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Removing Hard Water Stains on Shower Doors

Description: Remove hard water stains from your shower doors with these easy tips from our readers.

Tip #1: Try spraying rubbing alcohol and wiping immediately. Clean houses for a living, and use the alcohol for glass and mirrors.

Tip #2: First remove the hard water on your shower doors with CLR (try the hardware store for this) on a cloth. This stuff is toxic, but using it just the once will get ALL the hard water stains off. Once it's clean, have everyone wipe the shower doors off with the towel they used on their body EVERY time they shower. Once or twice a week, spray the door with vinegar and wipe with paper towels.

Tip #3: The best remover didn’t take it all off but most of it cleared up was Bonami--it’s in the cleaning product section by Comet/Ajax and it's non-abrasive.

Tip #4: I found Lysol bath and tub cleaner (I think) it's a pink aerosol can to be the absolute best...spray on doors before you shower and it leaves them clean...also we have a small squeegee in the shower and squeegee after we shower to minimize cleaning.

Tip #5: Lemi Shine works better than anything on all those hard water problems and in the dishwasher.

Tip #6: Oven cleaner works miracles to get off the built up gunk on shower doors. Spray, walk away, about a half hour later rinse (scrub if really built up) and then use a squeegee to get off excess .... My kids used to love "washing" the shower doors with bar soap and of course I wasn't able to get to it right away....I tried oven cleaner as a last resort and I have never tried anything else since!!!! It also works great on mildew on the tile!

Tip #7: I have a hard time with hard water. This is one big project. Then you only have to maintain it afterwards. I have used toilet bowl cleaner. I start at the top of the shower doors and let it run down. Then I take a scouring pad and lightly rub the shower doors (use mask, fan, and long gloves) Rinse down. This should take off 90% of it. Then I take KABOOM and spray the entire shower down. I let it sit for 20 minutes. After I squirt Soft Scrub on then take the scouring pad and scrub it all down, including the doors. Rinse with cold water. Then I take Turtle Wax and wax it all down. Let it sit. Then take a soft rag and rub it down. It leaves a nice shine and the water runs right off. Afterwards, for maintenance, I use a squeegie after showering and towel dry right after. Once a week, I use Comet to clean it up.

Tip #8: I use a product called "WORKS" -- it's a rust and lime remover. I use it all the time, it really breaks up the hard water stains.

Tip #9: You may need to use one of these harsh chemicals listed in the other posts for the initial cleaning, but after that try SHOUT laundry pretreat for weekly cleaning. Works great, smells good (much easier to breathe) and is inexpensive.

Tip #10: This is going to sound too easy but I also have hard water and if you use a Bounce dryer sheet to clean the shower doors the white stuff just melts away. Don't know why it works but it does (believe me I have tried every other method listed here and this works the best!)

Tip #11: I clean houses part-time and whenever possible I prefer to use natural things to clean with. I once had particularly horrible shower doors to clean and tried everything from Vim, to Bleach to CLR, but nothing worked as well as plain old lemon juice. I just cut the lemon in half and scrubbed the door with the lemon!...D

Tip #12: I use lemon oil to remove hard stains and lime buildup on the shower doors. Wonderful stuff, no scrubbing. Just wipe it on and wipe it off...Rena

Tip #13: To remove hard water stains / build up on *glass* shower enlosures...use rock salt! Wet the *glass* walls of your shower, grab a handful of rock salt and scrub. It comes off much, much easier than anything else I have tried. You should try this on a small piece of your shower first, to be sure it will not damage your shower. Be sure not to do this on anything but glass. Glass is harder than rock salt, so salt shouldn't scratch it. Other materials (like plexi-glass and plastic) may be softer than rock salt and thus may get scratched...Sacha