Kaboom vs. Scrubbing Bubbles: Which Bathroom Cleaner Brand Is Better?

Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles are two of the most popular bathroom cleaner brands on the market.

But which is better, and how do they compare?

In this comparison of Kaboom vs. Scrubbing Bubbles, you’ll learn how these brands differ in product offerings, ingredients, effectiveness, safety, price, and more.

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Use the links below to navigate the comparison:

• Product Offerings
• Test Results
• What Others Are Saying
• Ingredients
• Safety
• How to Use
• Price
• FAQs About Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles
• Bottom Line: Should You Use Kaboom or Scrubbing Bubbles?

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Product Offerings

Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles are known for their bathroom cleaners, but they also offer a limited number of other products.

In this section, you’ll learn about the various products sold by each brand, starting with Kaboom.

Kaboom Products

Kaboom specializes in surface and toilet cleaners. These come in a variety of different formulas and applications.

Kaboom Mold & Mildew Stain Remover is one of its best-selling cleaners. This no-drip formula includes bleach and is designed specifically for bathrooms. It’s ideal for tiles, tubs, grout, shower doors, and shower curtains. 

Another popular cleaner is the Shower, Tub, and Tile Cleaner with OxiClean. This multi-purpose bathroom cleaner easily cuts through grime, hard water buildup, calcium, and lime stains.

Its Foam-Tastic foaming cleaner is ideal for hard stains (i.e., hard water or soap scum). The foam changes color once the surface is clean, so there’s no need for timers or guesswork.

The brand’s Shower Guard spray keeps showers and bathtubs clean by forming a transparent barrier that protects the surface from soap scum and water stains for up to a week.

Kaboom offers two toilet-cleaning products. Its standard gel cleaner is marketed as Liquid BowlBlaster. The other product is the Scrub Free! Toilet Cleaning System that you can install on the side of the bowl. It automatically cleans the toilet bowl each time you flush.

Scrubbing Bubbles Products

Scrubbing Bubbles specializes in surface cleaners but also offers a few specialty products. Overall, they have a wider range of products.

The Scrubbing Bubbles product line includes foaming cleaners — like its Mega Shower Foamer Trigger or its Bubbly Bleach Gel Toilet Bowl Cleaner — which react once they come into contact with a surface.

One of its most popular products is the Bathroom Grime Fighter spray. It removes soap scum, dirt, and grime and kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. It’s comparable to Kaboom Mold & Mildew Stain Remover.

Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning System includes flushable pads that stick to the toilet bowl and Fresh Gel Toilet Cleaning Stamps that also adhere to the toilet bowl and clean the surface whenever you flush.

Another unique cleaner they offer is their Drop Ins Toilet Cleaning Tablets, which you can drop into the toilet’s tank, and they’ll clean the bowl every time you flush.

Lastly, Scrubbing Bubbles offers flushable anti-bacterial wipes that you can use to wipe surfaces quickly. You can flush them down the toilet without clogging the pipes when you’re done.

Test Results

Now that you know more about Scrubbing Bubbles and Kaboom’s product lineup, let’s get into the most important question: which cleaner works better?

To find out, I tested Kaboom Mold & Mildew Stain Remover versus Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Grime Fighter on three different surfaces. I chose those products because they’re each brand’s most popular cleaners.

First, I tested both cleaners on a porcelain-coated cast iron bathtub. The tub has texture on the floor to prevent slips, but that texture also collects dirt and grime and becomes discolored over time.

I used Scrubbing Bubbles on the left and Kaboom on the right. I first noticed that both cleaners give off a harsh chemical odor. I had to open the window and turn on the bathroom fan to ventilate the area while conducting the tests.

Both cleaners removed most of the dirt and whitened the tub’s floor; however, Scrubbing Bubbles did a noticeably better job.

As you can see, the left side of the tub (the area I used Scrubbing Bubbles) is whiter and cleaner than the right.

I also tested both cleaners against soap scum on the tile shower walls. Despite the claim on the Scrubbing Bubbles’ bottle that says it has “foaming action,” the formula barely produced foam. Instead, the liquid spray quickly dripped down the wall.

On the other hand, Kaboom lived up to its “No Drip Foam” promise. When I sprayed Kaboom on the wall, it immediately foamed, stuck to the wall, and stayed there without dripping.

That said, both cleaners removed the soap scum with ease. There was no difference in the end result except for the small mess Scrubbing Bubbles created when it dripped down the wall. 

I also used both cleaners on dirty grout lines between tiles on the floor, and both were effective at removing dirt and grime — no differences worth calling out.

Overall, Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles are both easy to use and get the job done. Scrubbing Bubbles did a slightly better job cleaning the textured tub floor, but Kaboom’s foaming action was thicker, which prevented dripping and made it easier to control.

What Others Are Saying

Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles have received favorable reviews from independent outlets and publications.

The Spruce had high praise for both Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles in their list of The Best Bathroom Cleaners To Keep Every Surface Fresh And Clean.

They named Kaboom’s Mold & Mildew Remover the best mold removerof the bunch, noting that the foaming formula makes the spray stick to mold and provides a deep clean to grout, tile, and other surfaces. Based on their review, the publication named Scrubbing Bubbles’ Flushable Wipes the best on the market. Reviewers praised the wipes’ portability and enjoyed their citrus fragrance.

The Spruce listed both Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles in a review of the Best Soap Scum Removers to Make Your Bathroom Sparkle. Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Grime Fighter Spray was named the best cleaner for tubs thanks to its ease of use across large surfaces.Kaboom Foam-Tastic spray was ranked as the best no-scrub cleaner, as it only required a single wipe-down to remove soap scum.

BuzzFeed placed Kaboom Foam-Tastic bathroom spray on their list of 20 Bathroom Cleaning Products People Actually Swear By and called it: “the most satisfying experience you can have in the bathroom other than, well, you know.” They noted that the foam leaves an unpleasant odor, so some users follow it with a more pleasant-smelling spray.

Reviewed.com listed their rankings of the Best Shower Cleaners and ranked Kaboom Foam-Tastic spray #2. They liked that this foaming cleaner doesn’t drip and is more affordable than the top-ranked cleaner.

The same Reviewed.com article ranked Scrubbing Bubbles’ Bathroom Grime Fighter the 6th spot on their list. The reviewer was pleased overall, but they noticed that the cleaner didn’t foam up as much as they’d have liked. However, the foam did an excellent job of removing mold and mildew stains and was slightly more expensive than other similar products.

Good Housekeeping listed Scrubbing Bubbles twice in their Best Toilet Bowl Cleaners rankings. They listed the brand’s Continuous Clean Drop-Ins as the best tablet toilet cleaner for everyday cleaning and praised its ease of use and overall effectiveness. The magazine also named Scrubbing Bubbles’ Power Stain Destroyer the best toilet cleaner for stains, and reviewers said it was especially effective against limescale and rust.

Ingredients

Scrubbing Bubbles describes its ingredient philosophy as a recognition of the fact that everything is chemistry, but not all chemicals are equal. The brand expresses this by providing a list of its formulas’ ingredients and explaining why it chose those ingredients.

Kaboom takes a similar stance, emphasizing the importance of making its ingredient information easy to access and understand for the average consumer. It also includes whether or not specific ingredients are on designated lists and, if so, which ones.

You can find a complete list of Scrubbing Bubbles’ products’ ingredients here. You can find ingredient lists for Kaboom products here.

Below is an example of the ingredients list you’ll find on Church & Dwight’s website (owner of Kaboom):

And here’s an example of an ingredients list you’ll find on SC Johnson’s website (owner of Scrubbing Bubbles):

Safety

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit with a mission to protect public health by changing industry standards. EWG creates and maintains a guide to healthy cleaning and rates various household products, including bathroom cleaners.

Neither Kaboom nor Scrubbing Bubbles’ products rate very highly in the EWG database: they receive average ratings of F and D, respectively. View Kaboom’s ratings and Scrubbing Bubbles ratings.

At the end of the day, Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles products are meant to kill germs as effectively as possible. This priority means that both brands use harsh chemicals and fragrances in their formulas.

Most of both brands’ products are corrosive, which means they’ll burn if you get them directly on your skin or in your eyes.

As long as you’re aware of this, you can take proper precautions such as ventilating the room, wearing gloves, using face and eye protection, and keeping these products away from pets and children.

Read the warnings on Kaboom’s safety data sheet and the “Precautions” section on ScrubbingBubbles.com to learn more.

How to Use

Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles cleaners are easy to use and come with straightforward directions on their labels.

For Kaboom bathroom cleaners, spray the desired surface and let the product sit for a few minutes (5-10 depending on how dirty it is), then wipe the surface with a dry cloth or paper towel.

It’s wise to follow up by wiping the surface with plain water to ensure that none of the cleaner remains after you’re done cleaning.

Scrubbing Bubbles provides similar instructions for its cleaners:

1. Turn the nozzle to the ON position.
2. Spray 15 inches from the surface to be cleaned.
3. Allow foam to penetrate dirt and soap scum. For tough jobs, let stand for several minutes before wiping.
4. For heavily soiled areas, re-application may be needed.
5. Wipe dry after rinsing, if desired.
6. On chrome, rinse with water.

Here are the steps for cleaning a toilet with Scrubbing Bubbles:

1. Lift the toilet seat.
2. Squeeze the two textured side surfaces to remove the cap and unscrew completely.
3. Tip the bottle to fill the neck.
4. Direct liquid under the rim and squeeze evenly around the bowl.
5. Brush above and below the waterline and flush.
6. Replace the cap and close tightly until an audible click is heard.

Scrubbing Bubbles recommends allowing the cleaner to sit for several minutes before flushing for tougher stains.

Price

Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles cleaners are similarly priced, and both are affordable. It’s often cheaper to buy these cleaners in bulk, and remember to compare prices by the amount per fluid ounce rather than the cost per bottle.

The exact price for each product will vary depending on where you buy it. The pricing chart below gives shows the current prices on Amazon of both brands’ most popular products:

FAQs About Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles

Below are answers to the most frequently asked questions about Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles.

Bottom Line: Should You Use Kaboom or Scrubbing Bubbles?

Now that you know how Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles compare, it’s time to decide which brand to buy. But first, let’s recap their main differences.

• Both Kaboom and Scrubbing Bubbles specialize in surface cleaners, but Scrubbing Bubbles also offers specialty products such as toilet stamps and tablets.
• Both brands receive high ratings from major websites and independent product review companies.
• Both brands are transparent about their ingredients.
• Neither brand receives high health and safety ratings from the Environmental Working Group; Kaboom products receive an average F rating from the EWG while Scrubbing Bubbles averages a D.
• The instructions for each product will vary, but both brands are easy to use.
• Both cleaners are easy to find and affordable, with no significant price difference.

Overall, Scrubbing Bubbles and Kaboom are both trusted brands owned by major consumer goods companies. These companies conduct significant testing to ensure their products work, and, based on my tests, both do an excellent job.

The most significant difference between the two is the products they offer. Kaboom focuses solely on bathroom sprays and toilet cleaners while Scrubbing Bubbles has a wide range of products, including toilet sprays, toilet cleaners, toilet stamps, drop-ins, and flushable anti-bacterial wipes.

So, if you just need an all-purpose bathroom spray, both brands have you covered. But if you’re looking for a specific product, like wipes or toilet stamps, go with Scrubbing Bubbles.

Learn more about both brands at the links below:

• Scrubbing Bubbles on Amazon, Walmart.com, HomeDepot.com
• Kaboom on Amazon, Walmart.com, HomeDepot.com