How to Get Rid of Ugly White Mineral Deposits on Shower Floors

Boston area showers often have ugly white deposits that build up over time on shower floors, efflorescence is the technical name. Ugly grout is the real result! Can they be removed?

Yes, but it’s not always easy.

The first thing we try is to literally scrape it away. In some cases, a razor blade will work, the kind that hardware stores sell for scraping paint off glass. Don’t be surprised if you break a blade or two on this stuff – it’s very dense and surprisingly hard.

In many cases,we end up literally using a sharp chisel and a hammer to dislodge the stuff. It can be that hard!

Point of caution: if your shower floors are marble, be aware that marble can scratch much easier than ceramic, so be ultra careful with the blade.

After you scrape off as much as you can, you are faced with some residue on the face of the tile and the grout.

For the face of the tile, the best remover is an acid based chemical. The deposits are mineral and acid attacks minerals. But again, marble presents a problem – the acid will surely etch the stone and kill the shine. So you may need to hone and repolish or just hone the marble floor after using acid. A better choice on marble is to use the honing process instead of the acid. Not a do it yourself project at all to hone marble, by the way.

Pour or spray the acid on and let it dwell for a few minutes to soften the minerals and then scrub it vigoorously with a rough cleaning pad. Rinse and wipe clean.

For the grout, if it looks good, you’re done. If not, it’s time to regrout the shower floor, which is the next posts subject.

If you do live in the Boston area and you’d like us to do the work , or just talk you through it, you can either call or fill out our contact form below.

Towns where Boston Grout does shower building, shower repair, shower floor replacement and regrouting : Boston, Brookline, Milton, Wellesley, Newton, Weston, Wayland, Dover, Concord, Acton, Lincoln, Lexington, Bedford, Westford, Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Winchester, Belmont, Woburn, Waltham, Ashland, Framingham, Sherborn, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, Walpole, Norwood, Westwood, Sharon, Stoneham, Foxborough, Foxboro, Canton, Stoughton, Needham, Ashland, Chestnut Hill, Natick, Sudbury, Maynard, Stow, Watertown, Dedham, West Roxbury, Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, Randolph, Weymouth, Cohasset, Scituate, Braintree, Holbrook, Quincy, Rockland, Hanover, Hingham, Medway, Franklin, Wrentham, Medford, Malden, Everett, Revere, Charlestown, Winthrop, Chelsea, Melrose, Saugus, Peabody, Marblehead, Ipswich, Swampscott, Lynn, Wakefield, Tewksbury, Woburn, Burlington, Reading, Lynnfield, Wilmington, Middleton, Wenham, Hamilton, Essex, Manchester, Gloucester, Topsfield, Boxford, Boxborough, Boxboro, Rowley, Georgetown, Andover, North Andover, Haverhill, Carlisle, Billerica, Ayer, Harvard, Lawrence, Methuen, Salem, Beverly, Salisbury, Amesbury, Newbury, Newburyport, Harvard, Lancaster, Bolton, Franklin, Mendon, Newtonville, Hopedale and Milford.

But, what zipcodes go with those towns, you wonder…

OK, OK, here they are!

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