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How do I get my Porcelain Tile to have a Wet Look?
QUESTION
We have porcelain tile in our kitchen. It has a paver type rough finish to it. When I mop it, it has a beautiful wet look and the colors seem to pop. Is there any finish or sealant that can be applied to the tile that would give it this look even when dry?ANSWER
ANSWER - There are sealers called enhancers. They are normally penetrating sealers used on natural stone products to give them a wet look. They are breathable sealers. There is a product called Miracle 511 Seal & Enhance that says it can be used on a ceramic tile. Porcelain tile is a type of a ceramic tile. This can only potential work if you are applying it over a unglazed or through body tile without a glazed (glass-like material on its surface).You need to experiment with the sealer to see if it will perform the way you want it to. Porcelain tile has very little absorption that is 0.5% or less. So it is important when you apply a sealer to the tile surface that you wipe it dry immediately with a lint free cloth right after you apply the sealer, since the tile won't absorb much.
For a list of manufacturers who sell sealers for tile and stone go to the CTaSC Resource page at Cleaners and Sealers.
6 thoughts on “How do I get my Porcelain Tile to have a Wet Look?”
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I have wood look tile and I always like it best when I’m mopping and it’s wet. But I’m also clumbsy and I have a floating tile staircase so I don’t want to make it slippery
My place is about 1700 sq ft if you need to know that too
The wood look tiles are mostly likely an impervious porcelain tile so they don’t absorb much. There are enhancer sealers that are designed to give a wet look in porous natural stone, but I’m not sure it would do much on a porcelain tile.
There are topical sealers that will give a sheen, but then you could get traffic patterns and there is more maintenance to have to maintain it. It could make the tile more slippery depending on the type of sealer applied.
You could wax the tile to give it a sheen, but then that is a lot of maintenance to polish and strip and reapply. The wax floors might not make it more slippery and could make it less slippery depending on the product and how it is applied.
Hi. We’ve just had our porcelain slabs laid and we’re very happy with them. They were sealed with a enhancer but I want a wet look,is this possible and what should we use.Thank you.
You said you installed porcelain tile slabs, which means they must be the Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels in large pieces. Those tiles are normally glazed surface tiles and impervious. So if it can’t absorb the sealer then it can’t give it a wet look. To add a shine you would need to use some sort of a wax over it and polish it. Although that means it will be more difficult to maintain as you will have to keep polishing it and at times stripping the wax off.
Hi Donato,
I have been reading a few of your threads and have a question surrounding my outdoor tiles.
I have both the indoor and outdoor tiles, however they were installed just before i purchased the property. Therefore i do not know what installation steps hey went through. My indoor tiles are lovely and dark, however after a few cleans the outdoor tiles have gone a very washed-out and light grey. I am looking to restore them back to the darker and they also seem to appear more matt finish right now, which is not their intended look.
I see you recommend Miracle 511 seal and enhance in some threads, would that be best placed here also?
Assuming your tile is an impervious porcelain tile. Although porcelain tiles do come in a polished finish, it appears yours is intended to be a matt finish.
Because porcelain tiles are so dense they don’t absorb much. There are sealer enhancers such as Miracle 511 Seal & Enhance sealer that will give it a bit of sheen. They sheen won’t likely last long depending on how much traffic and weather it is subjected to, but you can reapply the sealer if you want to maintain the look.
The porcelain tiles should clean up well if you clean it properly with a liquid detergent in water soaking the tile area and then using a scrub brush to agitate. Then use a wet vacuum to pick up the dirty water, then rinse and use the vacuum to pick up that water.