Shower Cleaners: Powders prevail; one green cleaner shines

We recently pitted a dozen spray, powder, and aerosol shower cleaners against each other to find out which are the best at removing deep-seated soap scum, rust stains, and mildew from shower tiles. See the results you'll see in the video (right) and in our report.

In our tests, powder cleaners like Comet and Ajax proved the most effective (and cost the least). Aerosol cleaners didn't work as well and, despite the no-rinsing-needed claims on their labels, left streaks. There's still no substitute for elbow grease. If you're looking for a green cleaner, Clorox Green Works compared favorably to the all of the cleaners. For more details, see our ratings of shower cleaners, available to subscribers.—Gian Trotta

Essential information: Find out which showerheads provided the most effective, relaxing sprays and join in the spirited debate that ensued from our recent "Shower vs. Bath: Which Uses More Water?" blog posting.

Comments

[J G]

Your test seem to have been done on tile. Which of these cleaners are suitable for fiberglass showers?

[Holton]

Why wasn't a "home made" solution with diluted bleach or some other cleaner (far less cost per oz) not tried also?

[Tim Dunn]

We use baking soda and vinegar. They may be less effective, but they are 100% non-toxic. Garbage bags are another homely domestic item that can be green.

There is a huge battle going on between the proponents of oxo-biodegradable plastic and hyro-biodegradable plastic. Oxo-biodegradable plastic is conventional plastic that biodegrades; Hydro-biodegradable plastic is made out of food. The argument for 'hydro' is that it is sustainable and compostable. The argument against is that there is so much plastic being made that if we made 54,000,000 tons of plastic bags and wrappers a year out of food instead of oil, that millions would starve. 54,000,000 tons is abut 7% of the world's wheat + corn yield per year. Already, over 850,000,000 people are hungry. Plastic is mostly made of oil by-products, so we'd just have to throw the by-product away if it wasn't made into plastic-creating still more pollution. If we make it into biodegradable plastic, it becomes soil, and the environment wins without starving the poor in the 3rd. world. Soil is a precondition for converting carbon into cellulose, thus sequestering carbon and reducing global warming and its countless attending ills.