Cleaning tumbled marble tile

[marsaday1971]

Hello

I am in the process of renewing the grout in my floor pictured. The second pic is the conservatory and it shows what the kitchen used to look like when first laid. Because it gets more wear the grout has discoloured badly and this then affects how the tiles look.

I also want to clean the tiles at the same time and reseal them.

They were sealed with HG sealer and i understand this is not so good.

Any ideas what i should use to give them a clean up and then seal again.

 

[Gazzer]

Marble or Travertine ???

 

[marsaday1971]

I was under the impression it was marble, but looking at his site it is now showing limestone (jerico tumbled).

I bought it 3 yrs a ago, so a bit confused here. He may have been selling it as marble, but really it is limestone. Strabge
Natural Stone Tiles Ltd

 

[Brian the Tile]

marsaday1971
are you trying to clean the floor or are you trying to clean the grout? as you have now got two posts running about the same floor area,your not the only one getting confused here ,must say they look like two different coloured tiles alltogether to me surely they cant have got that dirty,the mind boggles

 

[marsaday1971]

I am wanting to replace the grout and will be doing this because you can see from the 2 pics how much darker the grout has become. The kitchen pic is of the grout today and the conservatory pic is from when i laid it 3 yrs ago. So the litchen did look like that at one point.

However, i want to also clean the tiles and reseal when i do this big job so asking about this topic as well.

 

[Brian the Tile]

ah now im with it:lol:

 

[marsaday1971]

Ok your with it, but can anyone help answer my questions on:

What do i clean the tiles with after i have grouted and then what do i reseal with again. Does resealing the tiles matter once it has been sealed. I used HG sealer and apparently this is crap.

 

[Gazzer]

Really whoever answers needs to know for sure what the stone is. One cleaner may be suitable with one stone but not the other !

 

[Gazzer]

Try this LTP Online

 

[marsaday1971]

Thanks, and the tile is limestone.

 

[peckers]

Firstly you need to remove all off the old sealer, I use lithothin wax off (my personal choice) and ltp do a sealer remover too(havent used this one though) Be sure to do a test area first on a spare piece off tile or in an inconspicuos area! I apply this and then leave for 10-30mins and then agitate it with a floor buffer and pads(can be done by hand) then it needs to be rinsed with plenty off clean water and this then gets removed with a wet vac.

You then need to clean the tiles with a good branded cleaner again ltp do one i use an alkaline based one from tikko products. again leave on the tiles for a while and agitate again, then this needs to be flushed out with plenty off water and removed with a dry vac.

If you have any stubburn spot stains this can be removed by using a poultice which can be left from a few hours to overnight depending on how stubborn the stain is.

you will find that after the cleaning process your grout will be cleaner too and you may not have to change the grout.

after all the cleaning has been done you will need to allow for the tiles to completely dry out and then you can apply two coats off sealer to the tiles and grout. again ltp do the sealers depending on what look you are after there are a few to choose from.

you can contact ltp technical and they will advise you on what products to use they are very helpful(remember to do a test area first)
once your tiles are clean and if your tiles are looking dull, etched or scratched then you could have them re polished before they are sealed by using a twister pad and water on a floor buffer.

hope this helps.

 

[enduro]

I would use a honing powder and a soft brush on a rotary scrubber. The honing powder is slightly abrasive so will remove any sealer,scratches,marks,dirt etc. Also cleans the grout. And with the soft brush it will get into the holes & grout joints. This is a bit more specialised so not for a diy job.

 

[rosy123]

Hi All,

For cleaning tile, you should contact to the cleaning company, because they what to use in the cleaning of tile.