How To Clean And Remove Soap Scum In A Travertine Shower

Travertine Shower Cleaning Tips

By Troy Cantini

The biggest issue with cleaning and maintaining a travertine shower is cleaning up and removing the soap scum. You can usually see the soap scum build up on the travertine shower floor and on the bottom of the vertical walls. It will look like a white chalky film or it can also look like a shiny film on the floor of the shower. The soap scum can ruin the look of a travertine shower and the soap scum can also damage the travertine tiles.

If you allow the soap scum to just sit on the travertine then hard water deposits can also start to accumulate.  These hard water deposits can start to literally eat away at the travertine. Over time your travertine tiles can start to become pitted and look dull and lifeless even after the soap scum has been removed. Also if your travertine shower has not been properly sealed then the hard water deposits can more easily enter into the and start eating away at it. Therefore you can see why it is important to properly clean, seal and maintain a travertine shower.

A professional grade soap non-acidic soap scum remover works best for removing soap scum in a travertine shwoer.  MB-3 has been used by tile restoration professionals for years and it is a professional non acidic soap scum remover. It can be used on all types of stone and ceramic tile shower installations and you do not have to worry about it etching the finish of natural stone tiles.

MB3 is is not difficult to use and it is the only recommended soap scum remover to be used in a stone tile shower.  You should not use any consumer level brand soap scum removers on natural stone surfaces. These consumer level soap scum removers can be acidic and they can also have other harsh chemicals that can damage your stones finish.

When cleaning the soap scum off of the travertine shower you should follow the instructions on the MB-3 soap scum remover product label.  The MB-3 soap scum remover will require you to mix it with water for it to become effective. You will most likely want to allow the soap scum remover to dwell on the travertine tiles for 20-30 minutes for it to loosen up the soap scum. You do not want to allow the MB-3 to dry on the travertine tiles. Keep applying the soap scum remover to keep the travertine tiles saturated with the soap scum remover for the entire dwell time.

After the dwell time you want to scrub away the soap scum with a soft scrub pad or scrubbing sponge. It may also be necessary to reapply the soap scum remover and repeat the process for removing heavy deposits of soap scum. Do not be tempted to use aggressive scrub pads. These aggressive scrub pads may make it easier to remove the soap scum but they can also scratch and dull the travertine tiles.

Keep applying the soap scum remover and scrubbing down your travertine tiles until you have removed all of the soap scum.  It is best to use a soft scrubbing sponge to scrub away the soap scum without damaging the travertine tile showers finish. This type of scrubbing sponge is also useful for rinsing the excess soap scum remover off of the travertine tile showers.

The travertine tile floors can accumulate a lot of soap scum and you can use an aggressive scrub pad if the travertine tile floor has tumbled travertine tiles that will not scratch.  You should always test the surface you will be scrubbing to ensure that it will not be scratched with an aggressive scrub pad. Typically travertine tile floor tiles do not have any type of honed or polished finish and you can use an aggressive scrub pad on them without scratching them.

The MB-3 soap scum remover also works great to remove soap scum from shower glass doors and any other shower fixtures you might have in your home.  You can apply the MB-3 to the shower glass and scrub away the soap scum with the soft scrubbing sponge. You should rinse away all of the excess MB-3 from the shower glass and do not allow the MB-3 to dry on your shower glass doors and walls. After you have scrubbed away all of the soap scum from your shower glass surfaces it helps to dry them with a paper towel to remove any water spots and to also remove any residual traces of the MB-3 soap scum remover.

You should only use the highest quality sealers with the newest microbond technology for sealing travertine showers.  These newest generation of sealers with the microbond technology provide the longest lasting and maximum protection of any type of sealers on the market today. Additionally these new generation of sealers using the microbond technology have an extremely small molecular base so they are able to be absorbed deeper into dense stones like travertine. One of the best water based microbond sealers we recommend is the Stonetech Bulletproof Sealer.

When sealing the travertine tile shower keep the tiles saturated with sealer for 5-10 minutes.  You should always follow the manufactures instructions when sealing travertine tiles. You want to thoroughly saturate the travertine tiles and the grout with sealer for 5-10 minutes so keep applying the sealer to the travertine and do not let the sealer dry on the travertine tiles or the grout. You can use a soft cotton towel or paper towels to apply the sealer.

If you have just had a travertine shower installed then of course the first thing you should do is to properly seal the travertine shower tiles and the grout.  It is important to wipe down the travertine tile shower after every use to keep the shower clean and to keep the soap scum from building up. Do not ever use any type of aggressive or consumer tile shower cleaning products in a travertine shower. Many of the consumer soap scum and tile shower cleaning products are acidic or have aggressive cleaning agents that can damage and dull the finish of the travertine shower tiles.