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timotea

Help with shower grout

6 years ago

We had an addition built last year that included a new master bath, which includes a large glassed in shower. The shower grout gets filthy and I can’t seem to get it clean. Our other 10 year old shower does not have this problem. Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Comments (21)

  • 6 years ago

    Put a level on the floor, that corner maybe low and holding water.

    Is that residue have any red/pink in it? If yes, that from standing water/not drying.

    Do you squeegee?

  • 6 years ago

    Yes, I have a squeegee, but must I squeegee every time I take a shower :(? Arg....

  • 6 years ago

    Squeege every time and leave shower door open with fan blowing in that direction 24/7.

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    What have you tried as a cleaning product?

  • 6 years ago

    Pour borax on it.

  • 6 years ago

    what is your shower tile made from? is the grout actually gold color or is that the dirt/mold/algae coloring it?

  • 6 years ago

    Arg...my grout should be ivory white.

  • 6 years ago

    So, now I squeegee then towel dry the glass, walls and floor after every shower. Takes about 2 minutes, but I’ve decided it’s worth the extra effort after each shower rather than scrubbing literally for hours every so often and still not getting it completely clean. I do have what appears to be permanently stained grout in certain areas. Might try soaking it with bleach.

  • 6 years ago

    Careful with the bleach. I've read that it might not be the best cleaning agent for grout. Not an expert though, just sharing what I recall reading here. Do you know what type of grout was used? If you go to the manufacturer's site, you'll have their cleaning advice with recommended products. You might look into sealing your grout as well, depending on its type. (Not every type of grout requires a sealer.)


    Yes, squeegee-ing after every shower is essential. As is effective ventilation. Another thing: if you have a pink tinge to this residue, it might be a certain bacteria. We get that in our toilets as well. The trick is to get ahead of it in the shower with squeegee and weekly cleaning. Good luck! I know the pain of icky grout.

  • 6 years ago

    Use the following: 2 cups hot water + 1/4 cup OxyClean Powder. Soak grout & tiles with this solution for 30 minutes (keep wet) then use grout brush to clean. Amazing how well this works. You will have white grout again.

  • 6 years ago

    I would thoroughly clean that grout and real seal it, but it doesn’t look like it was done the first time. Yes, you have to squeegee after every shower.

  • 6 years ago

    Is it real or fake marble? That should guide some of your cleaning choices. I have ceramic tile with epoxy grout (indestructible grout) and found a great spray on cleaner from Clorox that really cuts through any of that pink algae that grows from my well water. NO scrubbing. I looked online to see what it's called, but can't seem to find the same one - I'm not home but can look when I get there. I swear it's in a purple bottle, but see nothing like that online. Of course, anything that disinfects is difficult to find at all these days. I'll post when I get home.

  • 6 years ago

    It’s expensive porcelain tile and seems to also have permanent soap stains on the tiles closest to the drain, in addition to the grout issues. Might hire a professional to clean and remove/re-grout around the edges where I cannot get stains clean. Maybe use caulking around the interior perimeter? So frustrating when it’s less than two years old.

  • 6 years ago

    Well, no wonder I couldn't find the product I was trying to recommend because it's not Clorox but Lysol. This stuff really, really cleans with very little scrubbing:



  • 6 years ago

    Thanks, I’ll give it a try. I’ve been using greener cleaning products, but they’re just not doing the job.

  • 6 years ago

    Me, too, Timi, that's why I was mixed up between Lysol and Clorox.


    I've praised this product to high heaven on these boards and it works great, but does require a little elbow grease -not much, though. It's non-toxic, smells great and gets everything in the shower clean, from hard water spots on the fixtures, the glass shower door and also tile and grout. You can buy it at Ace Hardware and maybe get a free sample there, or I think the company will send you a free sample. It's a miracle cleaner, but doesn't kill mold/algae like the Lysol product, but you might like it better:


    https://www.bio-cleanproducts.com/

    There are other products with a similar name; be sure you get this one. I've only used the cream in the jar...not sure if the bottle is the same product. It's more affordable at Ace, if you can get it there. A jar lasts forever.

  • 5 years ago

    Thank you, everyone, for your comments and suggestions! I have an update to share. 1) We now dry the shower glass, walls and floor after each shower with squeegees and then small towels. Needless to say, we are less inclined to shower too frequently :). 2) It took a lot of scrubbing with different products and tools to finally get the tile and grout clean. The most effective product was Bio-Clean (Amazon) recommended by olychick, which really did remove mildew from the grout and mineral stains from the tile. It took some elbow grease using brushes and the rough scrubbing side of a sponge, but worked amazingly well. I did use a little diluted bleach for a few areas of grout I just couldn’t get clean with anything else. 3) I removed and replaced all of the caulking. Here’s a photo of the finished shower.

  • 5 years ago

    Major difference. Looks brand new.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    It looks great!

  • 5 years ago

    Wow. That looks brand new. You've given me hope! Thanks so much for sharing.