To clean a bathtub, rinse it, spray a non-abrasive bathroom cleaner that's safe for its material, and wait a few minutes. Then wipe with a soft sponge, rinse, and dry. Do it weekly. Acrylic and fiberglass scratch easily and need soft tools only; enameled cast iron is tougher, but steel wool will still ruin it.
The most common way to ruin a tub is cleaning it too hard. A scouring pad or gritty powder removes the stain and the gloss along with it, and dull, micro-scratched surfaces hold soap scum and dirt faster than the original finish did.
What is your bathtub made of?#
Check before you reach for anything stronger than a soft sponge and a bathroom spray.
- Acrylic or fiberglass: feels warm to the touch, sounds hollow when you knock on the side, and flexes slightly underfoot. Most modern tubs and shower-tub combos are one of these.
- Enameled cast iron: very heavy, cold to the touch, sounds solid. A magnet sticks to it.
- Enameled steel: a magnet sticks, but it sounds more tinny than cast iron when tapped.
- Refinished or reglazed: an older tub with a sprayed-on coating. It follows the refinisher's care instructions, whatever the tub was originally made of, and abrasive cleaners can peel it.
How to clean a bathtub, step by step#
- Clear the ledge and take out the bath mat. Bottles leave rings under them that you'll miss otherwise.
- Rinse the tub with warm water to wash away hair and grit. Catch hair at the drain instead of rinsing it down.
- Spray a non-abrasive bathroom cleaner over the whole tub, including the ledge, the wall where it meets the tub, and around the faucet and overflow plate.
- Leave it for the time on the label, usually a few minutes. Don't let it dry on.
- Wipe with a soft sponge or microfiber cloth. Use the soft side of a non-scratch sponge on soap scum lines.
- Rinse everything, including the walls and any overspray on chrome. Leftover cleaner dries into a dull film.
- Dry the tub with a towel. Water spots are mineral deposits in the making, and a dry tub shows you any mark you missed.
Kohler's care instructions for its acrylic baths are strict on the details: test any cleaner on an inconspicuous spot first, use a soft damp sponge or cloth, never use an abrasive brush or scouring pad, don't let cleaners soak on the surface, and rinse right after cleaning.
How to get soap scum and hard-water rings off a tub#
Soap scum is the gray-white film along the waterline and wherever bottles sit. A bathroom cleaner labeled for soap scum, given a few minutes to work, removes most of it. Hard-water rings are crustier and feel rough under a fingertip; they need a limescale or hard-water cleaner that your tub's manufacturer allows.
Stubborn scum usually means the cleaner wasn't left long enough. Spray again, wait, and wipe again before you switch to anything harsher.
Melamine foam sponges (the "magic eraser" type) work like very fine sandpaper. They're tempting on acrylic but take the shine off with repeated use.
Rust, scratches, and chips#
Rust on an enameled tub usually comes from a chip that exposed the metal, or from a metal can left on the ledge. A rust stain remover your tub's manufacturer approves can lift the stain, but a chip will keep rusting until it's repaired with an enamel touch-up kit or by a refinisher.
Light scratches on acrylic are fixable on some tubs. Kohler's guide for its solid-surface acrylic baths allows wet sanding with 400-grit paper and polishing with 600-grit, but says deep scratches, gouges, and chips need professional repair. That method applies to solid-surface acrylic only. Don't try it on enamel, a refinished tub, or any other tub unless its manufacturer says so.
What not to use on a bathtub#
- Scouring powder, steel wool, and green scrub pads on any tub finish.
- Acetone or other solvents on acrylic.
- Bleach mixed with anything else. Bleach plus an acidic bathroom or limescale cleaner releases chlorine gas, as the Tennessee Poison Center explains. Rinse thoroughly between products.
- Bath mats with suction cups left in place all week. Water and soap trapped underneath leave marks; lift the mat after each use and replace it once the suction cups go moldy.
How to clean a jetted tub#
The tub surface cleans like any other tub, but the pipes behind the jets hold stale water and need their own flush. Kohler's advice for its jetted walk-in baths is to do this about twice a month, more often with daily use:
- Fill the tub with warm water at least two inches above the highest jets.
- Add a small amount of low-foaming powdered dishwasher detergent and household bleach. Use the quantities in your own tub's manual and don't add any other cleaner.
- Run the jets for 5 to 10 minutes, then drain.
- Refill with clean warm water, run the jets for a few minutes to rinse, and drain again.
Different manufacturers specify different products for this flush, so the manual for your tub wins over any generic recipe.
How often should you clean a bathtub?#
Weekly is right for a tub that gets used most days. A quick rinse and wipe after a bath, while the scum is still soft, makes the weekly clean much faster. A guest tub that's rarely used can go longer, but give it a rinse before someone uses it.
If the water drains slowly while you clean, deal with the drain separately. And if the tile around the tub is looking dingy, the grout cleaning schedule covers that.