Issues with Cleaning Porcelain Tile Shower Floor

6 years ago

Hello, hoping someone can shed some light about what's going on with my bathroom shower floor. When we renovated our bathroom last year, the tile was bright and white. Now, it constantly looks dirty. Some part of the grout is white while others are dark grey (we started out as a light grey color, (Tec Power Grout Sterling-Sanded)). The tile is starting to chip and it appears the grout is smearing off the edges around the tile. While I feel like soap scum is some of the cause, my gut is telling me it's more than that. Can anyone offer any recommendations to safely clean the tile and grout? And based on what you see, do you think I should be concerned about the grout? Any advice would be appreciated!

Featured Answer

SJ McCarthy

6 years ago

Dawn soap doesn't remove soap residue+human skin cells. To get rid of soap residue you have to use something other than soap.

Have you tried a soap scum remover? Like Tilex? The one's with a higher concentration of ammonia work the best. I like to spray down the tiles (soak them) and then close the door and walk away for 30 minutes or more.

Go back in (be aware it will have a HEAVY odour...if you have asthma you may want someone else to do this) and then lightly mist the tiles again (with the Tilex, or whatever). Now you grab your green scrubby (gloves are HIGHLY recommended...ammonia is corrosive) and get to work.

Rinse with hot water. Keep scrubbing until you find the stains have been removed.

Once you get the tiles successfully cleaned, you will want to to a strong clean every month or else you will be destined to have to repeat this HEAVY cleaning like this.

Hard water can cause scaling (the whitish stuff). Moving to softer water won't correct something that is already there.

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Comments (9)

SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
Please list your cleaning methods/materials.

Soap scum is made up of soap (often white, etc) and human skin cells (brown, beige or gray). The gray looks like soap and skin being left to create a less-than-white surface. The chipping of the tiles is more to the form of tile. Porcelain or ceramic or stone?
dblmnt1x
Original Author
6 years ago
Tile is porcelain. I use Dawn soap to clean the tile.I recently tried using aqua kleen (tile
Shop recommended it) but it didn’t make a difference.
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dblmnt1x
Original Author
6 years ago
Also, I can easily scratch the grout with my finger nail. Not sure if this is normal. I thought grout should be hard as a rock. Last, when I purchased the tile, the form of it was very straight.
T
6 years ago
@SJ McCarthy what do you recommend for cleaning marble tiles?
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
TEC has a well known issue in the industry with some batches of its improperly mixed PowerGrout not hardening. Call Fuller’s help line, and they will send you a hardener to apply. Who knows if they’ll be there during this pandemic, but an email might reach someone if the phone doesn’t work.

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SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
Marble can be as easy as soap and water (as in a marble counter top). Anything like a marble floor will have a bit more difficulty keeping a 'nice' look to them. So much depends on the colour of the marble, the sealing process, the grout, the hardness of the water, etc.
DCF-Z6A
6 years ago
What would be the best cleaning products for each (porcelain, ceramic and stone), or if curiosity?
DCF-Z6A
6 years ago
Ugh. Out of curiosity.