Bathtub Cleaner {Dawn and Vinegar SUCCESS}

Bathtubs do not clean themselves. Yet, tub scrubbing remains a low priority for me unless overnight company is expected. Embarrassing and dirty describe our master bathroom tub. It constantly has gray soap scum in the corners of the tub, dust, and more lurking in the corners. The effort required to clean it just seems too much, especially for soap scum.

Until now.

Dawn and Vinegar Spray: Attempt #1

Months ago I explored a pin that claimed equal parts of white vinegar and Dawn sprayed on a bathtub would leave it sparkling. The only requirement was to wipe it down after one hour. I tried it.

Here’s the thing. When two or more months have passed since you last cleaned your bathtub, elbow grease is a requirement of any cleaner. It actually cleaned my nasty tub fairly well, but not quite well enough, even with some scrubbing action. Some soap scum remained. (Don't despair. Keep reading instead!)

(I'm not the only one who lets her tub go, right? Please feel free to offer me support in the comments if you are like me...and then keep reading below to learn how to scrub the tub with ease.)

I knew the Dawn and vinegar bathtub cleaner had great potential. 

Dawn and Vinegar with a Scrubbing Wand: Attempt #2 & Success

Then I saw another pin that showed the vinegar and Dawn combination again but used a hand-held scrubbing wand. The dishwand is only a couple of dollars at your local store or Amazon. (Unfortunately, the pin did not link to the original blog post. Someone was trying to drive traffic to their site using someone else's image using Pinterest to do it. Shameful, ugly stuff. But that's why I'm not sharing my original inspiration here.) 

I bought a scrubbing wand. Then I warmed up some vinegar in the microwave. Next I filled the wand approximately halfway with vinegar, followed by blue Dawn dish detergent. The warm vinegar and Dawn mix a bit better when warm. (I read somewhere that the blue version is most effective for tub cleaning purposes. I cannot say if it is true or not. Quite honestly, I think any good dish soap would work. I always buy Dawn, and typically the blue type.) Then, I placed my vinegar and Dawn scrubbing wand in my tub so that it wouldn't be forgotten.

The next morning the vinegar and Dawn scrubbing wand impressed me. It was easy to clean. I didn't need to scrub hard since the scrubber provided the elbow grease for me. I used it as I showered, and it worked FABULOUSLY! When I got out of the shower and put on my glasses, I saw one corner that wasn't clean. I quickly took the scrubbing wand to it, and it was instantly clean.

It had been at least six weeks (likely longer) since the shower/tub had been cleaned, yet with the Dawn and vinegar power in the scrubbing wand, my tub came clean with minimal effort. Even the textured non-slip surface was free of grime.  

I like the combination of the scrubber with Dawn and vinegar because it is
  •  Cheap. Dawn, vinegar, and the scrub brush are inexpensive. The scrubbing head on the brush is also inexpensive.
  • On hand. I always have vinegar for cleaning projects, and I buy Dawn in bulk at BJ’s Wholesale. This is easily refilled.
  • Fast. I spent less than 5 minutes using the wand and rinsing the tub. 
  • Safe. No harsh chemicals means I don't mind my little one's bum in the tub right after cleaning. Not only that, if my children want to scrub the tub, they can. (They have already tried it.) Please tell pregnant women about this safe bathtub cleaner. It is so much better for them than even pleasant smelling cleaners.
  • Effective. My tub is sparkly clean. Better yet, this was so easy and fume-free, that I will be likely to clean the tub more frequently. 
Results:
Poor lighting in my bathtub prevented me from posting a photo of our bathtub. I was unable to take a quality picture. Some folks on Pinterest commented how it worked for them, so you can see the bathtub cleaner pin for their testimonials. Some may be concerned about scratches on the bathtub.Consider testing in a small area first.

Also, please read the comments here from folks like you. Did it work for you? Were you surprised? Leave a comment!

See more cleaning and organizing posts! If you have the brown dishwasher stains due to your well water, vinegar can clean those, too.

If this worked for you, please share about this post with your friends. Thanks so much! 

You can also check out my author website

~ Annette {This Simple Mom

51 comments

  1. Thanks so much for this b/c (ahem) you are definitely not the only one who doesn't scrub the tub on a regular basis! I'm definitely going to give this a try.

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    1. :) I know others will be grossed out that we don't clean our tub more, but there are too many of us in the depths of other stuff that make it "out of sight, out of mind"...all the time!

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    2. how much do i use of each one thanks

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    3. Equal parts of both. To find out, you might want to eyeball it or fill the wand with water first and then pour the water into a measuring cup.

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    4. You mean that soap and water cleaning you doesn't clean the tub at the same time....my theory is, if someone is nosy enough to look in your shower, you should give them something to find astonishing

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  2. It's been so long since I scrubbed my tub that when I mentioned seeing that original pin to Jonathan, he got some blue dawn dish washing liquid for me. Wasn't that sweet?! :P (I joke, but it really was sweet!) I'll mention the scrubbing wand now and see what happens. ;)

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  3. Laughing at Amy's comment. :D It has been a long time since I've scrubbed our tubs as well.

    But this is good to know! :D

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  4. I must be the minority because I do scrub my tub regularly but with 2 kids around teenage years it gets dirty fast and I really do hate scrubbing the tub. (We also have the non-skid floor which really traps in the dirt!!) I will most certainly try this and I love the scrubby idea! I've also read where it will clean the glass shower door easily. I almost hate doing that as much as the tub...lol :o)

    PS New to posting so not sure how to do this; so I will be Anonymous. Anonymous Ellen haha

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  5. I really did work for me, too.

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  6. I'm getting ready to try this since I recently have heard a lot about this. I hate scrubbing the tub to the point I bribe my husband with it. I mow the lawn and he scrubs away ;) however there are those times (winter) that I have to do it. Just a clarifying question...what type of vinegar do you use? I was traumatized with the smell of vinegar as a kid so I get sick if I smell it. Can I use cider vinegar or does it have to be white?

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    1. I have only tried white vinegar. My understanding is that you can use apple cider vinegar to clean, so I think it would at least be worth the try. Sorry I don't have personal experience with the cider vinegar in the bathtub!

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    2. I found two strengths of vinegar - one for cooking and one for household cleaning - at Walmart in the gallon size. CostCo carries Dawn Platinum (blue-biodegradable) in gallon size. So much cheaper to refill than buying the smaller sizes more often

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  7. Perfect - definitely going to try this!

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  8. Oh my goodness, I love this! We have the same situation: clean kid tub, nasty master tub that rarely gets clean because I hate scrubbing and fumes and hubby never has the time to do it. I think our problem is solved!

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  9. I know I'm way late to the party on this post.. but I found this and just had to post.. I have a fantastic husband who cleans our bathrooms for us, since I don't like our baby to be around the cleaning chemicals, and he is in a phase where 2 minutes out of my sight causes blood curdling screaming. So every other week or so, he gets out the cleaning supplies and goes around and cleans bathrooms. I was always so impressed by how quickly and efficiently he seemed to get them done, and was happy it didn't cause irreparable damage to my ear drums from screaming baby. Until about a month ago when I was out of town, we were talking on the phone, and he said "I cleaned the bathrooms for you when you get home. I even cleaned the tubs!" ... .... silence from me... So I reply, "You don't normally clean the tubs when you clean the bathroom?" Apparently not in the 5 months that he has "cleaned" our bathrooms, has he cleaned the tubs. And in my sleep-deprived mommy mode, I never even noticed. Ha! And I decided that I didn't even care. Lol. So no, you are not the only one with un-cleaned bathroom tubs!

    Also, thanks for the cleaning recipe! I'll pass it along to our tub scrubber. (for the apparent twice yearly cleaning..)

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  10. I know I'm way late to the party on this post.. but I found this and just had to post.. I have a fantastic husband who cleans our bathrooms for us, since I don't like our baby to be around the cleaning chemicals, and he is in a phase where 2 minutes out of my sight causes blood curdling screaming. So every other week or so, he gets out the cleaning supplies and goes around and cleans bathrooms. I was always so impressed by how quickly and efficiently he seemed to get them done, and was happy it didn't cause irreparable damage to my ear drums from screaming baby. Until about a month ago when I was out of town, we were talking on the phone, and he said "I cleaned the bathrooms for you when you get home. I even cleaned the tubs!" ... .... silence from me... So I reply, "You don't normally clean the tubs when you clean the bathroom?" Apparently not in the 5 months that he has "cleaned" our bathrooms, has he cleaned the tubs. And in my sleep-deprived mommy mode, I never even noticed. Ha! And I decided that I didn't even care. Lol. So no, you are not the only one with un-cleaned bathroom tubs!

    Also, thanks for the cleaning recipe! I'll pass it along to our tub scrubber. (for the apparent twice yearly cleaning..)

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    1. That is really funny! I love that you didn't notice...or mind...that he hadn't been cleaning the tubs.

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  11. Does anyone know why it has to be Dawn? Is there some special ingredient in the original blue Dawn that isn't in other dish soap? (I assume the label won't say; these companies tend to guard their formulas jealously.)

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    1. I think with the scrubber, especially, others would be just as effective. It'd be interesting to compare two different brands!

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    2. Someone told me that the blue Dawn has ammonia in it, which the other colors of Dawn do not. I don't know this for certain since, like you said, I didn't see the ingredients listed.

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  12. I've always used whatever I have on hand (Palmolive right now), and it works fantastic.

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    1. That's great to know. I always have Dawn on hand.

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  13. We have relatives in and out of our house all year. This is going to be a real treat for the future. No more hard scrubbing. Thanks a million!

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  14. I love this post! I'm a big fan of using vinegar as a cleaner and it's great that you gave me idea how to use it in my bathroom!

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  15. Do you have to use a wand? I want to try it NOW and don't have a wand at the moment.

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    1. No, I have a friend who just sprays it on and lets it sit for an hour. She swears by it. I tried that...but it'd been 1-2 months since I cleaned my tub. It only took off the first layer or two of soap scum. So...you can try it and see if it works for YOU.

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    2. I saw on Facebook a few days ago the vinegar is the cleaning vinegar and the blue dawn. Equal parts in a spray bottle and leave it on for an hour then rinse.

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  16. Do you have to use a wand? I want to try it NOW and don't have a wand at the moment.

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  17. I scrub my tub every time we use it as I can't stand for my little girls to sit in a tub with filthy soap scum and dead skin cells shame on u who don't clean your tubs that's disgusting but this cleaner made my bathtub shine like no other cleaner I have ever used before it's amazing it will be my go to cleaner from now on love it

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    1. That's not nice. Congratulations to you for cleaning it everyday, but no need to shame others. This post started with an honest woman sharing an awesome natural hint for cleaning bathrooms. You could have checked out the "OCD moms cleaning hacks" but you didn't.
      Being that you have kids don't you teach them the infamous phrase " If you have nothing nice to say don't say it at all?"
      Next time you should post what you liked and leave your not nice comments to yourself.

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    2. Not nice, you can’t compare your life with others. She is only trying to help out with a healthier alternative to store bought cleaners. “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing”. We could all stand to be a bit nicer to each other, just sayin...kindest regards, a mom and a gramma ❤️

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  18. Trying tomorrow w Kirkland soap as abive it the warm vinegar and soap that makes it work. Here's hoping as Im in Costco and all they have is Platinum Dawn.

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    1. How did it all work out? I don't think the dish soap brand is too important. :)

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  19. What kinda wand exactly? Can sombody post a picture? All i have on hand is cleaning brushes.

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    1. The wand is in the photo in the post. It's called a wand, but it's basically a scrubbing sponge with a handle that holds liquid. It's found in the cleaning aisle near sponges and mops at my local store. Typically it is used to clean dishes.

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  20. I tried this and it worked well as i used a spray bottled doing the entire tub for the first time but the fumes are horrible how does everyone deal with that?

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    1. It's worse when you use the spray bottle. If you want to keep using the bottle instead of the wand, you could add two drops of peppermint oil. I used vinegar and water (1:1 ratio) for daily cleaning, and I add the peppermint oil drops to that to help. Typically, once the vinegar is wiped away, the scent disappears quickly (because it evaporates).

      I hope that helps!

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  21. So glad to have found this post. I need to do a deep clean before replacing the caulk around the tub. Trying it now!

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  22. You can actually eliminate soap scum altogether by not using soap - just use a basic shower gel.

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  23. I keep a Mr. Clean Eraser pad at the tub.
    Then when I pull the plug and the water starts to drain I take the eraser pad and wipe around the water line and that eliminates the "RING" in between cleaning tub.

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  24. So I normally clean my tub regularly simply because I have small children, one bathroom, and 5 of us use it. But it still gets build up if I don't clean it every single week and I'm honestly not up for a deep clean every week. I have a hard time with harsh chemicals smells so I wanted to try this and while it got to thick (maybe I didn't have enough vinegar) and wouldn't come out of the scrubby of the wand, so I ended up pouring it in the tub, it did an amazing job! It even removed some of the hard water stain!!! So I think when I get more dawn and vinegar I will let it sit on the hardware spots and see if I can completely remove it. Btw when I get a bigger house with 2 bathrooms the only really clean tub we will have will be in the kids bathroom... I hate scrubbing tubs!lol

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  25. Well here goes; spayed the bath tub and wall, will finish watching the football game and then I will tackle the bathroom....

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