Is is all soap scum, or do you have mineral deposits from hard water as well?

There are commercial products that remove soap scum and mineral deposits, like BioClean, Kaboom or Tilex.

I have found that orange oil and elbow grease work well. You can also try spraying with vinegar and waiting 15 mins then scrubbing. You can also try a paste of baking soda and vinegar, it will stay on better than straight vinegar. Or peroxide and baking soda.

Since I made my husband switch to a liquid body wash and squeege the walls after a shower, we've had less of a problem with buildup.

If it is hard water deposits use straight vinegar. Adding baking soda to it will reduce the effectiveness of the vinegar.

What products have you already tried? What kind of scrubbers and scrapers? A single edged razor blade in a standard holder can make quick work of soap scum on smooth flat tile.

How about a Magic Eraser

Steam cleaner

i Believe some can be mineral deposits. I have tried baking soda and vinegar, and tilex. i will try some of the things you have suggested.

thanks

If it is mineral deposits, you need just the vinegar without the baking soda. You want the vinegar to react chemically with the mineral deposits, not with baking soda. You need to let the vinegar sit to dissolve the mineral deposits, so just keep spraying vinegar on it. https://www.askthebuilder.com/clean-hard-water-stains-tile/

if it's real ceramic or stone tile, I thought magic eraser should be fine? yes... it's like using a super fine grit sandpaper. you can't use it on acrylic, but should be fine on any surface where abrasive cleaners are approved. and it is amazing for soap scum.

good ol' fashioned comet + scotch brite scrubber works super fast for me, maybe even faster than magic eraser (but we don't have hard water). try not to scrub the grout too hard though, or you'll wear it down. using a flat holder for the scrubber makes that easy.

apple_pie_order one wrong move with a razor blade will scratch that tile badly. tile is strong, but it's not that strong.

Sometimes, in an effort to clean tile, an abrasive cleaner is used. The abrasive cleaner scratches the tile, the scratches provide a substrate for hard water deposits to adhere to. Your tile may have been damaged.

Do you squeegee?

I have never used anything abrasive on the tile.. i did not use a squeegee originall. I have one now.

CLR foam spray works wonders.

After you rinsed it off, for the final rinse, use bottled water or distilled water.

If you use your tap water which contains the mineral deposits which gunked up your tiles in the first place, you've just ruined all your hard work!

And another thing, if you live in an area where there is hard water, don't use bar soap.

Only use liquid soap that is translucent (the color doesn't matter, as long as it is see-through.)

The glycerin-based liquid soaps do not leave the same soapy residues on your tile and bath tub that bar soaps do.

Once I learned this, it saved me so much work!

Do you have photos? How old is the tile? Tile that's several decades old may have a worn surface.

You can also try Soft Scrub and a pink "not so scratchy" sponge from Scotch. Or try an equal mixture of Dawn and household white vinegar. Once you get the soap scum removed, you can treat the wall tile with a tile and grout sealer to keep soap scum from sticking quite so readily. Tile and grout sealer is fast and easy.

Liquid soap is far easier to clean off than bar soap- it doesn't form deposits.

Use a shower squeegee on the tile after showering. It will take only a minute or two because it doesn't have to be an exquisitely spotless job to get most of the water off.

A Magic Eraser very well may remove the glaze from the tile surface. That's typically what sandpaper does. It will remove the clear coat on an automobile painted surface so...................

If your tile is glass or marble, do not use CLR, vinegar, or anything acidic. You can etch it.

Acids will etch marble but are safe to use with glass. I know this from my days in chem labs. We used glassware all the time for acids, even very very strong ones.

@partim : much chemistry glassware is borosilicate glass, not soda lime glass. The latter is easily etched by strong acids. The former is not so easily etched by strong acids.

@apple_pie_order Good to know. That said, CLR and household vinegar are safe for glass. And for the OP's tile which is probably porcelain but may be glass.

https://clrbrands.com/Products/CLR-Household/CLR-Bath-Kitchen-Cleaner#:~:text=dropdown-,Yes.,part%20of%20a%20shower%20door.

Mix Dawn detergent with vinegar. Spritz wall and scrub with a nylon sponge. Let stand 10 minutes and rinse.