PURPOSE. This study was aimed to determine the effect of two chemically distinct denture cleansers and water on the surface hardness of acrylic and silicone based soft denture liners at various time intervals. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Two commonly used commercial resilient liner material were selected based on their chemical composition (silicone- and acrylic-based soft liners) for this investigation. 120 cylindrical specimens were made of $15mm{ imes}10mm$ dimensions (according to ASTM: D-2240-64T) in a custom made metal mold. All specimens were stored in artificial saliva throughout the study. Forty specimens were cleansed daily in 0.5% sodium hypochlorite solution; forty were cleansed in sodium perborate and remaining forty specimens were daily rinsed in water. Testing was done at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months for surface hardness using a Shore A Durometer. A mean of 3 reading for each sample was subjected to one-way ANOVA, Post Hoc test and pair-t test for statistical analysis. P values of less than 0.05 were taken as statistically significant. RESULTS. Surface hardness of all the samples was significantly higher after a period of 6 months irrespective of the cleansing treatment. Minor changes were observed between control, sodium hypochlorite and sodium perborate groups with time. Greater change was observed in surface hardness of acrylic-based soft denture liners as compared to silicone-based soft liners for all groups, as time progressed. CONCLUSION. Silicone-based soft denture liners performed significantly better in all cleansing treatments than acrylic-based soft denture liners.