Most people don’t enjoy cleaning their shower, but when you think about the mildew and bacteria that can easily grow there you know it’s something you have to do. Follow these steps to make your shower cleaning easier.
Safety First
For the sake of safety make sure the room is ventilated by opening the window or door. Put on some rubber gloves and you’re ready to go.
Empty Out
Before you start cleaning your shower, empty everything out. This is not only a great time to get rid of any empty bottles and small bits of soap but also to take a quick inventory as to what you need the next time you go shopping for bathroom supplies.
Shower Door
If you have a glass shower door, do that first because you can step inside the shower while it’s still dry. Use white vinegar, a glass cleaner, or warm soap and water to clean the inside of the shower door. After you clean glass shower doors, remember to clean out the shower door tracks. An old toothbrush can be used to get down inside the tracks.
Inside the Shower
Now it’s time to start cleaning inside the shower. Start at the top of the shower, then clean from top to bottom. Get the shower floor last so all the soap scum will go down the drain. 
First, rinse off the walls with a mixture of hot water and soap. The idea here is to loosen the scum that’s on the walls. Next, it’s time to scrub. You can use a scrubber sponge. That’s one that does not have a scouring pad that would scratch your tile. Some people use a mixture of ammonia and vinegar while others prefer a mildew spray.
For the grout between the tiles, a grout brush is recommended. This brush with a stiff bristled will help to remove the soap scum from the grout. After rinsing off the walls and grout you may then want to use white vinegar on the grout for deeper cleaning. Then, as before, rinse off the wall and grout.
If your walls and grout haven’t been done in a while, you may have to repeat this process the next day. Some people also swear by a steam machine. You can use this tool to clean both the walls and the grout.
To make the rinsing off process easier it will be helpful to have a handheld showerhead. These usually have a flexible hose that will let you move it all around your shower. Start rinsing from the top and go down the walls.
Shower head and fixtures
After the walls you should clean off your showerhead. If it’s been a while since it was cleaned, you might want to remove the shower head and soak it in vinegar. You can clean the showerhead holes by scrubbing with an old toothbrush. This is also the time to clean the hot and cold knobs or the valve that controls shower pressure. Many of these are stainless steel or have a chrome finish so be careful not to use any scrubber that can scratch them.
Shower Floor
Now it’s time to turn your attention to the shower floor. Begin by cleaning out the drain. Depending on your type of drain you may have to take off the drain cover or just reach in and grab the hair that has collected there. If you find this particular part of the job too unpleasant, there are drain cleaning tools you can buy that make his job easier.
Then clean your shower floor much like you clean the walls. Rinse all the dirt and soap scum down the drain.
Accessories
Last, but not least, if you use accessories such as a shower caddy or a freestanding shower seat, these also need to be cleaned. It might be easier if you take them out of the shower to clean them.
If you clean your shower on a regular basis, instead of waiting until you can no longer stand it, it will be a much easier and more pleasant job.
Read Tools to Use to Clean Your Shower for details about what equipment you might want to use to clean your shower.
