Yellow stains from suction cups shower walls

[Rolling_Rolling]

Hi There

Hoping someone can help with this. We placed several baskets and a small suction mirror on our shower walls which are white platic.
Upon removing these items to clean the walls and shower tub the suction cups have left a perfect yellow circle behind which I cannot remove.

I have tired neat bleach, hydrogen peroxide, soft scrub, scrubbing bubbles, nothing seems to work. Even the area where the shower curtain drapped on to the tub floor has gone a litle off colour too, it is as if the area where no light of air has circulated the plastic has discoloured.

Can anyone tell me how to get these yellow stains off please.

Thanks for any ideas I am sure many of you must have had the same issue.

Julea

[tessa25]

Here's the explanation. White plastic, in the absence of oxygen, turns yellow. All you have to do is leave the area uncovered for a month and it will "bloom" (turn white). Bleach removes oxygen so no bleach on white plastic.

[Rolling_Rolling]

BCbounders

Yes I agree about the sun, think it is going to be the only way, it has been over 2 weeks now since I removed all the baskets and the yellow spots are very very slowly fading away, not sure if they will ever go and I won't know as we have sold the camper which leaves our company in 2 days time.

Thanks again for all your replies

Julie

[bcbounders]

Julea,

Hopefully the continued exposure to the sun will end up solving your problem. But that "yellowing" sounds to me like it could be caused by a high iron content in the water. Since it tends to pool up at the base of the curtain (and probably also around the outside edge of the suction cups holding things to the walls), it gave the iron in the water time to stain the plastic/fiberglass of the shower.

Are you in (or do you travel through) an area that has a high iron content in the water? Or how old is your RV? It's possible you're getting iron/rust from your water heater tank. We had a problem with that just before our water heater failed... started seeing yellowing of our whites in the laundry.

I'm not sure it won't damage the shower surround... but maybe some CLR or some other rust removal product would get it out? Especially if you had a way to allow the treatment to sit for a while and penetrate into the stain.

Best of luck!

[Dale_Traveling]

From the description it's not a stain but areas that have not been sun bleached or in other words shadows. Isn't much you can do beyond resurfacing the walls and tub. Maybe one other contractor services that can repaint a fiberglass tub or shower enclosure.

[nwrandski]

Hi there. While I haven't had to address these types of stains, it has always been trial and error with me. It might be worth trying denatured alcohol - available at hardware stores. It's excellent at cleaning glass, so it might be an option. No idea if it will work though. Good luck.

[Rolling_Rolling]

Hi Again

Thank you for your replies I have tried all the above with no luck. Like most RV shower areas there is a sky light above it, it is the areas where the sun /light was not getting through that have been affected.
I am trying to call the supply of the shower as Lance had no clue what to use and had never heard of this problem. I am sure thinking back to 2005 when we owned another RV with white walls in the shower I had the same problem I think..... but cannot remember how I solved it. Now that all the suction baskets have ben removed for nearly a week the yellow circles are fading a little now light is back on them.
I continue to search the internet for a solution as the manufacture of the shower goes to voicemail.

Thanks again

Julea

[rgatijnet1]

Polishing compound available at auto parts stores.

[OhhWell]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Be careful with that cleaner from the dollar store. I bought it in a spray bottle. Come to find out 'after' I applied it that the bottle was a CONCENTRATE. Had to run and wash it off to prevent etching.

Who the heck puts a concentrate in a spray bottle?

Now that is funny.

[rockhillmanor]

Be careful with that cleaner from the dollar store. I bought it in a spray bottle. Come to find out 'after' I applied it that the bottle was a CONCENTRATE. Had to run and wash it off to prevent etching.

Who the heck puts a concentrate in a spray bottle?

[crasster]

Is the area exposed to daylight?

I 2nd the awesome cleaner from the dollar store. Try the CLR and the detergent. It's really good stuff.

[rockhillmanor]

Bleach and baking soda. Mix to make a smooth paste. That mixture will take any stain off.

[TucsonJim]

Bar Keeper's Friend is a mild acid powder which I've used in the past for some yellow spots in our shower. We had a floor mat, but it sounds a little different from yours. On ours, the sun would shine through the cracks in the floor mat and yellowed the tub. Bar Keepers Friend worked for us to get rid of most of it.

[Pogoil]

Try Magic Eraser with a little Awesome cleaner from the dollar store.
Be very careful with the Awesome cleaner as it is harsh.

Pogoil.