The Cleaning Tip You Need to Clean Your Stinky Shower Without Expensive Cleaners

The Intentional Mom Planning System is where you need to start with our incredible collection of product options. It will help you establish the basics for your life & home so you’ll finally have a plan, save yourself time, and go to bed feeling like you accomplished something every day (because you did). Save up to 60% HERE!

Looking for a simple way to clean your shower? Does your shower simply stink? Cleaning your shower has never been easier or quicker with this cleaning trick. The best part is that you don’t need expensive cleaners to get the job done. Baking soda and vinegar are the key to getting rid of that stink – who knew?

As a busy mom of nine, I can say that I am all too familiar with this smell. With such a busy family, my shower gets used at least three times a day, every day. This means that I have had to figure out how to get rid of this particular type of stink. I have truly learned how to clean my shower like a boss in no time at all.

---

Looking for more cleaning hacks and tricks? Be sure to join our free clean home challenge. In just 7 days, you’ll have cleaned 7 of the things we so often forget to clean. Enter your email below to get started!

[convertkit form=5041260]

---

I’ve got teens, I’ve got toddlers, and I’ve got everything in between, and each person brings their own unique sort of mess to the shower.

I have tried numerous ways to tackle ways to clean my shower over time, and I have finally figured out a method that works like a charm.

Here’s the cleaning trick you need to clean your shower the easy way – even the stink!

(this post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you)

Is it mildew? Might it be mold? Is it dirt? Or maybe it’s something totally different or a combination of all kinds of stinky messes, but whatever it is, you probably know of the shower stink that I am speaking of – especially when dealing with a busy shower.

First, you will need your cleaning supplies.

Here are the products you will need for this method, and each one serves a different purpose, I have come to discover. Each are links that will take you right to the products.

In addition, you will need baking soda, vinegar, a toothbrush, and a cleaning rag/washcloth.

I have also found the Bar Keepers Friend products (shown above) to the the best thing to remove ALL soap scum!

Once you’ve got the right tools, you’re ready to dive in and start cleaning!

• First, turn the shower on just for maybe 10 seconds or so just to get a bit of liquid in there.
• Because I have found the drain to be a big part of that shower funk, you will want to start there.

Here’s how to clean your shower drain:

Shake some baking soda over the drain, then pour some vinegar over it. Then it will work its magic. Just as when using these products to clean your window tracks, it will bubble up, and this is a good thing. Let it sit and move on.

Now, clean the shower door tracks

Next, use the same baking soda and vinegar trick to cover all the gunk, slime, mildew, or whatever other yuck might be in the shower door track. Also use this method to clean in any of the corners or other areas where you see any kind of build up of gunk. Leave this solution to sit and work its magic on all these places, too.

Clean your shower doors and walls

• While these things are sitting, it’s time to start working on the shower walls and doors. Use the cleaning pad and cover it with some of the Bar Keepers Friend powder
• Then cover with a small amount of the Bar Keepers Friend paste/liquid
• Add just a teaspoon of water to the cleaning pad that is covered with the cleaners and start scrubbing these areas

Apply this cleaner to the walls and doors in a circular motion and then allow to sit while you move on

By the time you finish scrubbing the walls, doors, and floor, you will be ready to start working on the gunky areas that have been sitting. These areas shouldn’t be that difficult to get clean since they have been sitting and bubbling away. But, let me tell you of the areas that you will want to address since I find any and all of them to be a contributing factor in that stinky shower smell.

• The shower door track

  Use the pad and the toothbrush. The really nice thing about the pad is that it can be folded to fill in the track completely, making the cleaning easy. Also use the toothbrush here as needed.

• Any and all corners in the shower

  Use the pad, use the toothbrush, or use both.

• The tracks on the side of the shower where the doors slide in and out of

Generally, the pad will work well here all on its own.

• The drain

Use the toothbrush to reach where you can down inside. The baking soda and vinegar solution works like magic on the drain. The funk in my drain made the drain look rather black inside, the baking soda/vinegar solution alone made it sparkly white, and I did next to nothing!

When dealing with all of these above areas, I will use either of the Bar Keepers Friend products, and I will also make a paste of baking soda and vinegar on the shower floor that I dip the cleaning pad or the toothbrush into.

Don’t forget…

• The underside of the shower doors

Mold and mildew is often found along the underside of the shower door. Use the rag or washcloth to run along the underside of the door. You will most likely find that your rag has pink or black on it from this mold/mildew that you never even knew was there!

• The outside of the shower, especially where the doors are connected to the shower base

That groove is a major collector of dust, dirt, grime, hair, mold, mildew, and I can only imagine what else. This is one of those areas that is often overlooked while your shower still smells a bit funky.

What you have now is a shower that is completely covered with some sort of cleaner/paste that has been sitting. Now it’s time to rinse.

I find this method to be so effective that it takes nothing more than just running water over all of the shower surfaces. If the shower water doesn’t reach some areas, just wipe them down with water and a rag. In all honesty, I usually just do this rinsing part at the beginning of my shower. It’s just easier for me.

Don’t forget the outside

With the inside of the shower completely rinsed, you are ready to wipe off any cleaner from the outside of the shower using a rag.

Viola!

Your shower should be clean and sparkling both inside and out in all areas including the drain, which will rid your shower of that stinky funk. Your shower walls and doors will be free of soap scum, and your shower will sparkle like NEW! (the painters spattered paint all over our shower :/ that’s what remains in the first picture.

 

 

 

Although there are many steps, this whole process takes me no more than 30 minutes to complete.

I clean my shower every week using these scrubbing bubbles, which do an amazing job.

You can read more about my regular shower and bathroom cleaning method in this post.

However, when I start noticing that stinky shower funk, I know it is time to gather my arsenal and put these steps into motion.

 

Here’s more on cleaning:

• 30 Spring Cleaning Projects You Can Tackle in 30 Minutes or Less
• How to Clean Your Window Tracks Like a Pro in No Time Flat
• 12 Minute Bathroom  Cleaning Plan
• How to Clean Your Refrigerator in 30 Minutes or Less
• The One Hour Cleaning Checklist
• It’s Cleaning Day
• The 30 Minute Speed Clean
• Can My Kids’ Bathroom Really Be Clean?