Quarry tile cleaning

[Pepp]

Hi,

I've read through quite a few of the previous threads about restoring quarry tiles but it doesn't quite answer what I want it to.

Basically I live in a Victorian conversion flat and the original quarry tiles are laid in half the flat. The tiles seem to have an old red paint on them, mostly worn off now and are quite dirty (including flecks of paint and general dirt as they are laid in a high traffic part of the house).

The tiles are laid direct onto earth.

I have read through the different products of cleaners available and still can't decide which one to buy but what I am really interested in is what I do after I have managed to give them a good clean. Do I just leave them or is there some sort of treatment e.g. oil etc that I can use? I believe that I can't use a sealer as this won't allow the tiles to breathe.

Lifting and replacing the tiles is not really an option and not one that we want to consider.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :hurray:

 

[Time's Ran Out]

With all cleaning and restoration try a small discreet area to test on.
To remove the paint and dirt use Nitromorse varnish/paint remover - the make one which is water soluable. (green tin and cheapest)
If when fully dry they accept moisture then seal with 'stain stop' or similar which allows the surface to breathe.
You can finish with a colour intensifyer or satin polish.

 

[Pepp]

Thanks John - can you recommend any particular product for the stain stop? Thanks :hurray:

 

[White Room]

Check this out Broken Link Removed

 

[Pepp]

Great! Thanks very much!

 

[enduro]

A problem you could have is as soon as you add water to these tiles you could get efflorescence appearing especially in laid directly onto earth. If this does appear it will need to be sorted before any sealer is applied.