No products in the cart.
Expert Answers
How do I remove the White Haze off of my Pebble Shower Floor?
QUESTION
I had my bathroom re done about 1 1/2 years ago, and about 6 months ago, I starting seeing a problem with the grout/stone pebble floor in my new shower.The floor bed is pebbles and grout.. the floor was sealed when first done, but apparently the product sold to me didn't work? Not sure but for the past complete months, I have tried numerous products, but after the floor dries, it is white all over , on the stones it looks like a haze, but on the grout it looks more white. I have tried haze remover, stone enhancer, etc.. I was hoping to use an acid to just get it back to the original, and then re -seal, but not sure if that will hurt the grout. The walls are tiled from floor to ceiling.. Is there a product that you could recommend?
ANSWER
ANSWER - When there is a white haze on a shower floor it is normally either efflorescence precipitation or you have trapped moisture in the tile assembly by applying a non-breathable sealer over the floor.Efflorescence is where minerals (similar to salts) in the concrete and stone setting bed dissolve in the moisture and as the moisture comes to the tile surface it evaporates and then precipitates the white minerals. If you put a little vinegar on the white substance and it goes away, then it is efflorescence.
More likely is that they used a sealer or resin over the pebble floor that is non-breathable. If water gets under the sealer then it will tend to turn a cloudy white color. The question is why is water getting in under the sealer? That could be a problem in itself.
If it is true they used a surface sealer then there are strippers available for removing the sealer. You can then let the floor dry out and then reseal it with a breathable sealer. If you got to our website resource section there is a list of manufacturer's of sealers and cleaners that you find a link to their website to find the appropriate product for your situation. Click on Cleaner and Sealers.
38 thoughts on “How do I remove the White Haze off of my Pebble Shower Floor?”
Leave a Reply
The exact same thing happened to me. I soaked the floor in distilled white vinegar it took 2 weeks. The vinegar will slowly soften the sealer (it was like a thick layer of glue) and the I scrubbed it off with a scouring pad. I tried everything. This worked!
Normally vinegar a slightly acidic solution won’t affect the sealer, but it does attach the efflorescence. So I assume you were able to remove the efflorescence staining with the vinegar solution. Glad it worked!
My shower wall has river rocks, how can I easily remove the haze they have? Do you suggest vinegar with water or white sugar and water on paper towels?
Vinegar is acidic and it might remove a cement haze or efflorescence, but it can also cause more damage if misused.
I have never heard of using white sugar. Best bet is go to tile store and buy a cleaner for stone and tile.
I believe my pebble stone shower floor was cleaned with CLR..UGH! It’s all white and chalky looking. Is there ANYWAY to get it back to it’s original state?
Depends on what which CLR cleaner you used as they have many. There may have been a coating on the surface of the pebble stone that was degraded and maybe you have to remove it all with a stripper? I wouldn’t expect that you etched the surface with an acidic cleaner, but maybe… You should contact the manufacturer. They do have a CLR website where you can submit questions to them. You need to test small spots with whatever you do to make sure it works.
Hi, i have a stone tile shower with a Glass tile running through it. I mixed 1/2 vinegar with 1/2 water, sprayed on the glass tile waited 10 mins. Scrubbed it and rinsed it with cool water. Everything looked fine. When I went back in the bathroom several hours later there was a white haze on my river rock floor in the shower. What could have caused this and how do I remove it?
The river rock probably had some sort of sealer or coating over it, and the acidic solution that got on the coating likely caused it to discolor. You will have to experiment, but there is a good chance you will have to stripe the coating off of the river rock and re-seal it.
What kind of sealer should be used on river rock in a shower?
Normally a penetrating sealer is recommended. River rock is normally very dense so it will not take much. After applying the sealer be sure to wipe it off and buff it dry with a lint free cloth.
Some of the stones in my shower are turning white, while others are becoming darker. I purchased my home from a flipper who renovated the entire home. I don’t know if the shower floor was sealed. Is there a way I can tell?
To determine if the shower floor was recently sealed, place about a dime size drop of water on the tile and if it beads up with a tight meniscus then it is likely sealed. If the water spreads out or absorbs leaving a damp spot after wiping up the water, then it likely isn’t sealed or it has been a long time since it was sealed and the sealer has dissipated.
The white could be efflorescence which is minerals that migrate to the surface and the dark color might be more porous stones that have absorbed water. Both of those conditions could be symptoms that the shower pan was not constructed correctly and/or the weep holes in the drain are plugged that is causing water to be retained under the tiles and not able to drain away. It would require a forensic inspection to determine the cause and the solution to remediate.
I recently had a marble sliced pebble floor installed. The installer did not pre-seal pebbles so they turned darker with gray grout. I don’t mind that they changed color, but now I want to seal the pebble stones before we start using the shower. What type of sealer do you recommend? Very confusing! Should it be the impregnator type or something else? Thanks very much for your help.
Not sure if you have real marble or some other type of stone because you said it stained. True marble is very dense and impervious. Normally for marble you would use a penetrating sealer like Miracle 511 Impregnator. If it is a porous stone and you want a wet look you can use an enhancer sealer. Sealers don’t last all that long in a shower environment where it is used regularly. It might only last 6 months to a year. If the water beads up on the surface of the stone it is working. If not then it needs sealing. Sealing makes it less susceptible to staining and make it easier to clean.
My shower has a tiled floor and began to turn white in spots. I read that white vinegar would take care of the problem. It didn’t. Now all of my shower floor is white. I then read that “Scrubbing Bubbles” would solve the problem. It didn’t help. CAn you provide assistance/
Depends on what type of tile you have and whether it was sealed. If you have a porous tile and seal it when it is retaining moisture it can create a whitish cloudy appearance. You can remove the sealer to let it dry out.
Vinegar is acidic and a fairly mild acid, but applying it undiluted and leaving it on too long can cause some glaze tiles to etch, which can’t be repaired. Or maybe you have used too aggressive of a cleaning pad that has worn the glaze off of the tile.
If the whitish material is efflorescence it should easily be removed with a mild diluted acid that most home centers or tile distributors should sell.
I have a river rock floor in my shower. Where the shower head is, it looks like there’s rust in the grout. What can I use to get rid of this
Sincerely,
Paula Takeuchi
Rust is a symptom of certain types of minerals or metal that are oxidizing. There are certain acidic cleaners bought at the tile and stone stores that can remove the surface rust completely or partially depending on what caused the rust. If the rust is due to metal deep beneath the grout you might not be able to remove it. Of course once you remove the rust then unless you remove the source of the rust it will return.
I cleaned my river rock with 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 dawn. It was on longer than I planned now the whole floor is white. What can I do to restore it? If I need to strip it, please recommend a way to do it. Once done, does it need to be sealed?
River rock should be resistant to those products. There is a chance there is a sealer or some coating over the river rock that reacted to those products. If that is so, you should be able to use a stripper to remove it. Or you can have a stone restoration company grind and polish it to remove the coating and bring back the color. They should seal it during that restoration process.
Hi, we recently added a river rock/ pebble tile shower floor with grout. We forgot to seal the stones before grouting them and the stones have a distinct white haze on them. I can’t seem to remove the haze with sponging alone. Should i add a haze remover ? Will it affect the grout too (hard for me to just apply them on the stones and not on the grout between the stones) ? What haze remover should i use ?
Assuming you grouted the tiles with a cementitious base grout, you probably did not dust the stones after your final sponge clean up of the tile during grouting. Typically he slight haze will be left. If you use cheese cloth and buff it dry as soon as the stone sure and the haze is dry, it will come right off. If you leave it on, it can be difficult to remove.
If it is a cementitious haze, then get a little pit of vinegar and dilute it at least 50% and with a cloth apply it and see if the haze comes off. If it does come off, then go the tile store and buy an acidic grout haze remover. If it doesn’t come off then go to the tile store and buy some latex haze remover and see if that works. Always take a trial and error approach and test small out of the way spots to make sure you are satisfied with the results before proceeding.
Thank you! My shower had efflorescence. It smelled like the sea, salty not fishy. I found this page and read these questions and your answers. I’d experienced efflorescence on an old basement wall from 1900, but I had no idea it could happen to the grout in a brand new shower. The vinegar took care of it instantly. My shower no longer smells like the sea. Hooray!
Hello!
I applied a concrete sealer to my pebble/river rock shower floor. Over time it has turn a hazy white. I have purchased Aqua Mix Sealer & Grout Remover. Once I remove the sealer I want to reseal the shower with something else. Can you give me any recommendations on which product to purchase? I know you mentioned a penetrating sealer. There are hundreds to choose from. I am unsure which would be best.
Thank you!
Hello I accidentally put zep on my clients river rock bathroom floor and there’s are white spots on some rocks. I tried vinegar, soap with baking soda. I don’t know what to do it looks dulled like with no shine. Please help
Either it etched the stone or it removed the resin enhancer that they might have used on the stone.
You might need to repolish the stone with diamond pads and/or you might need to use a enhancer sealer or resin on it to darken it up. You need to do a test to make sure you have an acceptable outcome before fully applying the process. You might need to have a stone restoration company evaluate it and refinish it.
I’m fairly certain my black river rocks in the shower we’re ruined with straight bleach. Can I just re-polish the individual stones?
In theory, if a natural stone surface has been etched you should be able to re-grind and polish the stone to look like new. Considering the irregularity of the river rock shape, it would be more difficult to do.
We moved into a house with a tiled wall shower and a stone floor. I used barkeepers friend on the glass and the tile and the floor. And the floor is now dusty white. There were a couple granite shelves that it etched as well. I should have known better! Anyway how would I go about fixing this? Barkeepers friend is oxalic acid. I tried baking soda and water to “neutralize it. But that doesn’t seem to have worked. I’m guessing it will need to be resealed? But how would I do that with the white dusty film reappearing every time the water dries? (I’ve showered and rinsed the floor about 5 times total).
Barkeepers Friend is acidic and is made of oxalic acid. It is a component that is added to polishing compounds for polishing marble and limestone.
You have likely etched the surfaces of the stone floor and shelves. Etching actually mechanically changes the surface of the stone, so the only way to repair the stone is by having a professional stone restoration company come in and grind and polish the stone surfaces.
My stone floor in our master bath shower has suddenly turned white. The shower floor is 3 years old. I didn’t know I was supposed to reseal every two years. I’m assuming this is efflorescence. I tried cleaning the bottom right portion with white vinegar that I read someone used on your q&a. It didn’t work. Can you please advise what I should try to rid the floor of the white haze and then I’m assuming I should re-seal with a breathable sealer.
Many thanks!
TH
Turning white is the symptom of your problem, even though it is a problem. To remove the symptom you need to fix the problem.
The white is either efflorescence staining, which is minerals dissolving in water and migrating to the surface. As the water evaporates it precipitates the minerals. So in this case the problem is the stone is being subjected to excessive moisture and likely from under the stone. If this is recent efflorescence it should be soluble and removed easy with a mild acidic solution. Or if it is built up over time it may have oxidized and is now non-soluble and requires more extreme measures to remove.
Or the stone might have some sort of factory resin coating or sealer that enhances the color, but traps moisture in. I have seen many times when moisture is trapped under the sealer and it causes a cloudy whiteness. To remove it you would need to either use a sealer stripper or to regrind and polish/hone the marble.
Of course that is only removing symptom of the problem. If the problem is that the stone is being subjected to excessive moisture and it is only now showing up it might be because the drain weep holes are plugged. Maybe the drain weep holes were not properly protected in the first place or maybe they are plugged from calcium buildup.
The only way to know for sure is to forensically remove some of the stones in strategic spots and look for the evidence of what is causing the problem. Once you understand what is the problem then you can prescribe a repair that might be a major replacement. Unfortunately that can be expensive. Sometimes it is cheaper to just replace it. But if you don’t know what caused the problem then when you replace it you won’t know how to avoid it from reoccurring.
Best bet might be to hire a stone restoration company to regrind, hone and seal the stone see if it lasts. It might be your least expensive option to at least get some relief.
I, like, Tom Horne, have a pebble floor that has turned white. I also tried vinegar/water as many have recommended with zero results. So like it was recommended I tried to reseal using a penetrating sealant. That, too, showed zero improvement after a couple of applications. Looks exactly like it did prior to applying the sealant. Any thoughts?
Chances are the sealer originally used trapped moisture under the stone, which expresses that condition by causing somewhat of a white cloudy appearance.
You probably have to strip the sealer from the tile and grout and thoroughly clean the floor to your satisfaction. Then when the floor is thoroughly dry you reseal the floor. The sealer should be a penetrating sealer that can be an enhancing sealer if you want more of a wet look. Test out a spot first to make sure you are satisfied with the result before performing the work on the entire floor. Follow the sealer manufacturer’s directions.
My shower floor is tile ( I assume ceramic) and my issue is that when the floor is dry I see what looks like hard water spots. I have a commercial water softener that I know is working because there are no water spots anywhere else in the house. I have tried many cleaners and even hard water spot removers but no results. What else can you recommend?
I would assume that you have an unglazed ceramic tile. If you don’t see the spots when the floor is wet then the tile probably absorbing darkening the tile so you don’t see the spots.
The spots might be efflorescence minerals or maybe some contaminate in the clay tile body. Just depends on what kind of tile it is and when it was originally purchased. Normally efflorescence stains that have not oxidized can clean up easy with a highly diluted acid cleaner that is store bought for that purpose. Oxidized calcium stains are more difficult to remove.
If you do have an unglazed tile that is porous, you could apply a enhancing sealer, which for porous tiles will give it more of a wet look that might have those spots blend in. Although sealers are not long lasting. Depending on what conditions the tile is subjected to you might have to reseal every year or sooner to maintain that look.
If you d
My mosaic pebble floor was installed in my shower in 2019. For approximately 1.5 years there has been a white haze which spread to the entire shower. I thought this was soap scum. I readd on a blog, from a tile guy, to use vinegar to clean it. That was a hugh mistake, this created a white haze across the entire floor. I cleaned the floor with a commercial tile and grout cleaner. I let this dry for 48 hours and then applied an impregnator to the floor. I have applied 3 coats and the floor is still white. What is my next step.
Typically these natural stone pebble floors have some sort of sealer over it. Sometimes when water is trapped beneath the stone it will cause a whitish cloudy look. Also sometimes when the sealer is treated with acidic cleaners it might cause a similar condition. You should never use an acid to clean organic material off of any surface. There are neutral based cleaners that can be used.
If in fact there is an underlying sealer on the stones, you will probably need to remove it. Since you probably don’t know what type of sealer it is, then you need to find a universal sealer stripper to experiment with. Manufacturers of sealers normally sell sealer strippers. You should experiment by treating only one stone to make sure it will perform satisfactorily, before applying it to the entire floor.