first means you are basically using bubbling CO2 and water to clean limescale.
" All you are doing here is making fizzing CO2"
That's what I thought. It turns out that if you wipe with the bicarbonate of soda, it can soften, ionise and penetrate the stain then, adding vinegar, as well as producing water and carbon dioxide, also produces a soap - sodium actetate.
I usually smear bicarb around, leave it to dry, then scrub off with a vinegar soaked scourer sponge. Works a treat.
I got a good result for soap scum with a scraper blade.
Tried this. No go, but thank you :)
I just started wiping down the shower screen with a microfibre cloth after each shower and hey presto, removed it, it's quick, no chemicals required.
i use a squeegee from ikea
aint nobody got time for that
Jif
Sulfamic acid.
Bunnings has the Glitz Calcium Scale Rust Remover
The missus likes Enjo Calcium Dissolver but that's priced as you'd expect from Enjo. Fumes aren't as bad as the Glitz (probably not much sulfamic acid in it, Enjo doesn't like to put their MSDS's up for easy access)
(EDIT: I see someone posted the Scalex above which is 100% sulfamic acid which would be better $/L than the Glitz.)
Make a thick paste with white vinegar and baking soda(not baking powder). Apply on the scummy surface for leave for few mins. Then scrub it out. Worked for me.
These ingredients are very cheap and non toxic in an enclosed space. I've had trouble breathing in the shower cubicle with products like BAM, even though they work very well
Get the glass and tile as clean as possible and then hit it with some car wax/coating.
It makes the surface super slick and the water will bead off like thereās no tomorrow.
I personally have done this with Collinite 845 and now Turtle wax. Iāve done it since day one so the area is pretty clean and then repeat every 6 months.
Magic sponge on dried glass.
Iām a bit of a cleaning freak, Gone through majority of suggested šš¬
We have to use BORE WATER and get a lovely yellow stain on my white spa and tiles. Only thing that works for me. This is Absolutely Brilliant -spray it on leave 10min rinse off bloody good stuff
True Blue
Blue Lazer washroom cleaner 1 litre
1800635746
www.truebluechemicals.com.au
Give them a call and find out where they distribute in your area
Blue laser is a complete bathroom cleaner that effectively eliminates limescale deposits,Urich acid deposits, soap scum, mould and mildew from shower recess toilet and wash room areas.
Hey, I use a lot of Bowden's Owns products and I know that the [Metal Polish] (https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/bowdens-own-bowdens-own-ā¦) of theirs has more than one use, it's used to [remove water marks of windows] (https://www.bowdensown.com.au/guides/glass-polishing-some-coā¦) and such (shower windows). I'm planning to use it on Thursday and will report back on the results, but there are guides so say they do work a treat.
pls someone reply to why my formatting didn't work, its my first time formatting words with links haha
No space between links and name :)
Also, thanks I have a heap of Bowden's stuff!
Call the Scumo. He will attract it all.
Don't waste time with chemicals and rubbing
I did mine recently, used a window scraper from Bunnings
Bleach. Cheap and powerful.
Op can close thread now. You are welcome.
It's glass. You should be able to get anything off with a razor or a stainless steel scourer and some soap. Nothing sticks to glass that hard that it wouldn't work. Then get a squigee and use that after every shower.
Methylated spirits? Bunnings should have some. Tried on some tough stains and worked before.
Prevention is always squeegee after shower..
I use Enjo!
I had this issue up until yesterday (10 years worth of soap scum on the shower screens). Spent ages finding the right chemicals to use until I stumbled on one of those mum blogs; Bar Keeper's Friend!
Basically wet the glass/tile panel with water and then sprinkle some Bar Keeper's Friend onto a scouring pad (the yellow and green ones, green side for powder). Then gently apply pressure in a circle motion and all the scum will come off; then rinse again with plain water to finish.
Can be found at most Coles and Woolworths; it states its a polish but its the abrasives in it that do all the work - https://shop.coles.com.au/a/a-national/product/bar-keepers-fā¦
guess you didn't notice the OP listing that as something they tried that didn't work … RTFM, etc.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/trojan-retractable-safety-scrapeā¦
If itās just clear glass, find a blade really helps get the scum off! Then hit it with CLR straight onto a magic eraser to get the last thin layer off.
Dishwashing tablets
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.nine.com.au/article/45c2ā¦
Also work in your washing machine
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/7news.com.au/lifestyle/hacksā¦
Also good on oven glass
OMFG spray. Works for me.
https://nine.com.au/entertainment/2019/11/26/13/30/diy-cleanā¦
May need to be repeated and use non scratch scrub first time.
Soapy residue so need to rinse, but easy to do since it is a shower :)
We had the same issues.
Found that we had to clean our shower screens constantly as they were getting bad really quickly.
On top of all these cleaners (we used Bam I'm pretty sure), we also have a squeegee that we use after every shower that helps big time.
All very good tips, need to try some of these out next time I get a hankering to clean :)
wife
Selleys sugar soap for almost every cleaning needs in my exoerience
been there- done that - without success.
In my case, 36yo shower screen glass is etched so that even after scrupulous cleaning with any/all of the above cleaners, if I run my fingernail across the inside surface of the glass I can still feel a roughness.
After a similar saga of enquiry and testing and investigation, I reached the simplest happy conclusion - if I'm standing naked in the shower, how much do I need to see out through crystal clear glass ?
Answer - not at all ! In fact for privacy I prefer than anyone inadvertently opening the door of the bathroom while I'm in the shower would NOT be able to see me standing naked inside the shower.
So - I simply hose off soap scum with my hand shower hose, and walk away - with better privacy and no PITA cleaning fails!
Addendum - tho' incredibly cheap at like $5pa, hard soap used to dry my skin too much with itching and scaling.
So I tried liquid soap (sodium laureth/yl sulphate and variants) sold in chemists on special for $5/litre - OMG probably 10 times the cost I've estimated more like $50pa - but my current theory is it doesn't leave hard soap skum - 'cos it's liquid soap and more of a detergent (liquid at room temperature) than a soap (hard at room temperature). And my skin's not itchy anymore.
So my first question would be - how old is the glass ?
If decades probably check for my situation.
If pretty new, try try again until the glass sparkles like your teeth …
Have you tried WD40? Apparently this is good for hard water stains.
Car paint scratch remover.
Fill about 100ml of bleach with dishwash soap in a spray bottle,and fill with hot water, spray on, leave for 30mins and scrub off with a scourer. Gets rid of mould on the grout as well.
Doesnāt get rid of mould, just bleaches it so you canāt see it, it always comes back
Go to bunnings - get goof off. Basically lighter fluid and will eat anything.
For something less agressive 'oomph' make a citrus based adhesive remover.
The goof off I think is in the paint section, and the oomph in cleaning. Be careful around silicone as I think goof off will degrade it.
Is there really no way to clean the etched glass? OP tried most of the things, so it is likely the case of an etched glass.
Sounds like the glass is etched to me, too. I tried just about everything to fix ours but I doubt that you can āfillā the etched glass. Our solution was to renovate our bathroom (with new glass) and then apply Maguires Car Wax, from new, every 3-4 months to protect it. Then squeegee after every other shower. (Or chamois).
Sounds like the glass is etched to me, too. I tried just about everything to fix ours but I doubt that you can āfillā the etched glass. Our solution was to renovate our bathroom (with new glass) and then apply Maguires Car Wax, from new, every 3-4 months to protect it. Then squeegee after every other shower. (Or chamois).
Shower Power
Steam cleaner