How do I remove the Dull Appearance of my Tile Floor

QUESTION

Hello. I have a porcelain time floor, believe it’s glazed, not sure if it was ever sealed. It’s 20 years old. Always has looked smudgy, streaky, dull spots. Recently I used dawn ultra not diluted just squirted some on a tile and it totally dulled it out all over. I tried to clean well with water but no change. I can’t find any information anywhere except great things about dawn. No info if this could have damaged my tile, etched(not sure exactly what that is) or just totally cleaned it possibly removed a old sealer? Any help my appreciated. I have a tile guy coming this week to look at it but thus floor has drove me crazy! I have also tried scrubbing bubbles on another tile seemed it made it duller too. Everyone says porcelain tile floors so easy to care for, I would never have again.

ANSWER

ANSWER - I doubt that you have a glazed porcelain tile floor.  A glazed tile is a tile with a glass-like coating on the surface that can't be altered unless you have abused it in someway by scratching or other abrasion of chipping.

You probably have a surface sealer of some type on a unglazed tile or possibly a glazed tile and the cleaning you did caused it to become dull.  If you have some sort of coating over the surface of the tile then you need to strip it off and maybe reseal it or don't reseal it.

You can by sealer strippers at tile distributors or home centers.  Whatever you buy test it out to make sure it works to your satisfaction.  You can also hire a professional who cleans and seals tile floors and they should have the experience and knowledge to know what are the issues and how to remediate them.

One thought on “How do I remove the Dull Appearance of my Tile Floor

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *