help with cleaning shower tray

5 years ago

We bought a shower tray which has been fitted (so can’t replace!) which has the inside section being rough to touch (anti slip)

Unfortunately, the tiler has managed to cover it in grout - even though I left a cover for him to work on - and now it won’t come off and it’s absolutely filthy.

I’ve tried Ajax, white spirit (leaving it to dissolve the grout which hasn’t worked) scrubbing it with bathroom cleaners.

Short of sanding all the rough layer off (which I’m not sure how that will effect the sealing quality of the tray), I’m out of ideas and feeling a bit down about it. It’s not just patches but all over :0(

HELP

Featured Answer

Patrina

5 years ago

Tani sorry to hear about your problems, some trades people don't think unless you nag them to be careful. A few years ago we decided to try out or DIY wings with a textured charcoal grey tile in our powder room the grout absolutely refused to budge, - after trying out a lot of hacks we found a recommendation to use a combination bicarbonate of soda and white cane vinegar. we left it on for a while then scrubbed with a normal scrubber. This removed the grout. As you have tried quite a few methods. It won't hurt giving this one a go (unless the material is vulnerable to the acid in the vinegar)

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Comments (14)

Juliet Docherty
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
What an idiot! You can get grout residue removed which you apply to remove the very thin cloudy grout from tiles but you would really need to test it very carefully. Is it resin based grout or not? That may be harder to remove.
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User
5 years ago
The only thing that would clean our daughter's anti-slip kitchen tiles was oven cleaner...........I kid you not. They have not put lino over the top of them as they proved to be un-livable with 2 kids and old english sheepdog.

What is the tray made out of? If it's a stone tray, then maybe we could look in to stone cleaner rather than bathroom products?
Tani H-S
Original Author
5 years ago
Hi all. I’m not sure but I have a bag of the grout upstairs so I will double check it.

The tray is a white normal tray but has the rough anti slip sandpaper type finish on the inside.

I’ve just called the company I bought it from and got the manufacturers name/number (called Traymate) so I will call them tomorrow and just check what they recommend I use. They must have had issues with it so fingers crossed!

I don’t know. Seems logical to me as a tradesperson that you would clean grout off a tray once you finish the job - especially knowing how waterproof it is!!! (Visualise an angry face emoji here) LOL
Anthony (Beano)
5 years ago
Try a scrubby pad and brown vinegar! I had great success with this when removing dried ground on my tiles, it stinks abit but just rinse it down.
Sonia
5 years ago
Oh dear., sorry to hear this. My stepson-in-law has a business supplying tiling products such a grout, tiles and tile cleaners. We had a similar problem in our kitchen floor which has a rough slate like texture and the tiler did not clean it thoroughly and it dried hard. My stepsonIL gave us some chemical (sorry I don’t know the name) to help clean it up. It did help but it still looks a bit grubby in places. So annoying. If you want advice I am sure he won’t mind you calling him. Can give you his number if you want.
Tani H-S
Original Author
5 years ago
@forzaitalia oh that’s a nightmare if it doesn’t come up completely clean. Feeling really stressed about it now. Yes I will drop you a message once I have spoken with the manufacturer so I know what I can/can’t use on it and perhaps he can advise me then. Thank you!
Tani H-S
Original Author
5 years ago
So technical dept is closed but the woman spoke to her managing director (would have liked to have spoken to them direct but hey ho) and said to use a limescale remover like ‘limelight’ Leave it on overnight and it should remove it.
I asked about a specific grout remover like rocatex one I found online which is a grout and cement remover but she didn’t know anything.
Also couldn’t find out about how the tray is made and what thickness the top coating is so will try the limescale thing today and call them again tomorrow when technical is back in if it doesn’t work!
Anthony (Beano)
5 years ago
Did you try the vinegar yet? It removed my ardex grout and that stuff is tuff!
Tani H-S
Original Author
5 years ago
Hi Beano - no I haven’t.
I’ve got the electricians in today just finishing their bits so once they are done I will try all the suggestions. The extractor is over the tray so they will be walking on it so thought it best to wait, ha ha

Ps white vinegar? Did you leave it on?
Patrina
5 years ago
Yes left it on about an hour - of course the bicarbonate helps to keep it in place an has it's own cleaning properties as well.
Anthony (Beano)
5 years ago
I’d be at it ASAP tbh, for any tuff stains just soak a cloth and leave it one, should heap weaken it, I didn’t try white, just the brown tbh, I didn’t want to try anything to harsh so it was my first thing to try, honestly worked a treat but you have to give it some welly! Lol, ps don’t use a harsh scotch Brite pad as it could score the tray, just test a very small bit first.
iyanini14
5 years ago
Hi Tani, how did you get on? Our tiler did the same and our bath tub has grout stuck on different places. just Shocking really! Plus he must have poured the dirty water he used into the toilets and now I’ve got what I think is grout sediments at the base of the toilets.

anything work for you?
Tani H-S
Original Author
5 years ago
Hello.
Oh what a nightmare! Luckily the bath is smoother so you should be able to get rid of it a lot easier than a rough surface.

I gave the limescale remover gel a couple more goes - left it on for a few hours the last time and it did actually start to clean up. Still some small marks but barely noticeable. Will use it every few weeks and hope it gets rid of all of it.

I have also seen at tile shops a specific grout remover liquid. Make sure you don’t get the grout cleaner. That should work well on a smooth surface!

help with cleaning shower tray

Patrina

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