What could this white substance that appears on our shower grout be? I had cleaned it off less than 12 hours before this picture.
Overnight, we had a space heater on in the bathroom to dry out some shoes, so the temperature was about 35°C.
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Hard water deposits, soap residue, grout components. What happens if you moisten it? – isherwood Mar 24 '16 at 15:33
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2What does it taste like? (JOKE! that was a joke, don't do it...) – Daniel Griscom Mar 24 '16 at 15:46
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2But seriously, do it. – isherwood Mar 24 '16 at 15:55
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2Efflorescence maybe? How old is the grout and what exactly is the grout? Do you have particularly hard water in your area? – brhans Mar 24 '16 at 18:32
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you could probably clean it with vinegar and a tooth brush. If that fixes it it probably needs to be sealed. I think Efflorescence or hard water are the culprits. – Ed Beal Mar 24 '16 at 20:39
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What happens after you clean it with vinegar? – Mazura Apr 24 '16 at 06:45
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@isherwood right? It looks to me as if there is grit on that grout – Craig Tullis Sep 25 '16 at 22:46
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That is calcium buildup from hard water. Do you have well or live in the city? Some cities also use well water mind you. Another thing can be if it is city water, high chlorinated water. Ultimately no way to resolve either other than cleaning it with baking soda, vinegar or CLR.
norcal johnny
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Thank you for the additional information & correction. While I would agree this looks like efflorescence there doesn't seem to be any excess source of water that would be making any salts rise to the surface on a regular basis. Therefore, it has to be that a Polymer Modified grout was used & the Polymer additive was not used or handled correctly.
The Polymers are typically white & will look very much like your situation. Used incorrectly the polymers literally float to the surface if the grout was too wet, sealed too soon, sponged too soon & with too much water or that the polymer was added to the joint separately & topically. The last is very & appears to be your situation. You'll need to remove the grout & fully re-grout in order to address this problem permanently. Sorry for my initial confusion.
Iggy
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It's newish shower (less than 3 years old). The grout is underneath the white substance. – barber Mar 25 '16 at 04:15
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Wow, that's a weird setup. Long singular tile strips, but then a big fat solitary grout line? No offense, it just doesn't make sense to me. Thank you, I'll update my answer. – Iggy Mar 25 '16 at 04:43