How To Remove Water Stains From Terracotta Tiles – This tiled floor, installed in a conservatory in Kidlington Oxfordshire, was in the worst condition I’ve ever seen, you should be able to see a large number of stains for yourself in the photo below. The conservatory was used as a conservatory with many flower pots standing directly on the tile, which over the years caused stains and accumulation of white salts on the surface.
My first step was to give it a good vacuum to remove loose debris; I then covered the floor with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, which I let soak into the tile for a few minutes. Pro-Clean I should add is a powerful alkaline cleaning product designed for cleaning tiles, stone and grout. The next step was to scrub the floor with a black scrub pad mounted on a rotating machine; after the scrubbing was done i rinsed with water and removed the dirt with a wet vacuum. I then repeated the process again, this time using a stiff brush to tackle the grout before washing thoroughly with a high-pressure spinner to wash the floor completely. The next step was to wash the floor with Grout Clean Up, an acidic wash to remove any salts in the floor, then wash the floor again with the spinner.
How To Remove Water Stains From Terracotta Tiles
I let the floor dry overnight and came back the next day to seal and make sure I used a moisture meter on the floor first to make sure it had dried enough. I used Tile Doctor Seal and Go to seal the floor, it’s a water based sealer so it doesn’t give off any odor when it dries and also provides long lasting stain protection along with a low gloss finish. It is also a breathable sealer that allows moisture to rise through the floor and evaporate onto the surface instead of being trapped under the sealer.
Treating And Protecting Terracotta Tiles
The floor has been transformed through this process and I think you’ll agree that this is confirmed by the before and after photos above, which really speak for themselves.
Tags: cleaning services , conservatory , floor restoration , kidlington , oxford , oxfordshire , tiles , tile cleaning , tile maintenance , tile sealer , tile floor Having an effective sealer is essential to ensure the long term condition of tile floors, in fact a lack of sealer can making cleaning the tiles extremely difficult because the sealer prevents dirt from sticking to the tile.
This homeowner who lives in the former spa town of Matlock in was experiencing problems with their terracotta tiled kitchen floor because they applied some kind of wax to act as a sealer and it disappeared within a few weeks. After this happened, the tiles were not resealable, making cleaning a major problem. Terracotta is a very porous stone and therefore easily absorbs spills and stains and allows dirt to be collected very easily.
In this situation, the owner decided to contact me about professional maintenance. I suggested giving the tiles a thorough clean and then applying a fresh, high-quality sealer. The job was agreed and I went to the property the following week.
Installing Terracotta Tiles
When I arrived at the property and saw the tiles with my own eyes, it was clear that a professional cleaner had been used for quite some time: greasy stains were particularly common and covered large areas of the kitchen floor.
To remove, I mixed a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, a multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, stripper, and degreaser, and applied it to the floor, working in small areas. Working in small sections was important because the stone is very porous and absorbs quickly into any product that is dropped. I rubbed the cleaner into the stone with a rotating machine fitted with a black scrubber, which removed dirt and stains nicely. Pro Clean is very versatile and can be used for similar cleaning purposes on most types of natural stone floors.
After cleaning each section, I quickly removed the excess dirty water and chemicals with my wet wash. After cleaning the entire floor, I rinsed it several times with fresh water to make sure all the cleaning chemicals were gone. I then let the floor dry completely for 36 hours.
When I returned to the property, I did several wet tests to check if there were any areas on the floor that needed further drying. As is almost always the case, there were a few areas that remained slightly damp and I speeded up the drying process with my heat gun. In fact, it took me over three hours for the floor to dry completely, but it was worth it, as even the slightest excess of moisture can compromise the sealer’s performance.
How Are Terracotta Tiles Made?
Once the floor was finally dry I started sealing the floor with a coat of Tile a Doctor Color Grow sealer. Color Grow is an impregnating sealer that penetrates deep into the pores of the stone, acting as a shield against trapped dirt, as well as enhancing the color of the tiles to give an aesthetic appearance. seals After sealing with Color Grow, I let the floor dry for a few hours and then applied six coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, a topical sealer that builds a durable protection on the surface of the tiles.
The combination of thorough cleaning and the application of not one but two high-quality sealers really did wonders for the look of these terracotta tiles. Looking at the final results, you wouldn’t think they lasted that long without proper cleaning and sealing! The customer was of course extremely satisfied and will certainly be able to keep his floor beautiful for a long time to come. I received a call from a customer from the Cotswold country town of Witney, who lifted a carpet to reveal a tiled floor underneath. Although the floor was in good physical condition, the carpet and subfloor retained moisture through evaporation. Such old floors were laid before damp-proof membranes became standard, so covering them can cause damp problems. It is important to allow moisture from under tiled floors to evaporate undisturbed, otherwise moisture can reach the walls, resulting in rising damp.
Moisture can also enter the pores of the clay tile, possibly leading to its degradation over time and in this case resulting in white efflorescence salts depositing on the tile surface, causing unsightly stains.
I started cleaning it by applying a heavy dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, an effective alkaline tile cleaner. For best results, I spread the solution over the floor and let it soak for a maximum of twenty minutes. This gives the product time to eat up dirt and old coatings before being scrubbed with a black pad mounted on a rotary floor machine. This worked really well on the floor and the cleaning solution quickly got dirty with the loosened soil, which was removed with a wet vac and more water to rinse it off and dry the floor as much as possible.
How To Clean Terracotta Tiles
To remove the white efflorescence, the floor was acid washed with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, which is designed to remove grout and other mineral stains from tiles. This was hand brushed into the tile and grout and left to shower as it reacted with the efflorescence. After another wash and suction with the wet vacuum cleaner, the floor was allowed to dry for a few days. The next step would be to seal the tile and for best results the tile should be dry.
When I got back I checked that the tiles were dry by taking some wet readings with a hygrometer. The measurements came back fine so I needn’t have worried, but tiles made from clay are very porous so it’s always a good idea to check.
Given the previous issues with moisture, I knew I had to use a fully breathable sealer, so I opted to use Tile Doctor Color Grow. This product handles moisture well and contains a color-enhancing formula that really brings out the red color.
Apart from some deep efflorescence in the joint, the floor responded very well to the treatment and greatly improved the overall appearance. My client was happy with the transformation and the newly restored floor matched the character of the building. My client from Penwortham on the outskirts of Preston on the south bank of the River Ribble contacted me about their Mexican terracotta kitchen floor which, as you can see from the photos below, was in a bit of a state.
Removing Resin Stains & Haze From External Porcelain
In the photos
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