Dirty shower glass looks so good after $3 cleaning hack it's almost 'invisible'
Updated . First published
A little-known cleaning hack has transformed cloudy shower glass so well that it looks almost invisible.
The before-and-after photos of the shower were shared to Reddit's Cleaning Tips forum, leaving members of the group stunned.
"I thought you were showing us pics with the door open! This looks absolutely amazing. Invisible, even," one commented.
Shower glass screen before being cleaned with citric acid. Reddit/Jimbo071517
The owner of the shower said they decided to try citric acid to clean the glass after reading about its powerful cleaning properties in the same Reddit group.
"I've tried many products including CLR, RMR, cleanser, Clorox etc. and nothing worked. I came across this group and saw citric acid as an option. Got it off Amazon with some knock off scrubbers and let me tell you it worked with little elbow grease," they said.
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If it wasn't for the reflection in the "after" you'd think the door was open. Reddit/Jimbo071517
To make the citric acid spray they mixed six tablespoons of citric acid with two cups of hot water in a spray bottle.
"Some recommended using paper towels, however I just sprayed heavily, let it run down from top to bottom, scrubbed a little, rinsed and repeated four or five times. I used three tablespoons per cup of warm water and my glass is like new."
Citric acid is found in citrus fruits, which means you can use the fruits for cleaning too. Getty
When another Redditor asked if the grout in the shower was damaged by the citric acid, the original poster said they made sure to rinse afterwards.
That being said, citric acid is generally too harsh for grout so if using take care to use it on the glass and thoroughly rinse any cleaning spray that drips onto grout.
It's also not safe on natural stone tiles so choose another cleaning option for shower glass if you're in this situation.
Citric acid, which can be found in supermarkets for $3 for a 75g can, isn't as well known for cleaning as other pantry staples are, but it is growing in popularity thanks to social media.
It has become a hot topic in both the Cleaning Tips and Laundry Reddit groups, where members have been singing it's praises for all sorts of cleaning problems.
"Thanks for the review, now I know what I will be doing with my shower this weekend," one said.
"Thanks for sharing! I had no idea citric acid can be used for [cleaning shower glass screens]. I have a large bag of it that I use for descaling and cleaning my dishwasher and laundry machine. I'm going to try this over the weekend," another commented.
"Glad it worked," said a Redditor who previously posted about cleaning their own shower with citric acid. "My door always looks great now. For maintenance, I just wipe it down once a month with the spray mix and in between try to remember to squeegee."
Another wrote, "Citric acid is one of my favourite things to use in laundry too. I add a tablespoon to the rinse water in the fabric softener dispenser. I wash towels in 1/2 cup citric acid and let them soak when the towels start feeling crunchy from hard water build up in the fibres. It's a must have in the cleaning arsenal when you have hard water."
Citric acid can also be used to clean the washing machine (check your instruction manual first) by adding 150g to the hottest, longest cycle.
The most common way to use citric acid in cleaning is descaling a kettle – so much so that the McKenzie's brand has instructions for this hack on the back of its citric acid containers.
All you need is two tablespoons of citric acid which you add to a litre of water, boil that and leave it for 15 minutes before pouring out and rinsing.
