Magical Homemade Shower Cleaner
Cleaning the shower is one of the worst household chores. It’s a nightmare, right? So we put it off and try not to make eye contact with the soap scum and mold monsters forming in there. Professional house cleaners will tell you that hands down, the dirtiest place they encounter in any home is the master shower. Between the soap scum, the mold, and the hard water spots, let’s be real here, your shower is probably some shade of gross. Kind of ironic, since this is where we go to get clean every day! Wouldn’t it be great if you could step into a sparkling clean, fresh-smelling shower every day? And wouldn’t it also be great if there was a magical homemade shower cleaner that liberated you from soap scum, hard water spots, and mold – all without scrubbing or harsh chemicals?
Read on friends, because this magical shower cleaner exists – and you can make it in 5 minutes with stuff you probably already have on hand! 🙌🏻
First, let’s eliminate the competition for our magical shower spray…
What Doesn’t Work to Keep Your Shower Clean…
- Cleaning your shower once a week: This is a LOT of work and let’s face it, you don’t do it nearly enough because of that! Once a week becomes every two weeks becomes… Next thing you know you’re showering in a mold farm.
- Squeegeeing the shower after each use: We’re getting warm here. My step-mom taught me to do this to keep hard water spots at bay. To some extent, it works, but you’re still left with soap scum and that black moldy gunk.
- Commercial shower sprays: I’ve tried several and haven’t been happy with any of them. First, they are expensive. Second, I have no idea what is in them. Third, I usually hate the chemically smell. Fourth, I never found one that worked well!
What DOES Work? This Magical Homemade Shower Spray!
Bye-Bye Gross Shower, Hello Spa Experience!
This DIY shower spray works waaaay better than any commercial spray I’ve ever bought, and it uses common things you probably already have. Both of my showers are WHITE y’all – white tiles with white grout, and this spray keeps them sparkling clean. We remodeled our master bath 13 years ago, and seriously, my tile & grout still look great. I do not regularly “clean” my shower, either. Maybe twice a year I send my hubby in there with some baking soda to give it a scrub “just because” or to get anything building up in the corners.
Not only does this homemade shower spray keep your shower clean, but it smells really refreshing too. Tea Tree oil has a bracing, piney scent. I often add Peppermint oil, Rosemary oil, different Eucalyptus oils, or Lemon Balm oil as my “optional oil” to change up the scent and boost the cleaning power. It’s like a nice burst of aromatherapy as you step out of the shower – the whole bathroom smells spa-fresh! You can’t say that about harsh, store-bought shower cleansers.
Magical Homemade Shower Cleaner Ingredients
- 16 oz plastic spray bottle (size matters because you don’t measure the water).
- ½ cup rubbing alcohol
- ½ cup hydrogen peroxide
- 1 Tbsp. liquid dishwasher rinse aid
- 1 tsp. dishwashing liquid
- 30 drops Tea Tree Oil
- 10-15 drops other essential oils, optional-Please see note below
Pour all ingredients into the spray bottle, and swirl gently to combine. Fill the spray bottle to the top with water (I use water from my zero water pitcher). Done!
Spray Bottle tips:
- Please use a plastic bottle. No one wants to deal with broken glass in the shower!
- If you use Mrs. Meyer’s all-purpose cleaner spray, those 16 oz spray bottles are PERFECT to repurpose here. They last a really long time (better quality than any of the empty ones I’ve bought).
- If you prefer to use a 32 oz spray bottle, simply double all of the ingredients listed.
Ingredient Notes
- Rubbing Alcohol: 90% isopropyl alcohol is best, but if all you can find is 70% that is fine.
- Rinse Aid: This is the slippery blue liquid you add to the dispenser in your dishwasher. I use whichever is cheaper when I shop – Cascade or the store brand (Walmart one works great!)
- Dishwashing Liquid: I use either unscented Dawn or unscented Seventh Generation.
- Tea Tree Oil: I love Plant Therapy oils and buy all mine there.
- Optional Additional Oils: Choose ones that are commonly used in cleaners due to their antibacterial/antifungal properties, such as Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Lemon Balm, Rosemary, Thyme, etc. Again, I buy all my oils at Plant Therapy. If you don’t want to use additional oils, just use more Tea Tree oil. No worries!
How to Use Your Homemade Shower Spray:
Start with a clean shower – this spray isn’t going to “fix” a shower covered in soap scum, mold, and hard water spots. I mean it’s magical, but not omnipotent! 😁 It WILL, however, maintain a clean shower.
If you have hard water like I do, I strongly suggest squeegeeing the shower first before you use your shower spray. It takes less than a minute, promise! A big squeegee works great – bonus points if it comes with a suction cup holder to keep it handy.
Shake the spray bottle before use to evenly distribute essential oils.
Spray liberally over the shower walls and onto the face of the showerhead. The goal is to evenly cover the entire shower stall in a fine spray. If you have a humongous shower, give the floor a few extra spritzes on your way out. If you have a shower mansion like my sister does, you only need to spray the parts that got wet. Kinda obvs, but just sayin’.
If people are using the shower back to back (it won’t have time to dry) only the last person to use the shower needs to squeegee and use the spray. Hey, maybe this will motivate your kids to get up first!
Enjoy your beautiful, clean, spa-fresh shower!
It may seem like a pain to squeegee and spray each time (remember, only the last person to use the shower while it’s still wet needs to do this), but the whole process takes less than a minute to do. So let’s do some math. There’s no WAY you can scrub your shower clean that fast each week (7 mins)! Even if you just LOVE scrubbing your shower each week (really???) the squeegee and spray routine will keep your shower clean and fresh every day. This really is the least expensive, easiest way to keep your shower soap scum, hard water spot, and mold-free.
Don’t forget to pin this shower cleaner recipe so you won’t lose it – and please share with your friends!
Looking for other helpful homekeeping tips? Check out these posts!
Homemade Shower Cleaning Spray
Equipment
- 1 glass measuring cup
- 1 6 oz spray bottle
Ingredients
- 16 oz plastic spray bottle size matters because you don’t measure the water.
- ½ cup rubbing alcohol
- ½ cup hydrogen peroxide
- 1 Tbsp. liquid dishwasher rinse aid
- 1 tsp. dishwashing liquid
- 30 drops Tea Tree Oil
- 10-15 drops other essential oils optional – Please see note below
Instructions
- Pour all ingredients into spray bottle, and swirl gently to combine.
- Fill spray bottle to the top with water. Done!
Notes
- Please use a plastic bottle. No one wants to deal with broken glass in the shower!
- If you use Mrs. Meyer’s all-purpose cleaner spray, those 16 oz spray bottles are PERFECT to repurpose here. They last a really long time (better quality than any of the empty ones I’ve bought).
- If you prefer to use a 32 oz spray bottle, simply double all of the ingredients listed.
- Rubbing Alcohol: I prefer to use 90% isopropyl alcohol, but if all you can find is 70% that is fine.
- Rinse Aid: This is the slippery blue liquid you add to the dispenser in your dishwasher. I use whichever is cheaper when I shop – Cascade or the store brand (Walmart one works great!)
- Dishwashing Liquid: I use either unscented Dawn or unscented Seventh Generation
- Tea Tree Oil: love Plant Therapy oils and buy all mine there.
- Optional Additional Oils: choose ones that are commonly used in cleaners due to their antibacterial/antifungal properties, such as Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Lemon Balm, Rosemary, Thyme, etc. If you don’t want to use additional oils, just use more Tea Tree oil. No worries!