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Learning How to Remove Hard Water Stains from Glass Shower Doors is possible! A few simple steps, tools and a whole lot of elbow grease is all it takes to get your glass shower doors looking like new in no time!
It’s no secret that I live in an area flowing with hard water. A couple years ago I shared How to Remove Hard Water Stains from Toilets, but I was still stuck with hard water stains on my glass shower doors.
Table of Contents
- What is the difference between hard and soft water?
- Pros and Cons of hard versus soft water
- What is causing those ugly spots on my glass shower doors?
- Methods that did not clean the hard water from my glass showers
- What you need to remove hard water from glass
- How to Clean Glass Shower Doors
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How to Clean Glass Shower Doors Recipe
What is the difference between hard and soft water?
- Hard Water is water which contains an appreciable amount of dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
- Soft Water, on the other hand, contains less dissolved minerals. Or, when treated, the only ion it may contain is sodium (causing this treated water to taste badly due to the leftover sodium ions). Naturally falling rainwater is soft water, for example.
How then does water become “hard water”?
Great question! I’m so glad you asked.
Water becomes hard as it makes its way through the ground and into our waterways. Along the way, this water picks up minerals like chalk, lime, calcium, and magnesium.
Pros and Cons of hard versus soft water
Wait. There’s a pro to hard water?
Oh yes! read on…
Given that hard water contains all these essential (and super important) minerals (remember the calcium and magnesium?) and tastes significantly better, one may wonder why we even think of softening our water. I mean, if hard water is better for you and it tastes better, why mess it up?
Well, aside from these obvious benefits, hard water is hard on appliances (dishwashers and washing machines) and is hard to clean. Clothing feels unclean even after washing and since soap reacts negatively with magnesium and calcium, even your hair may feel dirty and sticky after washing.
In short, hard water is less effective and uses more energy due to the mineral buildup that is left behind.
Ok, wonderful….so what about soft water?
Hard water, when treated, removes the magnesium and calcium that was picked up to, once again, create soft water. Unfortunately, while most of the ions are removed from soft water, the negatively charged sodium ion remains. And, well, we all know what sodium is, right? As a result, treated soft water not just tastes salty, but actually increases your sodium intake each day.
And this, my friends, brings me to my next point…
What is causing those ugly spots on my glass shower doors?
Hard Water. Period. The end.
Yes, each time you take a shower and allow the water to dry on the glass, those spots and stains are the minerals left behind.
Depending on how bad your hard water is, or how long your buildup has been building up, will likely determine how bad your shower doors look and how difficult they will be to clean.
Now, let’s fix this problem. Kay?
Methods that did not clean the hard water from my glass showers
- Lemon
- Vinegar
- Baking soda
- Lemon, vinegar, baking soda in combination
- Razor blade
- Tilex, Scrubbing Bubbles, etc.
None of these things worked.
So, for a long time I gave up and, as a result, the stains continued to get worse and worse until one day I just COULD NOT ANYMORE.
So, I started thinking along the same lines as my toilet solution which uses fine-grit drywall screens to clean the hard water buildup. Maybe, just maybe, there was something out there that I could use on glass?
Lucky for us, there is!
What you need to remove hard water from glass
- 0000 Super Fine Steel Wool
- White vinegar
- Spray bottle or bed sheet
- Gloves
- Medium-sized mixing bowl or measuring cup (I used a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup)
- Barkeepers Friend (not the spray. I used the stuff for pots and pans, but any of the powdered kind will work)
- Face-mask
How to Clean Glass Shower Doors
Guys, there is no way around it. In order to remove those ingrained mineral deposits stuck to your shower doors, you will have to use some serious elbow grease. This is not a gentle once over and done type fix. My advice is to work in sections and ask your husband or stronger significant other to help if you get tired. Please, do not be discouraged if you still have some hard water spots after the first round of scrubbing. For those really tough spots, you may need to go over it a couple times.
- Gather supplies.
- The vinegar soak. Depending on how bad your buildup is, you may or may not need to do this step. Mine was looking pretty miserable, so I decided to soak a sheet in white vinegar and drape it over my shower door. I then pressed as much of the sheet against the glass as possible so that the glass could “soak” in vinegar. If the sheet started to dry out, I would spray with additional vinegar. Please note- this step alone will do nothing to remove or eliminate the hard water stains on your glass shower doors.
- Rinse. After approximately 30 minutes (just enough time to clean the rest of the bathroom!), remove the sheet (or relocate to a different part of the shower), and rinse with water.
- Prepare the Barkeepers Friend paste. Put on the mask (if you have one) and gloves (if you don’t have some, buy some). To a bowl or cup add approximately 1/4 cup of powdered Barkeepers Friend. There is no need to measure an exact amount, this is just to give you an idea of where to start. Slowly add water until a paste forms, mixing well.
- Scrub. Use your hand to rub the paste over a section of the glass shower door, and, using a 0000 Super Fine Steel Wool pad, start scrubbing. Small circular motion, large circular motion, up and down, just scrub. Once you feel you’ve been scrubbing for far too long and surely you must have shiny clean spotless doors, rinse. For some, this may be the case after one application. For others, you may need to scrub one more time.
- Rinse well. And remember to use a glass cleaner to clean the other side of the glass.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Barkeepers Friend Septic-safe? Yes. Oxalic acid cleansers are acidic instead of alkaline, which makes them more effective against rust, tarnish, oxidation, mineral scale, hard water, and lime deposits than most other cleaning products. Unlike other acidic cleaners, Bar Keepers Friend doesn’t use fillers or bleaches, making them biodegradable and safe for septic systems.
- Can I use any steel wool? Does it have to be 0000 Super Fine Steel Wool? No, I would not recommend using any other steel wool except super fine 0000. Of course, feel free to use any brand you prefer, but less fine steel wool may scratch the glass.
Yay! Sparkling Glass Shower Doors!
How to Clean Glass Shower Doors
Equipment
- Medium-sized mixing bowl or measuring cup (I used a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup)
Instructions
- Gather supplies.
- The vinegar soak. Depending on how bad your buildup is, you may or may not need to do this step. Mine was looking pretty miserable, so I decided to soak a sheet in white vinegar and drape it over my shower door. I then pressed as much of the sheet against the glass as possible so that the glass could “soak” in vinegar. If the sheet started to dry out, I would spray with additional vinegar.
- Rinse. After approximately 30 minutes (just enough time to clean the rest of the bathroom!), remove the sheet (or relocate to a different part of the shower), and rinse with water.
- Prepare the Bar Keepers Friend paste. Put on the mask (if you have one) and gloves (if you don’t have some, buy some). To a bowl or cup add approximately 1/4 cup of powdered Bar Keepers Friend. There is no need to measure an exact amount, this is just to give you an idea of where to start. Slowly add water until a paste forms, mixing well.
- Scrub. Use your hand to rub the paste over a section of the glass shower door, and, using a 0000 Super Fine Steel Wool pad, start scrubbing. Small circular motion, large circular motion, up and down, just scrub. Once you feel you’ve been scrubbing for far too long and surely you must have shiny clean spotless doors, rinse. For some, this may be the case after one application. For others, you may need to scrub one more time.
- Rinse well. And remember to use a glass cleaner to clean the other side of the glass shower door.
My recommendation, now that the glass is clean, wipe with a squeegee after each shower. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and have never had a water stain buildup using this technique. Training the family might prove challenging though, but if they experience what you had to do to get the glass clean, they will cooperate!
I’m in my 40’s now. I grew up with my grandparents and my grandma always dried out the shower. The tile was always clean. Of course this was before glass doors were a (big) thing. I’ve done this all my life. I have special cheap towels that are just for shower drying. My glass looks brand new still after many years. Squeegeeing then drying is the most helpful IMO.
Thank you so much for this post. Your method works so well! You are right, just vinegar alone will not be enough. I tried just bartenders friend powder alone, did not work either. I was about to buy the steel pad, but found that a toothbrush or hard brush worked for me, and did not have to scrub too hard!
Thanks for the positive feedback Constance 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this technique! My shower doors look amazing!! Brand new!! I thought we were going to have to replace the doors. You have to follow the directions and it works perfectly. Thanks again
Thanks Jennifer, I am very happy that you did not have to replace your shower doors after following these directions 🙂
Hi Jessica, I have a very simple solution.
All I use is a Mr. Clean Magic erasure sponge and all the spots and layers of white film wipe right off my glass shower wall and door!
It truly is magic!
Thank you for your article. I’ve tried everything too and Magic eraser did not work! But your recipe…… Oh my gosh it worked! No doubt you have to put some muscle into it but well worth the extra effort.
Thanks Laura! I have also found magic eraser to not work at all on hard water.
My sun room has low windows on three sides and my sprinkler system has left hard water stains on several. I’m going to give this a try.
I’ve learned the hard way NOT to use TSP on glass. It will etch it. I have used citric acid with some results. We rented a home at the ocean and salt spray was horrible to remove too. Rain X is a great product. My roofer suggested it on my sky lites. But clean first, of course.
Amazing! I first tried the spray even though it said not to.. because I read in the comments it worked for someone. I wasted my own time. Lol then I followed directions and yes it takes some elbow grease… but the results are worth it!!! I had tried dawn/vinegar… vinegar/lemon juice… etc.. nothing worked until this!
Great instructions. I have long done the same. I often use my auto detailing experience while cleaning my home. I too use 0000 steel wool on chrome and glass. It works super good. I have a final step that is very helpful in preventing the spotting or buildup. I apply brand RainX after each detail job of glass. Think of rainx as a protectant, kinda like car wax does. I even put rainx on my exterior home windows. Rain x is a great product.
CLR destroyed the finish on my Kohler faucets, DO NOT USE CLR, it voids your warranty too, I tried it on my glass and it did nothing but damaged my chrome handle on my shower door. I just had to spend $1,000 to replace all of my parts to my shower faucets….CLR is a horrible product.
I just cleaned my shower with the vinegar/dawn mixture it removed alot of the hardwater spots but I am going to use your process for the spots remaining that is a build up of over 8 years. I will repost my results….can’t wait to try this.
Thank you for pointing out that vinegar or baking soda wouldn’t help much in removing hard water stains from glass shower screens. I’m planning to get a shower enclosure installed in my bathroom for the next renovation that my house will have. It’s helpful to know all I need to know about how to keep them looking clear and crisp.
I use only liquid body wash in my shower, absolutely no bar soap, and squeegy after each shower. I also keep a synthetic chamois in the bathroom to wipe the drops off the shower track and floor. Shower walls are 12×20″ glossy tile, so I squeegy that too. It’s a pain, but I hate cleaning. Also, I use a weekly shower spray before the squeegy which is a natural products recipe.
CLR does too and you will save yourself lots of scrubbbing 😘
Hi Monica,
I tried CLR… it didn’t work at all on my thick hard water stains that you can see the images 🙂