Hi all, Word of warning: I have a mildew/soap scum problem on my tile (I think they are porcelain or ceramic tile walls)because of poor circulation in our walk-in shower. I sprayed clorox on the walls, let sit and then sprayed them down. We went on vaca for a few days, came back and now the walls are etched with streaks. I have scrubbed and scrubbed and in reading John Bridge Tile Forum it seems I've permanently bleached my tiles. So be careful using acidic and bleaching products on your tiles - if they are ceramic. We will probably have to redo our shower if we ever put our house on the market to sell (we can live with it for now). Also on this same forum they have this as a cleaner which I will try in the future. If anyone has tried it please post and let us know how it worked. I've cut and past the thread about this below (it does mentioned bleach so be careful on ceramic tiles): 'This is an excerpt from a thread about mold. The auther is a member and an official with the Dallas Housing Authority. 4. so what works? According to the instructor of the mold class I attended, try a spray bottle with the following in it: 1/2 gal. white vinegar 1/2 gal. hydrogen peroxide-common peroxide available from your drugstore 1 cup boric acid keep closed tightly mix well - use in a spray bottle on a dry surface. Shake well and spray area well. The vinegar/peroxide kills active live mold and the boric acid keeps them that way. (Note: uncapped peroxide loses it's oxygen molecules to the air when not capped tight and becomes H2O [water], so keep this solution in a bottle that can be capped off tight). Instructor stated that boric acid works on mold bodies like it does on roach bodies - cuts them and they bleed to death because they cannot "coagulate" (snakes and snails and puppydog tails). I guess we all know that there are some very beneficial molds, too.' One last note on the above solution. This solution will not "bleach" out the mold stain. After mold is under control, then you can bring out the bleach and whiten the mold stains.'

Finally! Last night I smeared a combination of hot vinegar (microwaved 2 minutes and an equal amount of blue Dawn. I had used it last year (guest bath only used once a year). I followed the directions, just let it sit and the bottom of the tub looked great. It did not budge the insane soap scum on the side of the tub. The tub was only used during Christmas vacation by our adult daughter who never cleaned. I was in panic mode tonight and saw someone above mention Awesome Cleaner from the Dollar Tree. I put a little water in the tub to wet the vinegar/dawn mixture from last night, swished my scrubber pad in it to wet it. Poured Awesome powder on it and thanked God because it worked! I could not believe it worked and was in panic mode because my daughter is bringing her boyfriend in town with her! Now if I could just get the rest of the house presentable!

Sounds like scale build-up. You can buy scale remover or use vinegar. You could use the same idea of soaking a towel in the scale remover or vinegar and leave it over night. I would use some old rag that you can just throw away and probably cotton would be best if you choose to use that scale remover which is kind of strong. Vinegar will probably not harm a cloth. This may take a few times to get it all. But if it's hard and sharp that would most likely be scale from your water. We have scale in our water and vinegar gets it off. It can also build up on the shower head and cause the water to not come out very good, you can put vinegar in a baggie and put it on the shower head and use some tape to hold it there over night. It will be clean in the morning!

I understand that some water systems supply very hard water. Ours is at the medium point but I myself would never have a water softener installed. I hate the feeling that softened water produces, of being unable to rinse off soap and shampoo when showering. And making the shower floor slippery. We once bought a house that had a water softener installed. The seller had commented that the water in that area was very hard. I activated the bypass after a week and then had it removed. Some hotels have overly soft water too. I make a mental note of those so that I can stay elsewhere on any return visit to the area. Hard water can often taste better to drink because various minerals contribute to the flavor. Some water bottlers add minerals to the product for that very reason. Try drinking distilled water sometime, it's tasteless and not very enjoyable. The spring water we buy to drink is loaded with minerals and is very flavorful. Ditto regarding resurrecting old threads. Better to start a new conversation if the old one is getting moldy.