How can I clean dark brown grout stains from a light beige porcelain tiles?

[Soyabean]

Hi there, I have just had beige porcelain tiles fitted to a bathroom and left a section of around 15cm for some brown mosaics tiles to go.

They grouted the mosaic tiles today using Mapie 144 (chocolate brown) which I got and it appears to have stained the tiles a little.

He says that he has tried to clean it with water over and over again but it doesn’t work.

I was thinking of trying white spirit. Is that a no no?

Any idea's welcome.

Many thanks,
Sel

 

[DHTiling]

What finish are the porcelain tiles..?

 

[Soyabean]

Well they are smooth and an employee of the supplier told me they were sealed and that I didn't need to worry about using a sealer on them. Not sure how else to describe it. Could you give me any pointers?

 

[johnryan]

maybe you should ask the tiler who grouted them to come back and clean them.

 

[White Room]

A grout residue remover

 

[DHTiling]

Well they are smooth and an employee of the supplier told me they were sealed and that I didn't need to worry about using a sealer on them. Not sure how else to describe it. Could you give me any pointers?

Are they polished..?

 

[Soyabean]

No they are not polished. They are are matt finish.

I just tried warm soapy water with a sponge which has an abrasive side to it and that didn't do a thing.

I also tried rubbing unused white grout on them as someone said to me that is a good way to remove stains from porcelain tiles but to be honest I think you would be there for ever and it didn't exactly remove it all either. It helped in few places though.

Right I better start Googling the grout residue remover products. Has anyone had success using these. Not sure how effective it's going to be in my situation but of course I will try anything as long as it doesntt cause more damage than good!

 

[Brinkley]

soya if the tiler stained them then surely he/she should be paying for products to revive themor even have a knowlege of suitable cleaning products .
try ltp , hg or lithofin websites to find what you need

 

[Soyabean]

Thanks for the advise brinkley. My builders tiler did the tiling (great job) and another of his general builders did the grouting. While the main grouting was fine as it was limestone in colour, we wanted a dark brown around the mozaic tiles which are also dark brown. I coudn't get that until yesterday and it was done today.

I will be speaking with my builder in the morning but wanted to know if there was much chance of getting it off. To be honest it looks to me like the grout which is really dark in colour has stained the tiles but I hope there is a way to improve it. The grout used is dark chocolate like in colour. Oh boy, why can't anything be easy?!

 

[enduro]

What area are you from? If you are near me i have a few things i could try.

 

[Soyabean]

Hi enduro, thanks for the offer but I am based in Barnet in North London/Hertforshire borders. Sounds like you have had some experience in this kind of situation? What do you think the chances are of getting it removed? Thx

 

[Brinkley]

enduro would a grimex type thing be strong enough sounds like yhe grout has got into the pores to me

 

[enduro]

Was thinking about Aquamix Sealer & coating remover, but it is quite expensive if i does not work. Have a go at putting nail varnish remover onto the stain, as this contains acetone as it may work. I have used it on stains before and it has removed them.

 

[Soyabean]

Thanks enduro. will give the nail vanish remover a go now. Will post a reply to the results... Thx!

 

[Soyabean]

Right I couldn't find the nail vanish remover but did find some surgical spirit which I am sorry to report didn't help. I have an offcut with the same thing done to it. The grout was only put on it to show me the effect so it's not as stained as my real tiles but at least I have something which I can try the surgical sprit onto as soon as I leave the shop. Will update with my results. Thanks