Did you know that good old-fashioned vinegar, sprayed directly on your shower, can keep mold at bay and even save you the effort of major scrubbing? It’s true, though it took me awhile to discover just how amazing vinegar could be as a bathroom cleaner.
I had been using vinegar to clean windows, wipe down counters and as a washing machine rinse/softener for years. Some people complain about that “vinegar smell.” I found that with a few drops of essential oil (my favorite is lavender) and a shake before I use it, the smell is minimized and it worked great for these tasks.
For some reason, though, I was hesitant to use it for cleaning our bathrooms. Instead, I’ve tried all sorts of “nontoxic” cleaners and lots of scrubbing to clean the toughest job in our bathroom: the shower.
When we did a major remodel of our bathroom, we needed to remove the existing harvest gold built-in shower. I searched and searched for a solution that would fit in our budget and the only thing we could justify was a four-piece unit we could add ourselves.
Even as I looked at it in the showroom, I knew it was going to be a bear to keep clean- four pieces meant lots of nooks and crannies for water to sit and mold to grow, plus all the models had a fake tile pattern that resulted in even more ledges for water to sit.
And I was right. After just a few months in our damp climate, faint pink mold (yes, it’s pink- I think it’s a damp-climate thing) was visible in the “tile” crevices and along the seams. Even with the faithful weekly scrubbing I gave it using the non-toxic cleaners.
In a moment of frustration, I sprayed all the trouble spots on the shower with vinegar (straight, but for the essential oil I mentioned above), scrubbed it in a bit and rinsed it clean. Then I sprayed all the areas again, and left it to sit overnight with no rinsing or scrubbing.
The next morning everything looked great, but of course I had scrubbed it initially, so it would. The real test came during the next week:
The pink mold did not grow back. Seriously. None of the store-bought “natural” cleaners could keep the mold at bay for an entire week. Vinegar could.
Now all I do during my weekly cleaning is spray with vinegar and let it sit overnight. Occasionally I need to scrub soap scum off, or the underside crevices that are hard to reach, but using vinegar regularly keeps the need to scrub at a minimum and keeps the mold from forming like it did before I used it.
Cleaning the shower is not tough at all anymore- in fact, it’s almost effortless!
What else do you use vinegar for?
We have pink mold too….yuck! My least favorite job is cleaning the shower and I even pay my teen to get in there and do it for me. Well, now we will try the vinegar and see what happens! Thanks for the great tip Jami.
Hello,
If you have Tile, You will have mold. Try a better surface like Corian or any Solid Surface material. Non-porous means you never have to seal it and you will NEVER Have mold if the Solid SUrface company do make it seamless. Check out http://www.signaturesurfacesinc.net to see how to truly have a mold free shower.
I will have to try this. The orange-y mold we have in the Southwest is awful!
i buy a cleaner with a very nice smell that is pink. it has 12% acid, and does a fab job on my chrome and shower. The easiest part is spraying on the fixtures and wiping it in seconds. All clean and clear of any water/soap spots. Love this cleaner/ Pink and foamy.
Does the vinegar do the same thing?
Yes, vinegar will clean water/soap spots as well. I use it on my windows and mirrors for that very reason!
Hi…Vinegar will eat away at your grout…
G’day, the easiest way to keep the shower cubicle clean of soap scum is to use shower gel. I would add quarter teaspoon of clove essential to the vinegar as cloves inhibit mould!
We get pink stuff too, and I agree it is about a damp climate (England is not only damp, it is WET). I think ours comes out of the tap water though, like a rust in the water or something. Bill things it’s my red hair colour, but we had pink shower floors before I had red hair! I’ve been using vinegar off and on and I’m going now to try the spray-and-leave method. Thanks!
I have given up on the pink stuff, it is disgusting yet it requires so much effort to remove. Thank you for the tip, I honestly haven’t tried vinegar before. I am excited to see the wonderful results.
Great! I need this! What do you think about the shower curtain? Ours has some pink on it too – hope it’s not mold. Maybe I’ll go spray some vinegar on it ….
Shower Curtains are cheap.. Get rid it and any mold you have.