soap scum in shower

mrs_baggins

Yuk!! I have a walk in shower cubicle with glass doors which sort of come together to close. My hubby has a very dirty job and so when he showers a lot of muck comes off him. I dont know if its the muck or the shower stuff or maybe a combination of the both but there seems to be what can only be described a a black jelly like deposit all around the door edges, bottom etc and a load of gunk around the actual shower dials in the shower itself. I thought maybe it was beacuse the heatings not on yet and it was a sort of funag build up but dont think it is. I was cleaning the shower while standing in it armed with an old tootbrush getting all this gunk off. I held the hose up and brushed this and the black mess that came off it was vile. Its not like I dont give the shower a good clean regular cos I do . whats the best way to get this off and keep it off? Also in my shower I am able to lift out the metal drain bit which i do quite often and under this there is like a small water trap and this smells horrible- almost ammonialike or the smell in a hair dressers from lots of perm solution. Is this kind of smell normal? I thought that again it was a soap build up. thanks

tawnyowls

Probably is soap scum with mould growing on it. Do you use actual bar soap? Perhaps you should try switching to a liquid soap or shower gel? (I know soap's more eco-friendly, but if you end up using more cleaning stuff, it kind of cancels that out - a liquid soap doesn't have the fat in it that mould tends to like)

You could try using Anthea's mix of borax, bicarb and vinegar (recipe's on here somewhere) to clean it, with a wipe of bleach afterwards to kill off the mould. Otherwise, I find Astonish Bathroom Cleaner (blue stuff) very good, and not horrid and choking like Cillit Bang (mind you, I still wear a dustmask when using any spray in a shower unit).

As for the water trap, no, I wouldn't say that's normal. I had a quick look online, and it seems to again be soap scum forming a layer on the pipes that ammonia-producing bacteria live in. Any drain cleaner should get rid of that, or for an OS one, try Kim & Aggie's recipe of bicarb + vinegar. After that, a few drops of Zoflora every few days should keep it fresh.

Linda32

tawnyowls wrote:

Probably is soap scum with mould growing on it. Do you use actual bar soap? Perhaps you should try switching to a liquid soap or shower gel? (I know soap's more eco-friendly, but if you end up using more cleaning stuff, it kind of cancels that out - a liquid soap doesn't have the fat in it that mould tends to like)

We used to get the black jelly stuff in the plughole of the sink, yuk But since swopping to liquid soap at the sink we don't get that anymore.

It is more expensive than a bar, but these usually bogof offers on in various places.

I have a constant battle with our bath and shower screen, so I know its a pain to keep nice

mrs_baggins

thanks both. in fact we use both bar soap and shower gel. will try leaving out the soap for a while and see what happens

MATH

I think it may be the bar soap cousing the scub problems. Once you have the stall clean maintain it by slotting a deep-bleach session into your reqular cleaning routine. Once a month or so cover all the surfaces with bleach, leave 30 mins and rinse off. I also do a once monthly descale as well and I've had no mould probs since I have started doing this.HTH

tawnyowls

Linda32 wrote:

We used to get the black jelly stuff in the plughole of the sink, yuk But since swopping to liquid soap at the sink we don't get that anymore.
It is more expensive than a bar, but these usually bogof offers on in various places.

Yep, me too, but not since I've gone over completely to squirty soap - dispensers in all the bathrooms (very nice white china ones for sale in Poundland) filled with Knight antibacterial soap (1L bottles in Poundland). Shower gel I buy for 28p in Lidl (the sports one - very nice and clean-smelling) or if I want something a bit more special, 69p in Aldi (find theirs tends to go a bit further than the more expensive Lidl versions). A washing net scrunchy thing (pack of 5 in Poundland) makes it very economical to use.

fudgem

I put soda crystals down my drainholes once a week and never have any problems with smells now

poppie,s_dream

to clean shower glass doors try a mix of stardrops, vinegar and water in a spray gun and spray leave for 1/2 hour then rinse off the glass with shower head and wipe down with microfibre cloth. if you do spray this concoction everytime someone has a shower it will stay clean all the time making it less work to clean in the future.

mrs_baggins

wow! i'll try that as I am forever cleaning the glass doors!