Cleaning and Stain Removal - Shower Decals and Soap Dish

Help! I have tried everything to remove the icky, very old (probably 50 yrs.) decals from the tile on my shower floor and nothing works. I've tried vinegar, adhesive removers, steam, etc. but nothing softens them and they're impossible to chip off. I don't want to damage my tiles, so what do I do? I also have a corroded metal soap dish that needs to go but there are no screws anywhere and, again, I don't want to break the tiles. I would appreciate any help in either area.

The decals should be pulled up by force or with a flat razor blade. Get up under the edge and pull on them. You will have a residue left, but it can be removed by using MEK with the vent fan on, or window open. (Methyl Ethyl Keytone).
Look up under the soap dish, there should be a couple of indentations where screws attach it to the wall, or a small screw going directly up into the metal. Loosening this should allow you to pull it off. Beware, however, you will have one or probably two holes in your tile where the attachment hardware is fastened to the wall.

Heating up the decals with blow dryer may soften the adhesive and make the decals more limber for peeling or scraping off. If using razor blade scraper, take care not to scratch tub. If removing adhesive residue with solvent remover, give it time to do its job. Turn on vent fan and open window for ventilation. Solvents tend to smelly and flammable. No sparks and no smoking!

Once you remove the metal soap dish as instructed, you will need to fill the holes in the tile. A little dab of caulk in matching color of tile should do the job.

Just answered a similar post about a product called "Gel Gloss" available at Home Depot or Lowes that I find works really well, even for getting those old decals off. As for the soap dish, have you considered painting it? Sandpaper it first and they have all kinds of great paints available, that would make it look brand new. I would try that first, rather than risk taking it out. Just another opinion.

I would scrape off the old decals with the flat razor...as always with blades be careful and get a holder for it to protect the fingers. The soap dish should have some sort of set screw holding the dish on the install plate. Then the plate should be mounted to the wall. Remove and then seal, make sure surround is dry when sealing and use Tub and tile caulk. Dont just grab any silcone laying around. You need something that will seal and stay flexible with the water temps. Then the caulk needs a good 12-24 hours to cure-before exposing to water