You bought your shower caddy a few weeks back, you’re happy because you thought you made the best purchase of your life, but after a few more weeks, grime, hard water spots, and rust start to accumulate on it. Now you’re all worried and panicked because you don’t know how to clean your shower caddy. But then again, you’re lucky because you have this awesome “How to Clean Shower Caddies” guide to help you.
You don’t need to worry or panic at all because first and foremost, you’re not the only one experiencing it since a ton of other people also facing this “how to clean my shower caddy” predicament, especially when what they bought are the non-rustproof ones. Secondly, there are various ways of cleaning the grime, hard water spots, and rust off your shower caddies. Some of these ways are easy to do and require a few materials already available in your household. On the contrary, some of these shower caddy cleaning methods are complicated and may need special materials you can buy at Amazon or your local do-it-yourself or hardware stores. The primary shower caddy cleaning method I’m going to share with you is fairly easy and ranked high in effectivity.
But first, let’s educate ourselves on what grime, hard water spots, and rust are so we can gain a better understanding on how to clean it off our shower caddies.
Grime ruins the aesthetic look of your shower caddy through white solids and black solids that form on it. Grime mostly comes from chunks of soap and spilled shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste fluids left on the shower caddy to crystallize. Most commonly, the appearance of grime is the reason why a lot us want to clean our shower caddies in the first place.
Hard water spots, on the other hand, are disintegrated mineral deposits commonly found on bath essentials like soap that are left to dry on ceramic or glass surfaces leaving unsightly brown or white spots. Hard water spots can be commonly interchanged with soap scrums. Hard water spots can also ruin the aesthetic look of your shower caddy, especially when it’s a chrome one. Permanent hard water spots can be avoided by regularly cleaning your shower caddies.
Last but not the least, we all know what rust is. But for the sake of explaining it in this guide, rust is a reddish- or yellowish- brown flaky coating of iron oxide that is formed on iron or steel in the presence of moisture. Some shower caddies, even the rust resistant and rustproof ones are susceptible to rust because water may seep through the anti-rust coating thus corroding the iron beneath it. That’s why it’s good to invest in a reliable rust proof shower caddy in the first place like the Zenna Home 7402AL and the InterDesign Metalo rather than cheap ones you can buy at bargain stores so you can take rust off your list when cleaning shower caddies.
How to Clean Shower Caddies in 7 Steps
A method for cleaning shower caddy grime, hard water spots, and rust is the one used in SF Gate. This method will require: (1) a bathtub or sink with a stopper and deep enough to submerge your caddy in; (2) white vinegar; (3) pitcher with volume marks on it; (4) measuring cup; (5) Scotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scrub Sponges; (6) baking soda; (7) bowl; (8) towel; (9) commercial rust remover; and (10) clear nail polish.
- Step #1: Before cleaning your shower caddy, remove all the bath essentials like conditioners, shampoos, bars of soap and remove the shower caddy itself from its place. The removal process will vary depending on the shower caddy type.
- Step #2: You need to fill your bathtub or sink with an ample amount of water to completely submerge your shower caddy. Step #2 is the step where you need a pitcher with volume marks on it because you need to gauge accurately how many gallons of water you used to submerge the shower caddy. After drowning the shower caddy and figuring out how many gallons of water you used, mix it with ½ cup of white vinegar per gallon of water.
- Step #3: Soak the shower caddy in the solution for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the grime and hard water spots begin to soften. All you need to do is wait in this step and keep yourself entertained while keeping a watchful eye on the cleaning of your shower caddy while submerged.
Step #4: Scrub the shower caddy thoroughly with a Scotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scrub Sponge to remove as much grime and hard water spots as possible. Drain the vinegar solution in your bathtub or sink and rinse the shower caddy with water.- Step #5: Combine the baking soda with enough water to form a paste in the bowl. Rub the formed paste onto any remaining grime and hard water spots on the shower caddy using your fingers. Pour one cup of white vinegar over it. As the vinegar is poured, the paste will begin to bubble and fizz to break down the remaining grime and hard water spots that persisted. Rinse the shower caddy with water after the bubbling and fizzing stops. By now, you’ve surely noticed the changes since you’ve started cleaning your shower caddy.
- Step #6: Wipe the shower caddy with a clean, dry towel. If rust spots exist, remove it using a commercial rust remover and by applying a coat of clear nail polish to prevent further rusting.
- Step #7: Replace the shower caddy in the place it was before and return all the bath essentials you removed in step #1 in its rightful places also. That’s it, you’ve cleaned your shower caddy!
Another shower caddy cleaning method, as proposed by Lifehacker, is just to place your caddy in the dishwasher for hassle-free cleaning. You can also do this if the shower caddy fits in your dishwasher in the first place.
All materials are subject to wear and tear, even the rustproof and sturdy shower caddies. That’s why it’s important to clean your shower caddy regularly even though it’s exposed to water every day. Cleaning your shower caddy regularly also prevents grime from crystalizing too hard, hard water spots becoming permanent like paint, and rust from continually forming, which in turn, will prolong its life.