DIY Daily Shower Cleaner: How to Clean A Shower

People with showers, how much do you hate cleaning them?! I can almost hear you all yelling, “a lot!” Cleaning the shower is a total pain because soap scum and hard water buildup on walls leave you with a lot of scrubbing to get your shower clean. 

Cleaning the shower is my least favorite part of bathroom cleaning, including the toilet, because it’s so much work. That’s why I developed a DIY daily shower cleaner. And no, that doesn’t mean you have to actually scrub the shower every day. 

A daily shower cleaner is a cleaner you can mist after you’ve showered that prevents soap scum and mildew from building up. That way, when it comes time to actually clean the shower, your job is so much easier. 

This is one of my favorite DIY recipes (I know I say that a lot, but this one really is!) because my favorite kind of cleaner is one that does the work for you. And while you will still have to clean your shower, it will be a heck of a lot easier. And be sure to read the end of this article, where I give you more resources on bathroom cleaning. 

DIY Daily Shower Cleaner 

I can almost hear you all shouting at your computers, “tell us your magical recipe, Melissa!” So without further ado, here it is. 

• Spray bottle
• 1 cup white vinegar
• ½ cup water 
• 20 drops tea tree essential oil

Add your ingredients to your spray bottle and shake them up. Pro tip: add water and vinegar first, and then essential oil after. This ensures the essential oil mixes well. 

After each shower or bath, simply mist your DIY shower cleaner on your shower walls, doors, and inside the tub. This will prevent soap scum from building up and keep mildew at bay. And don’t forget to turn your fan on for at least thirty minutes after you shower to ventilate the space. Moisture equals bacteria which causes mildew, so don’t skip this. If you don’t have a bathroom fan open a window and keep the bathroom door open. 

You can store your spray bottle in the shower or a cupboard. A dark place is better for storing essential oils because light can deteriorate the essential oils. 

Essential Oil for Cleaning

I love essential oils so much for cleaning, so I wanted to share why I include tea tree essential oil here. Tea tree is a very popular essential oil. While not everyone likes the scent, it’s great for cleaning recipes. Tea tree is best known for its antibacterial and antifungal properties. Because of this, tea tree is used to treat athletes’ foot and insect bites, as well as in many cleaning recipes. 

In some cleaning recipes, I say essential oil is optional and just for scent. In this recipe, the tea tree actually helps prevent mildew buildup because of its antibacterial properties. That being said, if you hate the smell of tea tree, you could replace it with peppermint oil or a citrus oil because they both also have antibacterial properties. However, I do recommend tea tree oil as the best option for this recipe. If you want more information about essential oil, read Everything You Need to Know About Cleaning with Essential Oils!

Bonus Hack: Shower Squeegee

Do your glass shower doors look streaky as soon as you take a shower? This is a common problem and a frustrating one. It can make you not want to take a shower after you’ve cleaned it because the doors will immediately look dirty. Luckily, I have a hack for that. 

Keep a squeegee in the shower or within reach of the shower. Then simply squeegee the shower doors after your shower. Work from top to bottom, and go all along the doors. This literally takes 10 seconds (OK, maybe 20 seconds), and your shower will stay cleaner longer. 

How to Clean a Shower

I’ve shared all my best shower cleaning hacks with you; use them wisely. But, if you have more shower and bath cleaning questions, I have more articles to share with you. This article is great for daily shower upkeep, but if you want to know my weekly bathroom cleaning routine read, The Ultimate Weekly Bathroom Cleaning Checklist. 

To learn how to descale your shower head, check out 7 Weird Cleaning Hacks that Actually Work. For general cleaning info and tips, read How to Clean a Bathtub & Shower Like a Pro. And for shower accessory cleaning read, How to Clean a Plastic Shower Curtain & Mat. 

And if you want some more great DIY cleaning recipes, I have a complete eBook of all my cleaning recipes that I’ve created and found over my long cleaning career. 50 DIY Cleaning Recipes is your ultimate guide to DIY cleaning.