Chemical-Free Cleaning: The Shower

{From the archives: This post was first published early 2011, but is making an encore because it's so insanely helpful}

Week in, week out, this annoying, thankless task needs to be done.When I was pregnant with Isla I became super-sensitive to commercial bathroom cleaners and their horrible, toxic smell so I had to find a natural alternative. It's taken me a couple of years to perfect it, but I wouldn't consider any other option these days.

You'll need:

boraxwhite vinegar in a spray bottledamp clothmicrofibre cloth or old, soft rag

1. Spray your shower walls and floor (or all tiled surfaces) with undiluted white vinegar.

2. Sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of borax over your damp cloth and use this to scrub your tiles and grout, concentrating on any dirty/soap-scummy/mildewy spots. Leave the vinegar and borax while you clean the rest of the shower.

3. Give the shower a quick spray to rinse off the vinegar and borax, being sure to concentrate on the floor to rinse out any excess. Also give the glass surfaces a quick spray with water.

4. Spray the glass surfaces with your undiluted vinegar and wipe over with a clean damp cloth, concentrating on any shampoo or soap scum around the bottom.

5. Wipe over the whole shower with your microfibre cloth to dry and remove drips and streaks.

Fun? No. Green? Most def.For those who don't like the smell of vinegar, it's good to know that it does not linger. Once it's dry, the vinegar-y smell is replaced by a freshness. Alternatively, you could spray your shower tiles with tea-tree spray afterwards (10 drops of tea tree oil in 500ml water). This will mask the vinegar smell and also stops mould/mildew forming on the tiles.Do you have a green-cleaning solution for your shower? I'd love to hear it!