Mandy PhillipsNothing can take away the cleanliness and beauty of your shower more than a dirty shower door. Thankfully, cleaning the doors of your shower is easy enough, unless you have an overlapping sliding shower door!
Reaching and cleaning the overlapping part of the door is not exactly a walk in the park, and then you add in the sliding door tracks. These parts of your shower door attract the most grime and dirt and are challenging and often frustrating to clean.
However, we have tricks and tips to make cleaning overlapping sliding shower doors simple and hassle-free so that you can keep your shower spotless.
Why Is Your Shower Door Dirty?
You’d imagine that the shower is the least dirty part of the house, but it’s actually the opposite. The water from the shower will wash most of the dust and dirt, but many shower products leave stains and streaks on the shower door. This includes your shampoo and conditioner, soap, body wash, salts, and many more. Not to mention, your shower water may have dissolved minerals like magnesium and calcium that can create undesirable stains and buildup on your shower door.
All shower doors are prone to stains and buildup from dust, soap scum, and hard water. But if you have an overlapping sliding shower door, it’s even more susceptible to dirt. The hard-to-reach areas, like that part of the door that overlaps a bit, are where a lot of dirt and bacteria reside.
How to Clean Overlapping Sliding Shower Doors: 3 Methods
There are three ways to get around the slime and gunk in those hard-to-reach crevices of your sliding shower doors. Let’s talk about tools and a process for each.
Removing, Then Cleaning the Sliding Doors
Although this method seems a bit drastic, there’s no more effective way to ensure that your overlapping sliding shower door is squeaky clean than removing the door so you can clean all surfaces, especially the overlapping part.
- Remove the stopper. You can find it at the bottom of the glass sliding door, a black rubber stopper held by a screw.
- Pull out the glass door panel. Once you have unscrewed and taken off the rubber stopper, you can gently push the door so it dangles from the top frame. Do this with extra care and with a good grip, pushing the door slightly upwards, and it will come right off.
- Clean the door. Before anything else, make sure to rest the door somewhere safe, and it’s time to start the cleaning process. Give it a good scrub, and once you’re done cleaning, remember to pat it dry.
- Reinstall the sliding door. Return the door panel back to the track, pushing it up the top frame then lowering it to the bottom track. Reinstall the rubber stopper and secure it back in place with a screw.
You now have a squeaky-clean overlapping sliding shower door!
Use a Sponge Stick to Clean Hard to Reach Areas
If taking the sliding door off is too much work for you to handle, using a painter’s sponge stick is a simple alternative. If you don’t know what a sponge stick is, it’s basically what it sounds like – a long stick with a sponge attached to the tip.
There are two common types of sponge sticks, the smaller ball sponge and the cylindrical sponge. Get the latter for cleaning purposes. Cylindrical sponges are quite slim and will easily slide into the overlapping sliding door’s tightest spots.
- Soak the sponge in water or your cleaning solution. Make sure that the sponge absorbs as much cleaning liquid as possible.
- Push the sponge through the crevice. Get the damp sponge through the overlapping portion of your sliding shower door, making sure the other end of the sponge reaches the door’s free edge. Push it back and forth to take out all of the grime.
- Rinse with water. You can use a new and fresh sponge or clean the previous sponge. Soak it in clean water and follow the previous step, now taking out as much of the cleaning solution and any dirt residue.
- Run a dry sponge. In this step, you need a new, dry sponge to push through the overlapping part to help get all the cleaning liquid out. A dry sponge is necessary to ensure no water remains to prevent rust.
Using a Hose with High Water Pressure
Another option to clean overlapping sliding shower doors is by using a hose with water pressure high enough to remove whatever dirt and grime are in the overlapping area.
You can use soapy water or any cleaning liquid you prefer, but make sure it can remove dirt buildup as quickly as possible.
Apply the soapy water first using the hose, make sure the liquid goes through the crevices of your sliding door. Let the cleaning solution sit on the glass surface for a while, then use the same water pressure to rinse the soapy liquid out.
Advanced Cleaning Tips for Your Overlapping Sliding Shower Doors
If it’s ordinary cleaning, wiping down your overlapping sliding shower door with a damp cloth is often enough. But it’s a different matter if you’re dealing with stubborn stains on the glass surface. There are two main culprits for these ugly marks on your glass shower door – soap scum and hard water.
Thankfully, removing these is easy enough with some simple cleaning tips.
How to Remove Soap Scum on Shower Doors
You’d think that soap would clean up your sliding shower door, but the scum from the bar of soap you’re using can form a paste that sticks to the glass and leave an unsightly buildup that looks annoying and is difficult to clean.
But a paste of baking soda and kitchen vinegar can produce a foam that will break down any soap scum residue on your shower door. If you don’t like how vinegar smells, you can switch it to lemon.
Apply the paste on the shower door, scrubbing directly into the soap scum. Rinse, then dry.
There are also effective cleaning solutions for shower doors that don’t require scrubbing at all, protecting shower doors from scratches.
This award-winning product effectively and safely removes soap scup on shower glass doors, ceramic tile, chrome, plastic, stone and more. Easy to use, just spray and rinse. No scrubbing required.
- Safe non-toxic non-abrasive formula
- Made in US
How to Remove Water Streaks on Shower Doors
Drip marks on your shower door may be caused by soap scum or dirty water. They can be stubborn to clean, but a mixture of ammonia and distilled water can get your shower door back to its shiny glory.
Add two tablespoons of ammonia to two cups of water and spray it on the shower door. Leave it to air-dry for a couple of minutes, then wipe or buff the water streaks using a dry, clean cloth.
How to Clean Hard Water Stains on Shower Doors
Water containing broken-down minerals, particularly calcium and magnesium, is what you call hard water. Most of the time, it’s safe enough to use for showering, but will leave residual marks on your shower door.
Hard water can leave a mineral film when left to dry on any surface, and it’s particularly visible and ugly on your glass overlapping shower door.
Remove hard water stains with a gentle, non-abrasive cleaner to avoid scratching the glass. Distilled white vinegar diluted in warm water can usually break down mineral buildup in shower doors. Spray a solution on the shower door, leaving it there for five to 30 minutes before scrubbing the door gently.
How to Clean Your Overlapping Sliding Shower Door Tracks
So, you’re done cleaning the shower door, but how about the tracks?
If the glass is dirty, then it’s most likely that the door tracks are dirtier. It’s easy enough for dirt, mold, mildew, and hard water to get trapped in the metal track. Not to mention, it’s one of the most neglected areas of your shower door since it’s not easily scrubbed or sponged either.
The same vinegar and water solution used to clean the glass can also be used to clean the tracks, especially if there is a stubborn buildup. But instead of minutes, leave the cleaning solution overnight on the track to dissolve the grime. Then, use an old toothbrush to clean and scrub any loose debris the following day, rinse with water, and use a clean cloth or paper towel to dry.
Make Sure Your Overlapping Sliding Shower Doors Stays Clean
Overlapping sliding doors are especially inconvenient to clean because of the tight spot created where the doors overlap. There’s also the sliding door track where dirt and grime easily build up. Since you need to clean the shower and bathroom pretty often, cleaning the overlapping shower door can be daunting.
The abovementioned cleaning tips and tricks will ensure that the task won’t be too much of a hassle to accomplish. Whether you are dealing with stains and ugly residue from soap scum or hard water, you can get all the grime and dirt marks from your overlapping sliding shower doors without breaking a sweat.
