The Easiest Cleaning Hack To Remove Soap Scum Is Hiding In Your Kitchen

Nobody likes soap scum, but soap scum sure likes to hang around anywhere soap gets used, especially bathrooms. The name is a bit of a misnomer — the scum isn't actually leftover soap, but instead a film of insoluble salts left behind when soap's ingredients react with the minerals in hard water. Luckily, there's a way to fight this insoluble salt and get rid of soap scum. 

Prepare to fight salt with salt — table salt, that is. Just like a little extra salt can elevate a dish from good to great, it's also the secret ingredient to give your DIY anti-soap scum solutions even more cleaning potency. It works thanks to salt's gentle abrasiveness, meaning its granules act almost like an exfoliant for your soap-scummy surfaces. That scrubbing power is great for heavy soap scum buildup, but can be too harsh for natural stone, so avoid using it on surfaces like granite or marble.

The first method works alongside the classic cleaning combo of baking soda and vinegar. You'll need baking soda, distilled white vinegar, salt, a plastic mixing bowl, and a clean microfiber cloth. In the mixing bowl, combine 1 part baking soda with 2 parts distilled white vinegar. It will start fizzing; wait for it to stop, then dip your microfiber cloth into the mixture and sprinkle salt onto the cloth generously. Next, apply this mix to the soap scum-affected area and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Once time is up, use a different cloth to wipe it away, then rinse and dry thoroughly so you don't end up replacing soap scum with water stains.

You can also make a multi-surface cleaner that skips the baking soda. First, mix equal parts water and white vinegar — you can either put this in a spray bottle, or use a bowl and cloth like the previous method. However you get the vinegar onto the soap scum, sprinkle salt onto the wet surface afterward. Scrub with a brush or damp sponge, using a circular motion to make the most of salt's abrasiveness, then rinse and dry. To keep showers squeaky clean, you can go even simpler: lemon juice and salt. The acidity of the lemon juice works similarly to vinegar's — all you have to do is mix salt and lemon juice, rub it onto shower walls, let it sit a few minutes, and rinse thoroughly.