Your shower cleaning guide – the tips you need to keep tile and stone spotless every day.
Though shower cleaning can be boring and mundane, it directly contributes to our wellbeing and quality of life.
Bathrooms used to be the place where we took care of our basic necessities, but they have now gone well beyond toothbrushes and toilet paper.
Over the years, bathrooms have evolved into in-home spas, wellness centers, and escapes from the hectic rhythm of everyday life. Moms can’t wait to get in the shower, kids can’t wait to play in it. A warm shower after a long day at work is the launching pad into dinner and after dinner routines.
Showers can even serve as actual cleaning centers for our four-legged friends.
So let’s dive right into bathroom cleaning basics and how to do it effortlessly.
As we use showers regularly, surfaces become dirty with hard water stains and grout joints become dark with mold, oil and grime.
Shower cleaning: water spots and limescale
Limescale and hard water stains are actually the layering and buildup of minerals contained in water. Limescale is considered an inorganic stain, best removed with an acid cleaner. Inorganic what? That’s right, inorganic stains are stains which not carbon based. It might sound complicated, but getting to know the pH scale is really the easiest way to select the right cleaner for all surfaces around the house. (To find out more about inorganic stains and the pH scale, read this blog post).
On the other hand, if you prefer to take our word for it (we are surface care experts), then read on to find out which cleaners work best.
Acid cleaners are perfect for removing inorganic stains, and in shower cleaning, those are water spots and limescale. But before you go out and find the first acid cleaner you can find, you need to know a few key points to avoid damaging shower surfaces.
- NEVER use acid cleaners of acid sensitive stones. What are acid sensitive stones, you ask? They are typically stones such as granite, quartzite, basalt, sandstone, flagstone, slate and engineered stone, but always check acid cleaners on a small, inconspicuous are of the surface before applying it on the full piece of stone.
- Make sure the cleaner you choose does not damage stainless steel fixtures and acrylic tubs. Remember, it would be a shame to ruin a beautiful stainless steel faucet with the spray cleaner you’re using to remove limescale.
So, what product do we recommend for shower and bathroom cleaning?
SHOWERCLEAN & SHINE Bathroom Soap Scum Remover is FILA’s go-to spray cleaner for showers. It thoroughly cleans all bathroom surfaces and eliminates soap scum, water spots, grime and limescale. You can use it on fixtures, glass, shower stalls, tubs, walls and floors in ceramic and porcelain tile, glass and stainless steel. SHOWERCLEAN & SHINE gives you professional results right at home.
Shower cleaning: oil and grime
Inevitably tile cement grout joints get grimy over time, so get ready to tackle them with the right product.
FILA suggests GROUTRENEW Grout Cleaner and Deep Stain Remover to remove tough-to-clean grease, dirt, soap scum and food stains from cement grout joints in tile walls and floors. The easy-to-use spray bottle is handy to keep under the bathroom sink.
For step-by-step instructions, go to this blog post:
Clean Tile Grout in Record Time!
Or watch the GROUTRENEW video here.
So you might be asking yourself, we’ve talked about tile, but what about cleaning natural stone showers?
Natural stone surfaces are delicate and best maintained with neutral cleaners. What’s a neutral cleaner? It’s a cleaner with a pH that falls between 6 and 8 on the pH scale. (To find out more about neutral cleaners and the pH scale, read this blog post).
FILA’s CLEANALL Spray Neutral Everyday Cleaner is formulated for all surfaces, even the most delicate. In fact, it does not contain alcohol or ammonia. CLEANALL dries quickly and leaves the whole bathroom smelling fresh and clean. For walls and floors, FILA’s STONECLEAN Natural Stone Neutral Cleaner is the most reliable cleaner for delicate stone surfaces. Just dilute it 1:200 (that’s one capful per gallon of water) to clean all stone surfaces safely.
To find out more about cleaning natural stone surfaces, read this blog post.
To wrap up, remember a few tips for cleaning shower surfaces:
- Use acid cleaners like FILA’s SHOWERCLEAN & SHINE Bathroom Soap Scum Remover to get rid of limescale and hard water stains.
- Use alkaline cleaners like FILA’s GROUTRENEW Grout Cleaner and Deep Stain Remover to remove oil and grime from tile cement grout.
- Use neutral cleaners like FILA’s CLEANALL Spray Neutral Everyday Cleaner and STONECLEAN Natural Stone Neutral Cleaner for natural stone surfaces.
