This non-toxic shower cleaner magically melts soap scum, tub rings, and shower buildup, no scrub needed! Plus, it uses only two natural ingredients and rates an “A” on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) scale.
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Raise your hand if bathroom cleaning is your LEAST favorite housekeeping task. I love my bathroom to be bright and shiny, but hate scrubbing tub rings and toilets.
I used to purchase a foaming bathroom cleaner to get my tub and shower spotless with very little effort, then I began to investigate the harmful ingredients in cleaners and I was shocked…. my commercial bathroom cleaner rated an F on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) scale. I had to find a substitute!
All-Natural Bathroom Cleaner
I hopped onto Pinterest for DIY shower cleaners and tried making cleaners with:
- lemon and salt
- hydrogen peroxide and tea tree oil
- vinegar and rubbing alcohol
None of them cleaned well, so I went back to cleaning with my Natural All Purpose Cleanser. It does an amazing job, but requires some elbow grease.
Pinterest Shower Cleaners
I found a popular no scrub shower cleaner recipe on Pinterest and was intrigued. The cleaner is made from Dawn dish detergent and hot vinegar to clean the shower with no scrubbing. I wanted give it a try but there were two problems:
- I did not want to use Dawn because it rates poorly on the EWG scale.
- I did not want to heat up vinegar to clean, I wanted a version I could store under my bathroom cabinet.
Sal’s Suds
I decided to try the recipe with one of my favorite commercial household cleaners. Sal’s Suds is a detergent made by Dr Bronner’s (they also make my favorite Castile soap).
Detergent vs Soap
- Soap is made from vegetable or animal fats and oils, synthetic detergents use man-made chemicals. Soap has been around since around 2800 B.C., synthetic detergents have been around since 1916.
- Soap will break down and lose it’s cleaning power when it is mixed with vinegar, detergent has a different chemical makeup and does NOT lose it’s cleaning power in a mixture with vinegar.
- Sal’s Suds is a detergent that is made from plant-based surfactants (not petro-chemicals like many detergents) and does not contains synthetic dyes or fragrance. It is 100% cruelty-free and rates an A on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) scale.
No Scrub Shower Cleaner
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup Sal’s Suds (or any all-natural hand washing dish detergent, I’ve also used this one)
Directions
- Pour vinegar and Sal’s Suds (or detergent) into a spray bottle and swirl to combine.
- Spray the mixture onto the shower and tub, wait for a few minutes then rinse and prepare to be amazed.
No Scrub Shower Cleaner Tips
- Use this cleaner on areas that are easy to rinse like sinks, tubs, showers and the inside of your toilet.
- Test before using on any natural stone surface, vinegar can damage some stone finishes.
- For tough stains allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes then scrub and rinse.
- This cleaner smells like vinegar, add 15-20 of essential oil to scent and add cleaning power. Lemon, thyme, rosemary, tea tree, eucalyptus, peppermint, and lavender are all great choices. I use 10 drops eucalyptus, 5 drops lavender, and 5 drop of rosemary for a spa-like scent. Use a glass bottle if using essential oils, see my DIY glass spray bottle for cleaning.
- Dilute the mix with 1 cup of water for less odor and bubbles. I use the full strength mix for extremely dirty surfaces and dilute for weekly cleaning.
No Scrub Results
Let me first say it is hard to photograph a bathtub or shower, I apologize. My (lack of) photography skills aside, this cleaner is AMAZING!
Bathtub Cleaning
- The tub above is in my kids’ bathroom, they are in charge of cleaning so it is not the most spotless place in the house. Notice the pink shower gunk rings from the shampoo bottles and the soap scum build up on the overflow drain.
- Now look at the after picture. I sprayed on the cleaner and let it sit for about 5 minutes then rinsed with the shower heap. Shower gunk and soap scum GONE!
Shower Cleaning
- The shower stall in our master bath has a floor that is made of white plastic. It has a slight texture that tends to attract dirt, especially when we wash our German Shepherd in it.
- I clean it every week and it looked clean, until I spray it with one squirt of No Scrub Shower Cleaner (see the very top picture). I rinsed it with water and it was immediately bright white where the cleaner landed (with NO scrubbing). I completely cleaned one side (see the before-after above), built up dirt and soap scum GONE!
Toilet Cleaning
- The cleaner also works great in toilets. The Sal’s Suds helps the vinegar cling to the sides of the bowl allowing it to work on mineral deposits and hard water stains.
- I sprayed the inside of the bowl focusing on the top ring where hard water tends to build up and waited 10 minutes. I then brushed and rinsed, hard water stains gone!
Grout Cleaning
- I use hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to clean stained or discolored grout. Get the full tutorial here.
Cleaning the bathroom may not be fun, but it can be greener and EASIER with this Non-Toxic No Scrub Shower Cleaner. I hope you try it in your home!
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MJP
This mixture sounds and looks really good. The only thing I am not sure about is using it in the shower cubicle where there are tiles with grout. Would the vinegar effect the grout?
Thanks
Bill
Wonderful site! Finally, someone stating the facts on baking soda / vinegar malarky! I’m been using Dawn and vinegar for some time now and it does work well. After reading this will switch to Sal Suds. The vinegar fumes are almost toxic though. Today a ran across this product, Milliard Citric Acid. Using this sounds like it would be as effective as vinegar without the fumes and with the added bonus of being able to increase the concentration for more cleaning power. Interested in your thoughts on this and how much to use to get a 20% concentration.
Bren
Bill, to make a 20% solution you’ll need approximately 2 cups of water (484 ml) and 2/3 cup (109 g) powdered citric acid. I found a good dilution cheat sheet here: https://mail.rpc-rabrenco.com/TSI/DILUTION.pdf Please let me know how your cleaner turns out!
Tracy Forman
I just tried this and while the cleaning was effective the fumes were extremely strong! I had the bathroom fan on but it is an enclosed bathroom with no window. I would suggest to prepare the area with a lot of ventilation. Im now worried about the fumes as my husband was even coughing in the living room! I know sal suds are non toxic but is there any risk with these fumes? I just added a cup of water as you suggested later in the post. For the record i doubled the recipe by using 1 cup each.
Bren
I would use any cleaning product in a well-ventilated area and/or turn on the bathroom fan! If the Sal’s Suds fumes are too strong for you you can thin the cleaner (like you already did) or try making the mixture with a different hand washing dish detergent (the kind you use for washing dishes in the sink). They all give off different odors and a different combo might be more pleasant to you. Good luck!
Tiffani Barnett
Bren,
I absolutely love your concoctions! I especially loved this one! Any cleaning where all i have to do is spray & rinse is my kind of cleaning!
I do have a question for you though…I live in an old vintage apartment building & the bathroom doesn’t have a vent in it. I try to leave the door open as much as possible but that means it gets so cold in the fall & winter which also unfortunately means gross disgusting repulsive mildew, especially around the edges of the bathtub.
I feel like I’ve literally tried everything, even the harsh mean stuff & I’ve found out that nothing helps!
Do you have any posts on this that I’ve missed our perhaps any pointers for me? I’m DESPERATE!
Thank you so much!
Tiffani
Terry Morton
You use vinegar on your tiled shower? On your other page you said vinegar would degrade the grout?
Bren
I have a plastic floor!
Jennifer
This solution works so well. I had been using sal suds in a solution for an all purpose kitchen cleaner and I cannot believe I never thought to use it for the bathroom! Love how sudsy it gets and how clean it leaves the bathroom. Also worked amazingly on the grim on shower head. Thanks for this!
Lori
Sal’s Suds says it concentrated. If substituting a non-concentrated dish soap, shouldn’t more be added? Using something else because Sal’s contains SLS.
Bren
You can adjust the amounts to get to the cleaning power you deisre. I’ve been making the recipe with dish soap and/or Sal’s suds for so long that I just eyeball it and it still works great.
Leilah McBride
Can this be stored for weekly cleans or does it need to be mixed new each time?
Bren
I store it in a spray bottle to clean.
Terry Morton
Do you do any wiping or spraying after daily showers?
Bren
No
NENolan
Thank you for this! Plenty of homemade shower cleaners online using Dawn but I find using any P&G product goes against why I even want to use a homemade product in the first place. I want it to be not only environmentally friendly but cruelty-free as well. I’ll be trying this!
Carrie
Can I use this on my tiled shower? You say not to use it on grout; are you just talking about deep cleaning grout?
Bren
I use it on my tiled shower. You should use what you feel comfortable using! I also use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide grout cleaner.