My Favorite Way to Clean the Shower and Bathtub

Cleaning the shower and bathtub was always a task I dreaded, partly because it took so much effort to get rid of the scum line. (Not that I would ever do a thing like procrastinate on that task, mind you... ;) ) I was using a scrub brush and baking soda because it's fairly abrasive, but it took a lot of time and effort to get it looking clean again. But then I came across a different method, and it's been so much easier to get my tub looking nice!

What You'll Need:

A stiff-bristled brush: Since you won't be using an abrasive cleaner, you'll need something abrasive to scrub the scum, so I recommend a stiff brush, instead of a soft sponge.

Dish Soap: Any brand will work, though you can't go wrong with blue Dawn dish soap.

How to Clean

Now, get the shower and tub wet, or wait to clean until after someone's taken a shower. Then, squirt dish soap all over the bathtub - even the parts that don't look that dirty right now. You can let the soap sit, or you can get to work.

Take your abrasive brush and scrub everything until the scum and everything else is gone. If you've let it go a while and it's especially scummy, give the tub and shower a good rinse and repeat the soaping/scrubbing process.

I love this cleaning hack because it gets rid of scum so much faster than baking soda or a scrub powder. After all, dish soap is designed to cut through grease and scrubbing powder isn't! I do like to use a dedicated scrub brush for the shower so I'm not spreading messes or germs around the rest of the house.

Make sure you rinse the shower and tub well after you are done scrubbing it. You just spent time getting rid of the soap scum, so you don't want to have to worry about dish soap build up too.

My husband and I have one bathroom for the two of us, and I've found scrubbing the shower and tub once a week seems to be the sweet spot for keeping the mess manageable.

Have you tried dish soap for things other than dishes? How did it turn out?