Homemade green shower cleaner

*recipe updated 02/2011*

A while back, I reviewed store-bought green bathroom cleaners, and then later revealed my ongoing battle with our old, old, old bathroom grout. It gets mildew really easily because it is no longer sealed in any way. Old, old, old.

I still do use the Clorox GreenWorks bathroom cleaner I reviewed previously to get the soap scum off my tub. However, between scrubs I was using one of the Tilex-type shower sprays to keep the old, old, old grout in our shower from getting all moldy after showers. After a while I became a little suspicious about what exactly was in that spray, so I started attempting to make my own.

Per the "vinegar is amazing book", vinegar is a good mold killer. For a while I was using just vinegar and water. I began adding a few tablespoons of natural/biodegradeable dishwashing aid (it's like Jet Dry, only the natural version) to keep it from streaking. I found this solution to still allow some mold to grow, especially on the cloth shower curtain liner I had substituted for our previous plastic liner. Also, Christian was always complaining about how the shower smelled like pickles.

Then, just the other day I started reading some green cleaning web sites talking about tea tree oil and how it has natural bleaching powers. I actually like the way tea tree oil smells - is that weird? So I went to Herb Mart and got a nice bottle of tea tree oil and added that to the mix.

Here is what I've been using so far and I believe it is actually the most effective so far:

Jenny's Homemade Green Shower Spray

spray bottle from old Tilex daily shower spray
1-2 tablespoons Wave Jet Rinse Aid
1-2 teaspoons tea tree oil
white vinegar - fill the bottle almost halfway
1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide*
water - fill the bottle the rest of the way

Shake it up before spraying on the shower. I spray shower walls and tub directly after using the shower, and the solution is also safe for white cloth shower liners.

It smells like tea tree oil more than vinegar. I like the way it smells!

* As of late 2009, I added hydrogen peroxide to the mix to help bleach out previous mildew stains. It also seems to help prevent mildew on the cloth shower curtain liner. However, hydrogen peroxide does degrade in light so the clear Tilex bottle makes it less effective. I would suggest storing the hydrogen peroxide in a separate opaque spray bottle and spray it on after the first spray.