Tips for removing grout residue from travertine tile surfaces

[trullock]

Hi,

After grouting my sealed travertine tiles, i'm finding it difficult to remove the white residue smeared across the surface.

A wet sponge is working, sloowwwly, but its going to take many, many wipes!

Using my hand on the tiles when dry removes a lot of white dust, but i don't fancy eroding my palms on a whole room.

Anyone got any tips to clean up the tiles before i apply a final coat of sealer?

Thanks

 

[doug boardley]

have you tried buffing them up with a dry cloth?

 

[doug boardley]

or you could try one of these if there's some stubborn residue

 

[trullock]

a dry cloth could work, the residue is bit gritty so i didnt want to "buff" it too hard for fear of scratching the tiles, i think i can carefully get rid of that with my hand before buffing though.

Ooh, didnt know they existed. Thanks

 

[doug boardley]

a dry cloth could work, the residue is bit gritty so i didnt want to "buff" it too hard for fear of scratching the tiles, i think i can carefully get rid of that with my hand before buffing though.

Ooh, didnt know they existed. Thanks

I wouldn't recommend doing it with your bare hands trullock:yikes: buff with a dry cloth first, the grout residue shouldn't scratch your trav at all. If it does then you'll have to walk on it with cotton wool glued to your feet:lol:

 

[david campbell]

try dampening the griity bits then scraping of with a plastic wallpaper scraper

 

[faithhealer]

used aquamix grout haze remover today, did a good job

 

[cuttintiles]

Lithofin cement away..........and next time wash off earlier!:lol:

 

[enduro]

I would use a M200 diamond hand pad, Had a guy on here a while back who had a similar problem..loads of grout residue all over his travertine wall tiles, took me a day to sort out for him and it turned out brilliantly.

 

[enduro]

Here are a few pics of the tools and pads i would use. Some diamond hand pads, and also i have diamond pads that go onto an Orbital sander. I have glued some velcro onto the bottom of the sander and the sheets stick to this. I find the 200 grit and 400 grit does the best job in removing grout residue. I use and hand sprayer to wet the the stone then use the pads as best used with water, and clean the pads every now and then in clean water. Just remember to use a circuit breaker if using water and power tools so you don't get a electric shock, unless you invest in something like a flex machine.

 

[MARBLE_TONY]

As faithhealer said Grout haze remover will work fine then maybe a good clean with heavy duty tile and grout just make sure you vac of the surface or wipe off