Cleaning a Shower

Overview: Maintaining a clean and fresh smelling shower is essential to bathroom hygiene and family health. Bathroom showers have the near perfect conditions for mold and mildew to grow and collect bacteria because of the continuous dampness. In addition, odors can emit from the drain pipe if a disinfectant is not used frequently to purge the drain pipe.

Cleaning a shower stall should be accomplished after each use or at the end of the day using a disinfectant to protect your family from the fungi that breeds in such environments, and the buildup of soap scum on the shower walls.

Tips for Cleaning a Shower:

· Hang up shower accessories and washcloths after each use. By hanging them up the shower drying process will be quicker and helps prevent soap scum buildup. To get everyone to participate provide a designated accessory hook for each person to store their accessories.

· Give the shower a quick cleansing after each use or the end of the day. Some of the best cleansers that will clean and disinfect are Mr. Clean, Automatic Shower Clean, or if you want to stay environmental friendly Green Works, put out by Clorox, is an excellent product. All these cleaning agents include a disinfectant in them that will kill 99.9 of any bacteria that collect in shower stalls and they leave a gentle, fresh clean scent.

· The easier way to prevent mold and mildew is reduce excess moisture in the bathroom. Always turn on the bathroom fan before getting in the shower. If you don’t have an exhaust fan in your bathroom crack a window open so the excess moisture can escape.

· When cleaning the shower start at the top of the shower unit and work your way toward the bottom. To save time apply the cleaning to the top of the unit and let it run down the walls as you clean. Depending on which cleaning agent you use you just have to rinse the cleaning agent off the walls rather than scrubbing with a scrub cloth. A good cleaning agent will remove the soap scum and disinfect at the same time.

· If you have a problem of rust collecting from shower accessories you can prevent it by applying a coat of clear fingernail polish.

· Apply the cleaning agent to the faucets, showerheads and other fixtures and rinse thoroughly. However, if you have brass bathroom fixtures do not use a strong bleach solution to clean them. The bleach with cause the brass finish to pit.

· Use a shower organizer or caddy to keep bottles, soap and accessories off the shower floor and ledges. This will help prevent soap scum from accumulating. A good organizer or caddy is one that hangs from the showerhead.

· Control shower clutter by keeping everyone’s bathroom belongings in an organized order. Hang towels or wall mounted towel racks rather than the shower doors.

Cleaning the shower frequently is critical to controlling bacteria, mold and mildew that just love damp moist places. I recommend whatever the cleaning agent you use that it contains a disinfectant to eliminate the bacteria.

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