Credit:
Reviewed / Mark Brezinski
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Credit:
Reviewed / Mark Brezinski
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
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The most powerful cleaner shower cleaner we tested, with an equally powerful bleach smell. Read More
By far the foamiest cleaner we tested, OxiClean sticks exactly where it's sprayed. Read More
The best nontoxic cleaner we tested, Method can cut through stains, but it's pricey. Read More
Wet and Forget’s lightweight extension hose actually makes this large jug less cumbersome than a smaller spray bottle when tackling large jobs. Read More
A decent cleaner that packs the power of bleach but not its odor, though we would prefer a spray to a squeeze bottle. Read More
You can't get yourself clean in a dirty shower. Soap scum and hard water stains can cling to your tiles and grout, making everything feel slimy and gross. This is where shower cleaners come in.
We tested a batch of the most popular shower cleaners on the market. We cleaned soap scum and grime off of shower walls of all types—tile, grout, plastic, metal, and glass. We also considered other factors, such as the spray pattern, antimicrobial properties, and how much you’ll pay per ounce to clean your bathroom.
Once the soap scum was scoured away, two cleaners stood out from the pack. The Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner Spray (available at The Home Depot) has the best raw stain-fighting power on tough stains. Kaboom Foam-Tastic Bathroom Cleaner with OxiClean (available at Amazon) is not too far behind our top pick as an affordable alternative. Both cleaners excelled at the various surfaces we tested, scrubbing stubborn stains off grout and leaving streakless shine on glass shower doors.
Our top pick is Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner and Bleach.
OxiClean Bathroom Cleaner earned our best value badge for its outstanding performance at a low price. We tested this product before Kaboom became part of the OxiClean family. While the labeling has changed, the product's formula and cleaning capabilities have not.
If you're looking for a nontoxic shower cleaner, we recommend Method Bathroom Cleaner.
We loved the spraying mechanism on this Wet & Forget scentless shower cleaner.
A powerful tile cleaner, Soft Scrub cleans hard.
Decent cleaning power
More pricy per ounce than cleaners with similar performance
Foaming action is very mild
A good value for a nontoxic cleaner
Requires a bit more effort to scrub out stains
Inexpensive
Nontoxic
Doesn't cut through stains as well as other options
Can offer 24-hour protection from bacteria
Requires more effort to scrub out stains
Foaming spray
Good at getting grime off grout
Poor cleaning performance for its price
Since showers are made up of different materials, we made sure to test each of our best shower cleaners on the gamut: plastic, tile, grout, glass, and metal. To do this, we marked out swatches on each surface or set of surfaces. This helped us isolate each spray’s performance and cross-compare the swatches after each individual swipe with a sudsed-up sponge.
The stains we chose to test were soap scum and a general sticky grime (similar to the smudge a child may leave behind after eating a PB&J). We used fans to dry each stain onto each surface, to ensure they were as difficult as possible to clean.
To test shower cleaners, we used several different stains (soap scum on the left, sticky grime about to get its initial cleaning swipe on the right).
Mold and mildew are best snuffed out sooner than later. Not only will the mold’s spores lower your indoor air quality, it will also eat away at your grout over time, much like it does on vinyl siding. So, what’s the best shower cleaner for destroying these biological invaders?
If your first thought was “something antibacterial,” you’d be surprised. Antibacterial cleaners only fight bacteria, but mold and mildew are actually fungus.
The secret in fighting mold and mildew is to make your bathroom inhospitable to their growth in the first place. Mold and mildew need a damp environment, like your bathroom after a steamy shower.
Make sure the room is well-ventilated and that humidity can dissipate quickly. Consider getting a fan or a dehumidifier if you’re still having trouble keeping the area dry.
Glass is a notoriously difficult surface to clean. Glass cleaners need to scrub away splotches and grime, but they need to dry perfectly clear. Hazy residues that may go unnoticed on an opaque surface are going to look like a fog bank on glass.
Surprisingly, all of the shower cleaners we tested were able to wipe clean for a streak-free shine. Some took more effort to get everything clean, but our testing indicated that all of the cleaners could give your shower’s glass door a spotless sheen.
Hard-water stains happen when water that’s rich in calcium and/or magnesium is allowed to dry on a surface, resulting in a small deposit of those excess minerals.
Since we’re dealing with hardened minerals here, these stains can be difficult to scrub out—if you don’t have the correct tool.
Fortunately, the correct tool is cheap and easy: common white vinegar. Scrub the surface with a roughly 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water and your white scale deposits should melt away.
Keep in mind, however, that the stains are just a symptom of the larger hard water problem. Fortunately, it’s also relatively easy to fix hard water.
One surface we didn’t test with for this round-up is the sort of porous plastic material that’s common to shower curtains. The reason? They’re incredibly difficult to clean manually, and the effort isn’t really worth it. Instead, we recommend using a washing machine for a much more thorough and efficient cleaning.
Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.
Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.
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