How can I keep my shower looking great?

Homeowners often look to adding value and aesthetic appeal by updating their bathrooms to have a modern look with high-end finishings. Glass doors, large-format ceramic tiles and other popular shower coverings always look fantastic at first, but keeping your shower looking great over time can be a challenge for even the most fastidious of scrubbers.

A gorgeous shower installation takes more than just a routine cleaning if you want to keep it looking beautiful and protect your investment.

At MAPEI we’ve learned a few things over our 85-year-plus history about how to keep a shower installation looking great, and we’ve developed a whole line of products to that effect: the UltraCare line. We’ve broken it down to four essential categories: Finishes, Sealers, Cleaners and Problem Solvers, and formulated them to work with a host of coverings, including granite, quarry tile, porcelain tile, honed marble, limestone, travertine, Saltillo / Terra cotta, sandstone / slate and more.

To keep your shower looking great, prevention is worth an ounce of cure

If you’re planning a new shower installation – or just at the end of one – now is the time to look into using one of our one-step finishes or premium sealers, to make maintenance and cleaning quick and easy for years to come. The best time to apply a sealer to the grout is after the grout has cured a minimum of 24 to 72 hours, depending on the manufacturer's instructions. (NOTE: if you’re much too late for that and came here to find out how to reclaim that good-as-new look, skip to the section on cleaners and problem solvers below).

The type of stone, tile and grout that you have will determine if sealing is necessary. Glazed ceramic and porcelain tiles have almost no porosity and are highly resistant to staining; therefore, sealing is not required. However, it is beneficial to seal unglazed, polished porcelain floor tile. If either the tile or grout is considered porous, such as natural-stone tile, terra cotta, Saltillo, brick or cement-based grout, sealing is recommended.

Choosing the right product to seal your tiled shower is critical to the life, longevity and overall appearance of your tile surface. Selecting the wrong product can have both disastrous and costly effects, by causing irreparable damage. There are many factors to consider when choosing the right sealer. Knowing the type of surface you have, where and how it is being used, and performance expectations will help when selecting the best sealer for the job.

A good rule of thumb to follow is, if the surface is dense, use a solvent-based product such as UltraCare Penetrating SB Stone, Tile & Grout Sealer or UltraCare Penetrating Plus SB Stone & Porcelain Tile Sealer. If the surface is porous, use a water-based product such as UltraCare Penetrating Plus Stone, Tile & Grout Sealer or UltraCare Penetrating Stone, Tile & Grout Sealer. UltraCare “SB” (or solvent-based) products have a smaller molecular construction than water-based products and are generally preferred for use on the denser surfaces such as polished granite, marble and porcelain tile.

Water-based penetrating sealers, with their larger molecules, are preferred for use on the more porous surfaces such as brick, clay tile, grout and slate. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, as both types of sealers can work on the same surfaces and the choice will sometimes come down to preference of the end user.

In years past, solvent-based products were considered superior to water-based products but, with today’s technology, that is no longer the norm. Chemistry has evolved to the point where we can now formulate high-performance, water-based sealers that can outperform solvent-based products along with being safer to use and more environmentally friendly. This offers the consumer a variety of choices.

And now for your shower’s glass elements, MAPEI has a specially-formulated sealer just for that purpose: UltraCare Sealer for Glass Tiles & Shower Doors, designed to keep glass tiles and shower doors cleaner for longer. This easy-to-use formula uses advanced chemical technology that becomes part of the surface, creating a barrier that causes water to bead and slide off glass surfaces. Continued use of this product helps to repel the buildup of soap scum, calcium, hard water deposits and grime onto glass surfaces, significantly reducing cleaning time and effort.

How to keep the shower looking great after installation and sealing

Also to note, the life expectancy of any sealer may be approximately 3 to 5 years in most cases for a residential shower. And sealers are not themselves capable of completely keeping tile, stone, glass and grout from getting dirty – including preventing mold/mildew growth and build-up – as this is not a porosity/absorption issue but rather maintenance related. Using a proper maintenance system including the right product AND the right cleaning procedures and methods is critical to a low-maintenance installation and to ensuring the beauty of the installation.  

The most critical component that will determine this is maintenance. If common grocery store (residential) or janitorial (commercial) cleaners are used, this can dramatically lower the life expectancy and overall performance of any sealer. However, using approved and compatible cleaners such as our UltraCare Everyday Stone, Tile & Grout Cleaner (or other cleaners in this line of products) will help preserve and maintain the life and overall performance.

How to keep the shower looking great after installation when possibly no sealer was used

Of course, we don’t all get to be there during the planning and installation phase. What if that shower you want to keep looking great was already installed by previous owners? Maybe that beautiful bathroom was one of the things that sold you on the place when you bought it, and now you want to protect your investment with more than just elbow grease. Besides having a host of UltraCare cleaners, MAPEI also offers six unique UltraCare problem solvers for situations where standard cleaning isn’t enough.

Choosing the right product starts with assessing the installation materials used. Usually the contractor paperwork (or a certified home inspector) can help you know for certain what kind of materials are installed.

For tiled showers, the most important variable is the type of grout used. If an epoxy grout was used (or if either of MAPEI’s Ultracolor^®Plus FA or Ultracolor Plus Max with BioBlock and DropEffect technologies was the grout option), then no sealer is necessarily required, although it is still an option you may want to consider, since sealing can provide additional protection and ease of maintenance. Regardless of whether you apply a sealer or not, it never hurts to occasionally apply a cleaner like UltraCare Everyday Stone, Tile & Grout Cleaner to keep your shower looking great. But if the more common Portland cement-based type grout was used, then the installation is more prone to developing efflorescence, which appears as a whitish film on the tiles that won’t come off using standard household cleaners.

How to keep your shower looking great after it has developed hard water build-up or efflorescence

Hard water build-up is a common annoyance when calcium and other minerals commonly found in tap water form deposits on your shower’s surfaces. Efflorescence is a fine, white, powdery deposit of water-soluble mineral salts that forms on the surface of typical Portland-cement-based materials.

When either or both of these situations occur, the deposits can cause discoloration. This is due to the exposure to air and evaporation, which convert the mineral salts into a crusty, crystalline material. Because efflorescence is composed of crystals, it can often be identified when light reflects on the tiny particles and causes them to sparkle. Such deposits tend to drastically reduce the aesthetic appeal of finished tile and stone installations, but they do not have a detrimental effect on the grout.

Once efflorescence or hard water build-up has set in, all is not lost; it can generally be cleaned off. Cleaning should always start with the easiest, least destructive approach before more aggressive techniques are attempted. Sometimes scrubbing with a stiff bristle brush, either dry or with clean water, is all that is needed to remove efflorescence, for example. Stubborn deposits may require the use of an acid-based, heavy-duty tile and grout cleaner such as UltraCare Sulfamic Acid Crystals or UltraCare Acidic Tile & Grout Cleaner. When using any acid-based product, be mindful to follow all instructions, protect adjacent surfaces, soak the area with water before application and rinse thoroughly after use. Always test in an inconspicuous area to confirm desired results before proceeding. In severe cases, several applications may be necessary. Acids should never be used for everyday cleaning because they work by eroding a small top layer of the grout and can damage sensitive tiles and stones. Once these deposits have been removed and the grout is clean, the application of a penetrating sealer from MAPEI’s UltraCare line can help to keep some moisture away.

To keep a shower looking great, should I try using bleach, vinegar if mold/mildew won’t come off?

If household cleaners don’t work to get your shower looking great again, MAPEI has a very effective cleaner: UltraCare Heavy Duty Stone, Tile & Grout Cleaner, which is a great product for cleaning tile, stone and glass showers in certain applications. This product is formulated to quickly remove most waxes, grease, oil, light soap scum, and stains from mildew and algae. It is quite effective at removing most factory-applied waxes and floor finishes, and is ideal for areas that have been neglected or subject to heavy use.

But if you still want to try using alternatives like chlorine bleach or vinegar, just be wary:

• On using bleach : Always test first! Your grout should withstand the occasional use of diluted bleach. One cup of bleach, mixed with one gallon of clean water, is usually sufficient for disinfecting. Regular use can discolor and weaken grout over time. Bleach should only be used when absolutely necessary and should never be used for routine maintenance of stone, tile and grout. MAPEI recommends the following products for routine maintenance: UltraCare Everyday Stone & Grout Cleaner & Resealer; UltraCare Everyday Stone, Tile & Grout Cleaner and UltraCare Concentrated Tile & Grout Cleaner.
• On using vinegar: Vinegar is acidic and can etch certain natural stone, such as marble, travertine and limestone. The occasional use of vinegar on porcelain or ceramic tile with cement-based grout should not cause damage. However, frequent or regular use can discolor and weaken grout and should not be used for routine maintenance. There are several professional-grade UltraCare acidic cleaners that are available when needed, including UltraCare Sulfamic Acid Crystals, UltraCare Cement Grout Haze Remover and UltraCare Acidic Tile & Grout Cleaner.

Still have questions or concerns about the your particular situation? Look up our UltraCare brochures and technical bulletins on our Website at https://www.mapei.com/ca/en-ca/products-and-solutions/in-the-spotlight/care-and-maintenance-solutions. You my also reach out to the MAPEI Technical Services team at 1-800-361-9309. Our experts are always happy to answer your questions on MAPEI products and solutions.