Soap Scum No More! A Stone Cleaning Service in Dallas, TX, Restored This Travertine Shower

May 30, 2023

When homeowners design their homes, one of the most common questions is what tiles should they use for their shower? They usually choose a kind of natural stone due to its luxury and durability, and one of the most popular is travertine. This is a calcareous sedimentary rock and is famous for its particular appearance and color range which vary from white, beige, chestnut, and more. For owners, choosing travertine for a shower is common because it is less expensive than marble but gives off the same luxury.


On the other hand, people think that travertine, for its porosity, is not the best option for watery places like the shower. But it is important to point out that they can easily choose this natural stone for the bathroom, they just need to be aware of the maintenance—that's key. Using incorrect products and methods while cleaning could ruin the beauty of the stone. Our next customer didn't know this, which is why he needed to hire our stone cleaning service in Dallas, TX.

This Dallas resident had a problem with his travertine shower. The once beautiful natural stone had been installed a few years ago. He was pleased with how beautiful his bathroom was, but those days were long gone after the use of wrong cleaning products over the years. He bought his home five years ago, and when he was designing the bathroom, he had no doubt he wanted to use travertine for the shower. Since he was usually very busy, he didn't have the time he wanted to clean his house regularly, including the bathroom and his shower. But, the homeowner had a very intense cleaning routine that he tried to fulfill on the weekends. He always took special care of his natural stone shower because he had heard that this type of stone can easily damage.

One of those weekends, on his to-do list was to buy some products to for his cleaning routine. He went to a local store to get the cleaners he was looking for, along with other things for the house. He didn't waste any time and started cleaning right away. He began by deeply cleaning the kitchen, living room, and bedroom, leaving the bathroom for last. After he finished the bathroom floor, it was time to clean the shower using the special products he bought. While he was in the middle of the cleanup, he noticed that the travertine started to look odd, but he didn't pay attention to this matter at the moment and finished the routine.


Weeks later, the owner continued with the cleaning routine and he noticed again that something was not right with his shower. After finishing the last routine, he wanted to confirm what was wrong with the natural stone, so he looked for some pictures from years ago when the travertine was first installed. He was surprised to see that he was right—the shower had soap scum on the floor. The man didn't understand how that happened after cleaning the stone weekend after weekend, so he decided to do something about it immediately.

Since he had a couple of weeks free from work, the homeowner planned to take his free time to resolve the problem with the travertine shower. On his first free day, he went back to the local store and bought different cleaning products to use them on the shower. After he was done, he noticed that the travertine still had soap scum stains, so he thought that maybe he needed to clean more than once to achieve a positive result. He continued the cleaning routine, but the outcome was the same. The man didn't know what else to do. He noticed that the soap scum on the shower was ever worse; to solve the issue, he needed professional help.

He didn't want to wait to find out if any family member or friend recommended a company to help him with the shower, so he searched online for one in Dallas. The results provided too many names, but one of the top results was Sir Grout Dallas Fort Worth. He discarded the other companies for bad reviews and when he started to navigate our website, he saw photos from our previous jobs, and he realized that we were what he was looking for. To convince himself, he ended up reading some testimonials from satisfied customers, and that was it. He called us to schedule a free, in-home evaluation.

On the day of the assessment, our team of experts arrived at the owner's residence to evaluate the shower and offer him the best solution to restore it. He guided our technicians to the bathroom where we identified the problem right away—the shower was indeed full of soap scum. We explained that this was a very common issue for showers and that it happened because hard water prevents soap from completely dissolving, creating soap scum. We also explained that using the incorrect products and methods had a negative effect. The client asked if our specialists could restore the travertine shower. We offered a complete stone cleaning service, then color sealing the entire surface to bring back the beauty of the natural stone. He agreed and scheduled another appointment for us to get the job done.

On the day of the job, our team returned to the house to begin the cleaning process. The first step was to apply a proper cleaner all over the shower and let it sit for a few minutes. After that, we used a machine scrubber to remove the dirt and soap scum from the travertine and grout lines. A vapor steam cleaner was used for the hard-to-reach areas of the shower, as well.

The final step was to seal the entire surface. To do so, our team used our proprietary sealant—ColorSeal. They explained that this product helps keep water away from the grout lines while recoloring them, and making them water-, stain-, and mold-resistant. Also, they applied Stone Armor to the stone to make it resistant to water and easier to clean.

Once the job was done, our experts invited the homeowner to see the results. He was surprised. His shower was beautiful again after the stone cleaning service. He thanked us and mentioned that he would hire Sir Grout Dallas Fort Worth again. He said that he would recommend us to his family and friends if they were to experience a similar problem.

Before leaving, our specialists gave some instructions to him to maintain his shower. First, do not use soap-based cleaners because the soap attracts dirt. Instead, use pH-neutral, stone-safe cleaners. Second, dry the shower using a terrycloth. Lastly, we mentioned that to check if the sealer is working properly, place water on the travertine, if it is not absorbed, the sealant is still working.

If your natural stone surfaces need a stone cleaning service and you live in Dallas, Sir Grout Dallas Fort Worth is here to help you! Call us at (972) 457-3116 or fill out the "Request a Quote" form on the website to schedule a free in-home consultation. And do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter!

If you found this article helpful then let us know in the comments section below. Likewise, feel free to share it using the share options below. Want us to cover another topic of your interest pertaining to Hard Surface Restoration? If so, then like us and follow us on social media, and post to any of our social media profiles the topic you'd like us to discuss: Facebook Sir Grout Dallas Fort Worth, Instagram @sirgroutdallasfortworth, and Twitter @SirGrout.