Dark Grey Porcelain Tiles Cloudy and Dull

[copels]

Hi there

I wonder if anybody can help me. We had some lovely large porcelain tiles laid in July 2010 in our kitchen. Over the last 12 months they have become more and more marked and are now dull and cloudy - see picture.




These tiles were not cheap and the guy that laid them sealed them afterwards. I've spoken to the shop where we bought them and they suggested that they shouldn't have been sealed and that the sealer might be attracting the dirt. The manufacturer suggested cleaning them with Lithofin Intensive cleaner which I've done but this didn't make any difference.

We're really dissapointed with these tiles as they looked great when they were laid, cost lots of money and now look really bad.

Any help or suggestions much appreciated.

Steve

 

[Ian]

Welcome to TF. Are the tiles a highly polished porcelain, struggling to tell from the pictures?

 

[AliGage]

Could this be another transit wax issue?

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

do these tiles have pits in them

 

[MARBLE_TONY]

No transit wax issue there. First your tiler did the right thing by sealing those tiles, so the suggestion from the tile shop that the sealer is attracting dirt is a load of non sense. As mentioned above they have pits in them.

So a few questions to get to the source of your problem is this only in a concentrated area?
Do you know what sealer was used originally?

And now may be sticking my neck out a bit but are you sure they are porcelain? and if they are are the full bodied?

 

[copels]

Hi there - thanks for all your replies.

The tiles do have pits in them.

The problem is not in a concentrated area but throughout the kitchen.

The tiler thinks he used a Lithofin porcelain sealer but it was 20 months ago so he's not 100% sure.

As luck would have it I still have one of the boxes that the tiles came in so I can confirm they are "Rectified Porcelain Tiles" from Italy.

From the manufacturer Cedir - Ceramiche di Romagna

Thanks

Steve

 

[Spud]

The grout looks discoloured to me as well, which suggests they just need cleaning,ltp grimex is what I would try first

 

[copels]

Thanks Gary

I'll try anything to get these looking nice again but I have spent the best part of 3 hours with Lithofin Intensive Cleaner undiluted and with a scrubbing pad and not seen any improvement. Is the Grimex cleaner much different? Thanks for your advice.

Steve

 

[DHTiling]

What do you clean the floor with..?

 

[copels]

Hi Dave. It was flash floor cleaner but the picture is after I cleaned them with lithofin intensive cleaner and then washed then with lithofin conditioning cleaner.

Steve

 

[DHTiling]

So you used the flash floor cleaner from newly laid to the clean you tried.. depending on the flash used it could have been to aggressive for the polished finish and taken the shine down... If intensive cleaner has not cleaned them then i would look a getting a specialist in to re-polish the floor.. this can be done quickly with correct products and machine.

Tony from marble life(Marble-tony) , would be able to arrange this for you..

 

[MARBLE_TONY]

Thanks Dave!

Before you even think about having it re-polished. May I suggest that you boil the kettle (let it cool for a while) be careful! pour the hot water onto the tile scrub it in a bit then wipe up with paper towel then buff it with a towel.

It just sounds to me like you have had so much cleaning product on there that it maybe just years of soap scum and flash is well known for it. The reason why flash is well known for it is that because flash smells "good" people believe the more you put in the better it is when in fact a cap full is usually sufficient.

 

[copels]

Thanks tony. I'll give that a try tomorrow. Where are you based if I do need it repolished? I'm in the south near Chichester.

 

[MARBLE_TONY]

We are based just outside Birmingham (Solihull) but we cover the country I doubt there are many that know how to re-polish
porcelain

 

[copels]

Hi Tony

I tried scrubbing a tile with boiling water, wiping it up and buffing it but I'm afraid it made no difference.

Steve