I am so thrilled I have finally found something that works in my shower I just have to let everyone know. I have a tile walk in shower that for years has accumulated ugly white crusty build up, especially in the far reaches under my tiled shower seat and in the grouted depressions between tiles. I have tried every recommended home treatment I can find and none of them worked. And the crust gets thicker and thicker. Some treatments say it will take the color out of my grout. Most of the commercial tile cleaners for baths say on the back that they will etch the finish on the tile. I stay away from those. I know this sounds like an advertisement!!! But it is not.
Yesterday I came across an article touting the many uses for cooking oil spray. It said if you use a light spray of canola cooking oil on that ugly mineral deposit in the shower it will dissolve it. Well, I tried it yesterday on a line of 4 terrible tiles that had the same look on the next over line of 4. After cleaning off the oil and giving it 24 hours to dry, my experimental line of tile looks great. I am ready to do my whole shower!
I know if I had a house cleaner coming every week who would spend a lot of time getting under the seat of the shower and wiping it all down with something that would work too. But for those of us not hiring someone try this.

I'm happy that it worked for you, but putting an oil based substance on a place that is already wet and slippery when in use sounds incredibly dangerous to me.

I did not do it while in use. I sprayed a small amt and then wiped it off after I let it sit. It is not at all slippery or oily at the moment. My soap is much more slippery than this small amt of oil that I thoroughly wiped off but you have a good point. Be careful people.

How long did you let the oil sit before cleaning it off?

Only for about an hour. My shower is soooo bad I will probably have to retreat but it already is much much better than the next line over after only one treatment. The article I read mentioned canola oil. I happened to have one at home but also had olive oil I did not try. I have no idea if it matters which one. You can probably dissolve the small spray of oil with warm water and soap if it leaves a slick. It was recommended for getting the white spots off the shower stall glass and the verticle tiles as well as any kitchen glasses with water spots but for me it is about the ugly shower floor i have.

sandyf, thank you for sharing this with us! The only thing I use cooking spray for is preventing stains on Tupperware.

I have extremely hard water (from my well) and I find the best thing to get rid of the mineral deposits is The Works toilet bowl cleaner! Just don't use it at the same time as bleach.

I looked into The Works as I had never heard of it and discovered that Hydrochloric Acid is one of the ingredients. The acid in most of cleaners that have them eat away at the coating on ceramic tiles and can ruin the finish. So if using this on a tile shower be cautious and test it in a hidden spot first. I also read online that if the acid comes in contact with a rubber door seal or even the chrome of the drain it can eat away at those things too. The acid was the main reason I was looking for something that does not contain it.

Yes. Please be careful with products. In his exuberance and eagerness to use the wildly effective cleaning product that would rapidly clean the fiberglass, hubby splattered and coated and let product drip to the chrome. Now we have clean matte chrome. Is that an oxymoron?

Okay, you will all think I'm nuts but a very effective tile cleaner is Tide and Coke. Regular old Tide powder detergent and Coca Cola. Put down a good sprinkling of the Tide, heavily spray with Coke, and use a long handled scrub brush. The crud comes up pretty easily, though it takes some effort to rinse it if you are doing this on a floor instead of a tiled tub or shower.

Be careful. Coca-Cola contains phosphoric acid. You need to be careful what you mix it with. There is not a lot of phosphoric acid, but the acid could also attack metals including chrome, remove the coating on tiles, harm rubber seals, etc. NEVER ever mix Coke with a strong base such as Draino or any other drain cleaner. (

@Candy Kane wrote:

Okay, you will all think I'm nuts but a very effective tile cleaner is Tide and Coke. Regular old Tide powder detergent and Coca Cola. Put down a good sprinkling of the Tide, heavily spray with Coke, and use a long handled scrub brush. The crud comes up pretty easily, though it takes some effort to rinse it if you are doing this on a floor instead of a tiled tub or shower.