Glass shower doors are a beautiful investment in your home, and they add a luxe, designer touch to any bath. But how do you keep them shiny and clean?
Here we’ll provide an overview of the different types of glass shower doors and how to keep them clear, clean, and shiny for years to come.
There’s a wide range of glass shower doors to choose from in all shapes and sizes. All glass shower doors fall into one of two categories – framed or frameless.
Framed doors have an aluminum or composite frame that surrounds the edge of the glass. The exterior frame requires cleaning because it is installed on a track that collects water over time.
This is something to keep in mind if you wish to minimize bathroom cleaning chores.
On the other hand, a frameless glass shower door is made of a single piece of glass. Frameless doors are easier to clean and care for when compared to framed doors.
Moreover, they offer modern simplicity and emit a spacious feel. And frameless doors work well in small baths.
Sliding Doors or bypass doors are popular in stand-alone showers. They are made of two or three glass panels that slide past each other.
The panels slide on tracks located at the top and bottom of the shower.
Like a regular door, Pivot Doors swing open to allow entry. Openings that are too small for bypass doors work well for pivot doors.
The doors can be installed to swing in or out according to how your bath is designed.
Modern and elegant, Curved Doors have a stylish concave look. Curved doors open inwards, and attach to a top and bottom frame.
Often used on corner stand-alone showers, curved glass shower doors give the feeling of a larger space.
Bi-fold Shower Doors provide a practical solution for smaller spaces. Plus they are budget-friendly. Bi-fold glass shower doors have panels that fold inward to allow entry.
If you are short on space but like the look of glass, a bi-fold door provides a luxe look at a reasonable price.
Clear glass shower doors are the most popular choice. Crystal clear glass allows plenty of light to pass through, adding more light to the enclosure.
Frosted glass shower doors have a soft, textured appearance and are often selected for privacy. Frosted glass doors are sold in a wide range of designs, patterns, and colors.
Rain glass doors have a unique patterned ‘rain’ appearance. One side will be patterned while the other side is smooth. Like frosted glass, rain glass provides privacy for the bather.
Tinted glass is available in a wide range of translucent colors – bronze, gray, even black. Darker colors provide more privacy but prevent light from reaching inside.
Naturally, a lighter tint allows more light in. Choose a shade that will complement your room’s décor.
Hammered glass has a decorative surface made to look similar to hammered metal. This fancy, textured glass reflects light around the bath, creating visual interest.
Keep in mind: Patterned and textured glass hides water streaks, soap marks, and fingerprints better than clear glass.
Glass shower doors eventually attract soap film and soap scum. This gives the door a milky, cloudy appearance.
If not removed, soap buildup will eventually turn pink or orange in color. This is a sign of bacteria growth. Yuck!
Wet & Forget Shower is a no-scrub weekly shower cleaner that gets rid of ugly soap residue on bath surfaces. The bleach-free formula cleans and prevents the build-up of soap scum and everyday grime on glass shower doors, tubs, sinks, toilets, countertops, faucets, shower curtains – most any bath surface.
Wet & Forget Shower works on contact to keep your shower door clean all week long.
Spray your glass shower door once a week with Wet & Forget Shower. The next morning, rinse the shower clean – no scrubbing required!
For the best clean, leave Wet & Forget Shower on the surface for 8-12 hours before rinsing in detail. When it comes to heavy soap scum and grime accumulation, then several daily applications may be necessary.
One weekly spray is all you need to keep soap scum and bath grime in check. In addition, the soft vanilla scent leaves your bath smelling fresh.
Wet and Forget Shower can be used on:
Note: Do not use Wet & Forget Shower on natural marble. Wipe down sinks and toilets before use.
We listed the top three commonly asked questions and answers about using Wet & Forget Shower below.
Will I have to squeegee my glass shower door after using Wet & Forget Shower?
No. Removing water drips from your glass shower door is no longer necessary when you use Wet & Forget Shower. A simple once-a-week application of Wet & Forget Shower frees you from the daily task of removing drips from your shower door.
How long does it take for Wet & Forget Shower to work on my glass shower doors?
Wet & Forget Shower goes to work as soon as it is sprayed on your shower glass to remove stubborn soap scum buildup and everyday grime. It will continue to clean and prevent new buildup on your glass shower doors throughout the next week.
If used on a regular weekly basis, then your shower glass will remain shiny and clean.
What will Wet & Forget Shower cleans off my glass shower doors?
Wet & Forget Shower will clean and prevent the buildup of soap scum, shower grime, and body oils on your shower doors. It will also clean up both mold and mildew stains on your shower glass doors.
Customizing your new glass shower door is easy. Visit your retailer to discuss available options include styles, glass thickness, glass type, finish, color, surrounding hardware, and more.
How do hotels keep glass shower doors clean? One of the busiest and most heavily staffed sections of any medium-sized or large hotel is housekeeping. Cleanliness is one of the first things guests will notice when they check into their room and no hotelier entertains being left wanting.
The area in any hotel accommodation that will immediately show a lack of attention to cleanliness is the bathroom. No guest wants to see a dirty sink, dusty vanity, or a grubby shower door panel.
As anyone with a shower door at home knows that this is one household object that is one of the most difficult to clean and keep clean – especially clear glass panels. You spend a lot of time cleaning a glass shower and making it smear-free and a couple of days later it’s all murky again. It’s a constant fight even with all sorts of cleaners in your arsenal.
Unlike a home where it’s ok to not clean a shower panel every day (although it’s easier to clean if you wipe it down after each use), in a hotel it’s imperative to keep shower glass clean. There’s also another factor that hotels have to consider that householders do not and that is the issue of time.
There is no question that a member of a hotel’s housekeeping staff cannot take a leisurely approach to cleaning. In most cases, there will be an expected turnaround time for each room under their remit. They will also follow a routine with a selection of tools and products at their disposal. Half the battle with knowing how to keep shower glass clean is understanding what you’re dealing with.
How do hotels keep glass shower doors clean, and is it a problem for them to clean them? You’d have thought that glass or other materials that replicate glass is a quite easy material to clean. It’s a flat surface and you can easily see any marks. The panels are hung vertically so technically gravity should help in not allowing stuff to stick and they are used in an environment where the item that can have the most effect on them is water. Yet, it’s not that simple.
We can point the finger very firmly at three culprits that make keeping glass shower doors clean:
Hard water is water that contains a high mineral content, most especially magnesium and calcium. It also carries limescale (calcium carbonate), a hard chalky deposit. Water with a lower density of minerals is soft water.
Even though household water goes through a treatment plant, hard minerals are not removed in the filtration process (municipal water has to be fit for drinking and mineral content does not affect this quality), so any hotel in a hard water area is going to see its effects on its pipework and ultimately, its glass shower doors.
When hard water evaporates, the minerals are left behind. The spots and marks on a glass door are mineral deposits,
Soap scum builds up when soap residue mixes with hard water. The ions in the water and soap react with one another to create a persistent water-insoluble stain. It dries on the door, leaving a waxy, filmy deposit in unsightly drops, smears or streaks on the glass that are whitish in appearance (a result of the combination of the chalky minerals and soap chemicals).
Mold grows in damp conditions so it can occur anywhere there is a leftover accumulation of water after a shower has been used. If left untreated it grows into a black clingy mess.
Mold is pretty much avoided if the shower is cleaned every day. Also, frameless door panels lack the corners, joints and crevices for mold to take hold. That leaves hard water and soap scum to be dealt with. So how do hotels keep shower glass clean?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of cleaning, some hotels in hard water areas try to tackle the issue at source.
They might fit a water softener into their total plumbing system. There are various types but will all operate to remove minerals from the water before it is delivered to the faucet. Not only will this help prevent some of the buildup on shower door panels but soft water also creates softer skin and shinier hair and gives cleaner laundry.
An alternative is to fit each shower with a filter. The filter is fitted to the shower head and works to remove impurities from the water through a variety of filtration methods. Most shower head filters however are more concerned with the impurities that are of concern to skin health, so the Kinetic Degradation Fluxion (most popular filtration media) tackles chlorine-based minerals rather than those that are the main issue in hard water for glass doors.
For a shower head filter to have any impact on the cleanliness of shower doors, it needs to be a water-softening filter.
You may be wondering, how do hotels keep glass shower doors clean? No need to worry; there are numerous natural and commercial solutions that can be used to clean a shower door. Whatever type of cleaner you choose, however, proprietary or homemade, there is one cautionary note to remember.
Poor-quality cleaning cloths can scrape and scratch glass doors so it is best to use a microfiber cloth.
Hotels that have a concern for the environment (a growing trend in the hospitality industry) take the view that the best thing to clean shower doors is a natural product rather than harsh chemicals.
Vinegar has been used since, well forever, as a cleaner. It was reputedly (because there are no records dating back 5,000 years ago) used by the Sumerians, a civilization of ancient Babylonia. Vinegar also has disinfectant properties so can act as a mildew and mold deterrent. Another bonus is that vinegar is practical, inexpensive, readily available, and does no harm to the environment. And, if you’re still not convinced, vinegar is highly acidic and this prevents soapy buildup.
In the question of how do hotels keep glass shower doors clean with vinegar, there are a couple of ways to use vinegar to keep shower glass clean.
Method 1 – vinegar and water: In a spray bottle, combine 3 parts hot water with 1 part vinegar. Spray onto the glass and leave for 15 minutes. Rinse off with fresh clean water then wipe off with a cloth.
Method 2 – vinegar and baking soda: Wet the shower panel then using a spray bottle, cover the panel thoroughly with vinegar. Leave to soak for at least 10 minutes. With a sponge dipped in baking soda, scrub the door. Rinse off with fresh water and dry off with a microfiber cloth.
Method 3 – vinegar and dish soap: Mix together equal parts of vinegar and dish soap. Clean the shower door then rinse with clean water. Dry with a microfiber cloth.
Some swear that this method is improved by heating the vinegar in the microwave before adding it to the dish soap and allowing the mixture to cool before use.
How do hotels keep glass shower doors clean with baking soda? Sodium bicarbonate chemically reacts with water to remove dirt. It is another readily available household object and is among the best ways to keep glass shower doors clean.
Method 1 – with water: Use a soft cloth to wipe neat baking soda onto the damp shower door then rinse off with warm water.
Method 2 – with vinegar: Mix equal parts baking soda and vinegar into a runny paste. Spread over the shower panel and leave for at least 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.
Method 3 – with vinegar, baking soda, and salt: Mix together ½ cup of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of salt. Use a spray bottle to cover the whole shower door panel with distilled vinegar and leave. After 10 minutes, spread the baking soda/salt mixture over the glass. Leave for 5 minutes then rinse off.
When looking for how do hotels keep glass shower doors clean and the best solution to clean shower doors among natural products, you need acidity to counteract the alkalinity of calcium carbonate. Fresh lemons are naturally acidic. The bonus is that it smells great.
Method: Combine tablespoons of fresh lemon juice with a cup of distilled water in a spray bottle. Spray on the shower door. Leave for 5 minutes then dry with a microfiber glass.
How do hotels keep glass shower doors clean with essential Oils? Essential oils need to be combined with baby oil to use as a cleaner (otherwise it’s very expensive to use neat oil). Various essential oils can be used but the best are probably tea tree (because it also has antiseptic properties to deter mold), lavender, lemon, and peppermint. Again, there’s a bonus, they all smell lovely.
Method: mix a good few drops of essential oil with baby oil and apply to the shower door with a clean, soft cloth.
Store shelves are absolutely crammed with all sorts of brand names offering cleaning solutions. There are general bathroom cleaners and specialty cleaners. Some are sprays, some are foams. The most effective are those that are heavily acidic. Some will be lighter than others and there are also industrial-strength cleaners available in supermarkets.
When you ask what is the best cleaner for the glass shower door you should consider scent, ingredients, environmental impact, efficacy, and overall value. Most people will try a good number of different products in their lifetime and will generally have a favorite or two.
Another way to find good proprietary cleaners is to use online reviews. There are plenty of articles that take away the hard work of testing piles of products and present the results in an easily discernible format so you can make well-informed choices.
For example:
Sometimes, the answer to the question of what cleans shower doors is given as bleach.
How do hotels keep glass shower doors clean with bleach? Bleach can be used but there is a caveat and that is it depends on the type of glass your shower panel is made of. Bleach is not the best product to use on laminated glass shower screens because over time the bleach will turn the glass opaque. Bleach doesn’t damage screens made from toughened glass but in time and with constant use, bleach breaks down any elements of the shower panel made from silicone. The shower panel will then no longer be waterproof or will allow seepage.
Never use concentrated bleach directly on any surface and only use it in well-ventilated rooms. It is also preferable to wear protective gloves.
Method: Mix 4 teaspoons of bleach in 4 cups of water in a spray bottle. Spray the solution onto the shower door working from the top down. Do this repeatedly, keeping the door wet for 6 minutes.
Spray the solution onto the shower doors
Starting at the top, spray the solution onto each door, working your way down as you go. Re-spray as needed to keep the doors wet for 6 minutes, scrubbing with the sponge if needed to remove tough stains. Rinse with clean water.
Now the next time you check into a room and ask are hotel showers clean, you’ll know the industry secrets and you can judge for yourself how good a job housekeeping does.
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