Homemade Shower Cleaner – toxin free
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This DIY shower cleaner is made with simple, household ingredients that get your shower clean without using toxic chemicals.
Cleaning bathrooms is NOT one of my favorite things.
You remember that song from The Sound of Music, right? “Raindrops on roses and cleaning the bathroom….”
Ahem. We just got the 45th anniversary copy of The Sound of Music as a family Christmas present so it was kind of on my brain :-).
Anyway, I really don't like cleaning bathrooms.
And I really don't like all of the chemical stuff that you supposedly need to buy in order to get it clean.
If you're like me, and you just don't like cleaning the bathroom, then this homemade shower cleaner is going to make your life a lot easier.
We seem to have an issue with hard water. We get a film on our shower that needs to be removed now and then and we have one of those acrylic shower stalls, so you really don't want to use an abrasive cleaner that would put scratches on it–making it harder to get clean in the future.
So the other day, it was time to clean the shower again.
I looked all over the internet to find something easy to make–and that would work!
I found one DIY shower cleaner that was super popular, but it used a premade dish detergent with color and fragrance in it–two things that I really like to avoid– and so I kept looking.
Later, I finally found what I was looking for: a DIY shower cleaner without the extra “stuff”. I whipped it up super quick and it worked great. Sadly, the blog isn't around any longer, so I'm pleased to be able to offer it to you all.
No need to scrub a ton and no exposure to super toxic chemicals.
Why Make Your Own Home Cleaning Products?
1. Reduce toxic exposure for you and your family.
Like I said, I really dislike the chemical and fragrance smells in the multiple chemical-laden products on the shelves these days.
2. Use less packaging
With all of the multiple cleaning products in the stores, I prefer to make my own items, and then refill the reusable spray bottles, etc., thereby lowering my impact on the environment.
3. Lower toxins in the environment.
Every time you purchase something that's loaded with chemicals you encourage companies to keep making them, and after you use it you are putting the toxins back into the air we breathe and the water we drink. Let's keep this stuff out of our environment as much as possible, shall we?
There is some info on the internet about not mixing castille soap and vinegar, but this really does seem to work. I am going to do some more experimenting and will get back to you on this.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Sal's Suds
- 1 cup vinegar
- 10 drops essential oils (I used lemon for its grease-cutting capabilities and fresh scent)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a spray or squeezable plastic bottle.
- Shake to combine.
- Apply to shower surface evenly.
- Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes.
- Rinse off.
Since I've made quite a few DIY household products, I had everything in my home needed to make this.
If you don't, all of the ingredients are fairly easy to find and you will be able to use them for other DIY projects in the future.
You should be able to get most of the ingredients for this Homemade Shower Cleaner at the store. If you prefer to shop online, you could check out Amazon.
You can check out Rocky Mountain Oils for essential oils. I recommend them in my Best Essential Oils Series.
More Non-Toxic Home Care Products
– No-Streak Glass Cleaner
– Natural Dishwasher Rinse Aid
– Homemade Cleaning Paste
What DIY Home Care Products do you make?
I emailed this recipe to my chemist husband to see if he could shed light on the acid/base issue. Here is his reply:
This has a pretty good chance of working. There are two types of soap (borax and liquid soap), so you are essentially cleaning with existing soap. The baking soda is reduced by the smaller amount of vinegar, so the net is a pH increase. That would be good because caustics clean well. Technically, borax is the salt produced from boric acid, but borax is the main ingredient in many powdered soaps.
Bottom line: It should work slightly better than the borax or liquid soap alone.
Basically (no pun intended, lol!), as long as it is not equal parts of acid and base ingredients it won’t cancel each other out. The vinegar will only adjust the ph of the baking soda to create a more effective ph for cleaning.
Interesting. Are you subscribed to my blog? I think I am going to email you about what I found. Maybe you can ask him why. I don’t know what is going on.
I forgot to say that we have a water softener and it really does help things stay cleaner longer but I also squeegee the shower when I get out and I can go a long time between cleanings that way.
I really need to look into that. I have heard it affects your hair etc. Do you feel it does affect how your hair feels / acts after washing it? Thanks!
I have read that castile soap is to clean and the vinegar to rinse but you can apparently mix Sal Suds and vinegar.
I saw that. I find it interesting–is it not the basic and acid issue then, but something else? It looks like that, doesn’t it?
This does seem to be a hot topic. Tubs are definitely tough to clean. I’ve used vinegar in it before but my husband noticed it was rusting the metal parts in the drain so I had to stop using it. I’ve used baking soda and that works if you keep up with keeping the tub clean. I’ll look forward to hearing about any changes or new info regarding the cleaner! Thanks for posting!
Thanks – stay tuned!
Hi Adrienne,
I use mrs. Myers clean day surface scrub for our shower. But, I would love to make my own since I go through the mrs Myers do quickly. Looking forward to hearing what you think is the best DIY solution. 🙂
Jennifer
I’m working on it :).
I didn’t know you could make your own cleaners, I will try this for my bathroom.
I just started using all-natural cleaners and love them! Before, I had been using the Scrubbing Bubbles shower cleaner that hangs in your shower, you push a button when you get out, it sprays the (unhealthy) cleaner all over your shower.
Well, I poured out the rest of the cleaning solution, washed out the plastic container and refilled it with White Vingegar and Young Living Lemon Essential Oil. Now, I step out of the shower, push the button and I am cleaning with healthy cleaners!
*About twice a month I do use either Borax or Baking Soda to give it a good scrub down!
I’ve been looking for this, so I’m really happy to have found this recipe on your site. Thank you Adrienne!
This is something that I haven’t really dug into yet, but I should really start. I hate cleaning the bathtub. It is the absolute worst!! 🙂
Me too :(.
I admire that you are such a DIY type of mom. I like the idea of using less chemicals and yet at the same time can get the job done. Do you also have any suggestion on what is an effective way to clean the lime scale in the tub? It’s always such a headache for me to get rid of that hard water stains and they are stubborn too. I found that something like Simple Green Lime Scale remover works well, but they are difficult to find and probably not safe either.
Thanks,
I’m reading that you might want to try vinegar :).