When you have moved into your first house, rented an apartment, or stayed at a guest house for a few days, the shower will eventually get dirty. One of the trickiest parts to clean any shower is the shower door tracks that eventually get gunky and filled with mold or soap.
To clean shower door tracks, you need a bleach solution, brushes, and preferably something that will dissolve limescale. Using the brush, the first scrub with the bleach solution to kill all the mold, then use the limescale to soak the rails, using water to wash out the tracks once everything is dissolved.
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You will need to check several things, especially as each shower door tracks have different materials that make them work. Several people accidentally dissolve rubber seals or plastic wheels inside their shower door tracks, making the door almost useless.
How Do You Clean The Rubber Seal On A Shower Door?
The rubber seal on a shower door track means to be cleaned with the same chemicals that you are using to clean the rest of the shower. However, it should be noted that some of the chemicals used to dissolve lime build-up can damage these rubber seals.
The best way to clean these rubber seals is to simply have them cleaned with bleach, as this is the least likely chemical that will physically damage the rubber. However, it should be noted that the rubber-like seal underneath the actual door is a silicone sealant that has been applied. Check the instructions of the manufacturer or your seal before you begin. Also wear protective equipment such as goggles and gloves.
When cleaning the shower door tracks, you need to be careful not to brush the rubber and silicone seals that some chemicals will damage. Further, these seals will not always react to chemicals, as they are specifically chemically safe to prevent unwanted growth.
How Do You Clean The Shower Door Frame?
The actual door frame of the shower is best cleaned with chemicals made to stop the scale from building up on the frame. Whether they are on rails or not, most shower door frames will have aluminum frames, which is a chemically stable metal that needs to be wiped down regularly.
These door frames can be cleaned with bleach, but there will be a scale build-up as bleach has a version of the scale that will eventually build up. This means that you need to get a special cleaner for your shower door frame, with each country having different versions of these chemicals.
It is important to remember that regulations mean that it is not always possible to use or recommend the same chemicals to everyone. Instead, you will find chemicals at your local stores that will be within regulations but can keep the door frames of showers spotless. If you have hard water, you will have to use special products to remove these calcium stains.
How Do You Remove Limescale (or Calcium) From Shower Door Tracks?
One of the best ways to remove limescale without buying something that is specifically meant to clean limescale is regular white vinegar. The vinegar reacts with the scale and makes it easier for you to remove the scale once you have allowed the vinegar to soak into all the scales in your shower.
However, vinegar becomes much less effective when working with shower door tracks as you won’t always be able to reach all the deeper spots. We recommend that you use descaling solutions for these situations as they are much more capable of removing scale in deeper crevices.
This is often why you will find some shower door tracks that are only halfway clean, as very few people use descalers when cleaning their showers. Using a descaler once or twice a year will mean that your shower doors are almost entirely clean.
What Chemicals Can You Use To Clean Shower Door Tracks?
We recommend using two cleaning products when cleaning your shower door tracks: bleach and a strong descaler. The bleach works to remove and kill any mold spores growing, while the descaler removes any scale that builds up from the water and the bleach.
We always recommend using bleach first to remove any organic materials and soap build-up that naturally occurs in a shower. Just leaving the bleach for 10 minutes in the tracks will kill everything; using a brush to scrub as you wash away the filth that has built up.
A descaler or other strong chemical specifically meant to clean showers will clean out everything that the bleach could not. This means that you need to pour it into the tracks and then only lightly scrub, then leave for at least 20 minutes to allow it all to soak in ideally. Read the instructions on the chemical cleaner that you use as some can’t be mixed with bleach.
How Do You Remove Black Mold From Shower Door Tracks?
Black mold is the enemy of any shower owner and will almost instantly start growing the first time the shower is left damp and moist. The best and most effective way to kill and clean black mold is using bleach, as the bleach kill and removes all organic material.
We recommend using bleach sparingly, but it will be effective, with most other cleaners having some chemicals to remove black mold. The best way to kill black mold and stop it from growing in your shower is to keep it as dry as possible during the day and night when you are not using it.
Further, you will find that it will stay spotless if you wash the shower at least twice a week with a brush and some light chemicals. We have seen many showers that have black mold problems only because the shower is rarely cleaned, and when it is cleaned, it is only lightly.
What Are The Dangers Of Not Cleaning Shower Door Tracks?
Shower door tracks are some of the least likely spots in a shower to get regular growth of black mold or even scaling. Instead, the shower door tracks usually become damaged or are constantly wet, creating other bacteria that grow in them as dangerous as black mold spores.
This is often why people will neglect to wash their shower door tracks, with many people thinking that the tracks are always clean. However, when they start constantly getting uncomfortable for seemingly no reason, they also never look to clean the tracks of their shower.
When they are showering, the shower door tracks often become filled with water, with the hot water causing everything to steam and become airborne. Lifting the bacteria and sometimes mold spores into the air and into the lungs of anyone that is currently taking a nice, hot shower. It can be a great idea to remove the doors as this will allow you to clean hard-to-reach places.
Conclusion
Cleaning your shower door track is as simple as using the right chemicals and a brush to get into all of the grooves of the shower. The shower door wheels will naturally be clean as they are twisted through the now clean shower door tracks, with the remaining chemicals also helping.
Whatever you do, please don’t try and remove the door while cleaning; it will usually only end up in the shattered glass!
We have discussed how to repair your shower door here. This can be handy if you notice that there is a problem while cleaning it.
References
How To Clean Shower Door Tracks | Merry Maids
How To Clean Shower Door Tracks: 6 Easy Hacks | Lovetoknow
5 Tips To Clean Shower Door Tracks (Sunrisespecialty.Com)
How To Clean Shower Door Tracks (Lucehome.Sg)
How To Clean Shower Door Tracks – Toiletseek
How To Clean Your Shower Door Tracks – Centsable Momma
Clean Shower Doors With 2 Ingredients | My Real Life At Home
