To clean an overlapping shower door, dip a paint sponge in soapy water and push it through the aperture until all the soap scum and grime are out. Next, rinse the paint sponge with water until no soap remains, and push it through the gap under the door again to remove leftover soap.
Overlapping sliding shower doors accumulate soap and sludgy water in crannies that are simple to clean when handled early.
But, if ignored and not scrubbed on time, the job becomes a bit of a headache, and you need to know what you are doing to clean your sliding doors the right way.
If you don’t want your shower doors to look unattractive or become challenging to open smoothly, this guide will help you.
It includes a step-by-step tutorial on how to clean overlapping sliding doors and leave your shower spotless, along with a bunch of tips that will make your life easier when you take care of your bathroom moving forward.
Why is Your Sliding Shower Door Filthy?
You may think the shower is the last place you have to worry about when cleaning your home. Since you shower at least once daily, all grime and dust get washed away.
While this is 100% true, you are not considering the stains and smudges left behind by personal hygiene products you use in the shower. Shampoos, hair conditioners, shower gels, and soaps are some culprits that leave these stains.
If that weren’t enough of a problem, you also have to worry about liquified minerals such as calcium and magnesium that build up very fast.
The stains make your shower doors look awful, and they start to make a noise when you open them.
With overlapping sliding shower doors, the most challenging spots to clean are the crevices with grime and bacteria that you may not always notice. But when you see them, they become hard to ignore, and it is time to get them sparkling clean again!
How to Clean Overlapping Sliding Shower Doors (3 Techniques to Follow)
This part of the guide will teach you all the materials you need and the steps you must follow in cleaning your shower doors using 3 individual techniques.
Disassembling and Cleaning Sliding Doors
What You’ll Need
- Screwdriver
- Soft Bristle Brush
- Cleaning Liquid
Instructions
Starting with this method requires a bit more work and time, but it will guarantee your overlapping sliding shower door will come out immaculate.
Once the doors are disassembled, you will have access to every crevice that was difficult to reach before you noticed the grime build-up.
- Detach the stopper: It is located at the lower end of the glass sliding door. You will see a black rubber stopper with a screw inside, and you can use a screwdriver to remove it.
- Take out the glass door panel: Softly press the door until it hangs from the upper area of the frame. Be cautious, and ensure your hands are not oily or wet. With a tight grip, lift the door, and it will no longer be attached.
- Scrub the door: Place the door on a flat surface, and you can begin to clean it from top to bottom. Then, scrub it down using a soft bristle brush with any cleaning liquid you want. When you are finished, dry it with a microfiber towel.
- Reassemble the sliding door: When you’re ready to reattach the door panel, lift it with a good grip and your hands on the top frame. Next, lower it slowly to the bottom track.
Finally, hold the door in place by screwing back in the rubber stopper with your screw and screwdriver.
Use A Sponge Stick to Clean Difficult Crevices
Not everyone is willing to make the extra effort of removing the entire shower door to clean it, and that’s okay.
You can buy a sponge stick at Home Depot or on Amazon and get the same results as the first method. A sponge stick is an elongated stick with a sponge at the upper end.
The options you have to choose from when shopping for these are cylindrical and painter’s sponges.
We would go with the cylindrical version for the cleaning task you are about to learn. Cylindrical sponges are thin and get into almost any crevice you need to access, no matter how narrow.
What You’ll Need
- Sponge stick
- Bucket or container
- Cleaning liquid
- Warm water
Instructions
- Dip your sponge in water or cleaning liquid: Leave the sponge in the bucket for a few seconds until it soaks in as much cleaning soap as you need.
- Push your sponge into the crevice: Push your wet sponge through the aperture of the overlapping sliding door until you see it on the other side. Keep shoving it forward and backward so your sponge can remove the grime under the sliding door.
You can stop when you no longer see any more soap scum.
- Wash the door off with water: Wash your sponge with water until it no longer has any soap inside. Then, with the newly cleaned sponge, follow the same movements in step 2 to ensure the cranny doesn’t have any soap or grime leftover.
- Pass a dry sponge: Use a new dry sponge, or you can wait until the one you used in step 3 is dry. Then, you can take the dry sponge to dry up the area under the overlapping sliding door, so it does not get rusty.
Use A Hose with High Water Pressure
This last method is very effective and gets your overlapping sliding doors clean in minutes.
For this to work, the water pressure in your hose must be strong enough to get any dirt or soap scum out quickly.
We recommend putting soapy water in the hose. Most people use regular water, but cleaning liquid helps remove calcium and built-up dirt faster.
When getting started, ensure the soapy water from the hose goes right through the cranny of the sliding door. Then, give the shower door time to sit with the liquid solution for about 10 minutes.
Once the time has passed, put only water in the hose so you can rinse off any soap. Your overlapping shower door should now be squeaky clean.
FAQs on How to Clean Overlapping Sliding Shower Doors
How can I clean soap scum?
You can remove soap scum by mixing baking soda and vinegar until it is ready to apply to the shower door. Then, scrub it with a brush until the sliding door is clean, and rinse with water.
How do I remove water streaks on shower doors?
Mix 2 tablespoons of ammonia and 2 cups of water until the solution is ready to be sprayed on your shower door. Give it 5 minutes to dry, and then rinse the streaks off with water using a microfiber towel.
