Tiles if you have hard water

[HardLuckWater]

If you live in London or somewhere with hard water, do you have nice tiles in your bathroom? And if so, how do you maintain them?

We've just bought a house and thinking about redecorating, I like smaller and more detailed tiles but I'm worried about maintenance and looking nice long term as I only want to do this once.

We previously rented and the landlord installed large while tiles (about the size of an A4 sheet of paper) in the bathroom which felt like an endless battle against limescale, soap scum and all manner of nasty things.

Will small tiles just make the situation worse?

Small tiles will generally be worse for cleaning, as any gunge/buildup is always on the grout not the tile. Smaller tiles means more of your surface is grout.

Hard water doesn't leave scale on tiles unless they're flat and you let it puddle and dry. And any descaler will just fizz it off even if you do that.

Soap scum does always happen in hard water, and will always need cleaning off. Use shower gel instead? That doesn't scum.

Save up for a water softener.

Yep water softener!

Failing that change the finish rather than the size of the tile. We went for a lappato finish from tile giant (might be called something different from other suppliers)

Clean, rinse and dry shower after every use keeps my tiles looking good in a very hard water area.
It's a lot of work but I do it because it matters to me - plus, I have the time, which I appreciate, is not everyone's position.
I also opted for large tiles to keep grout lines to a minimum and also, chose tiles with a matte finish so the light doesn't reflect off them and show up every speck of limescale when the sun comes out.

We went for a matt finish which hides a lot of the limescale. I think it looks really nice and modern.

I live in a hard/scummy water area.
I've gone for the laminate panels - absolutely brilliant. Smooth (matte) surface. Squidgee off after each shower, stay clean and no grout to get grotty.

Spray with vinegar and water every few uses to prevent streaking.

www.multipanel.co.uk/assets/brochure/Multipanel-Brochure-2019-waterproof-bathroom-wall-panels.pdf

Ooh thanks for your suggestions :)

I like the look of those panels, as the tiles I like were shiny.

A water softener will save you a lot of cleaning over the years.

If we go to Devon I shower and leave the screen wet, by the time we get home it’s dry and still sparkling.