How to Wash and Restore a Worn Fiberglass Shower Base

Freestanding showers — especially in old homes and apartment complexes — often comprise fiberglass showers pans. These one-piece plastic bases, made from glass fibers embedded in resin and covered with a shiny gel coat, take less labor and time to install than grout and tile. But with use and age they become stained using soap scum, dirt and mineral deposits, and the gel coat may wear away. Even when you have a shower pan in need of cleaning and care, you can remove all the grime and restore it to your like-new condition.

Fill a bucket with hot water and add two to three generous squirts of dishwashing liquid. If desired, add a scoop of powdered oxygen bleach or use a detergent containing oxygen bleach. Swirl the mixture to thoroughly dissolve the detergent and oxygen bleach from the hot water.

Wet a soft, nonabrasive sponge or rag using the soapy water and scrub the bathtub floor, rubbing in circles. Rinse the floor with warm water.

Make a baking-soda glue whether any stains remain. Add water to 1/4 cup baking soda gradually, stirring until it forms a thick paste.

Scrub the floor with the baking-soda glue with a wax, wax or soft-bristled toothbrush. Permit the baking soda to remain on the stains for 30 minutes, then rinse it off with warm water.

Dry the shower pan using a microfiber cloth or chamois.

Implement white automotive polishing compound to some scratched areas with a soft fabric according to the package directions. Leave the compound on the pan for the time recommended by the producer.

Wipe the polishing compound away with white automotive lotion wax to a soft cloth, rubbing in circles.

Polish the ground by buffing it with a soft, white fabric, microfiber cloth or chamois.

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