Marketers know we hate cleaning the shower. All that awkward reaching and scrubbing — it’s no wonder there’s a glut of shower cleaners promising to work “automatically.” Just spray and go about your day. Come back later and magically your shower is clean. Hooray!

Too good to be true? Yep. Those cleaners contain toxins [1] that can be irritating to the skin and eyes, cause cancer and harm the environment. Their hazard labels say to avoid contact with eyes and skin, yet the fact that they are spray products makes that very hard to do. Many of them instruct you to spray daily while the shower is still wet, which means you are probably still naked, so you are quite exposed… literally.

If you’ve ever battled mold in your shower, these chemical-laden products with their big promises are doubly appealing. But greening your shower cleaning doesn’t have to be taken so literally. Follow these steps to switch to toxin-free cleaning without risking mold growth.

Step 1: Break the mold
Keep in mind that the number one reason mold grows is persistent moisture. So the first thing to do to prevent it or get rid of existing mold is to keep the area dry. That means fixing any leaks and using your shower fan or opening the window when you shower.

If you already have mold, you may have tried to kill it with bleach only to find it growing back in the same spot a few months later. That’s because bleach doesn’t actually kill mold [2]. It bleaches it.

To kill the mold, keep the area as dry as possible and spray straight white distilled vinegar on the area every day for a week or so. Alternatively, mix 10-12 drops of tea tree oil with a cup of water in a spray bottle and apply as you would the vinegar.

Step 2: Scrub-a-dub-dub
After killing the mold, scrub the area with a mildly abrasive cleaner like Bon Ami [3]or make your own. Combine ½ cup baking soda with enough Dr. Bronners [4] or other vegetable-based liquid soap to make a paste. Scrub the walls and floor or tub. Rinse thoroughly.

You can do the same for regular cleaning or try another less toxic cleaner like Seventh Generation shower cleaner.
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Step 3: A squeegee a day keeps the mold and grime away
Instead of bathing yourself with toxic cleaner after each shower, use a squeegee [6] to dry the shower. This will make it less hospitable to mold and reduce soap scum.

With these simple steps, I still don’t love to clean the shower. But at least I can do it less often — and my shower doesn't end up looking like a Petri dish.