QUESTION

I tried cleaning my tile and it changed colors - I have outdoor tile that is non-glossy around my balcony and I tried to clean dirty plant water that sat for a month while I was on vacation with a tile cleaner. I obviously did not dilute it properly and now the tile is two different shades. Any suggestions? I think where I squirted the solution it has stripped the coating.

ANSWER

ANSWER - It is hard to say from your description what type of tile you have, so it can be determined what may have happened what you can do about it.

A non-glossy tile can be a glazed tile (glass-like coating) or unglazed ceramic tile with a sealer coating or a honed stone finish.

Either you used a corrosive acid that etched the surface of the tile or you used something that removed the sealer coating in that spot.

Manufactured Tile cleaners are normally very diluted acid and normally don't cause etching.  Etching a glaze surface is irreparable other than etching the other tiles to match. Etching a stone surface can be repaired if you re-hone the surface of those tiles, which can be done by a stone restoration company.  If you removed the sealer, and you don't know what type of sealer was used originally, then you should treat the rest of the tile the same way to remove all of the sealer and then reapply a sealer over the tile. Or if you know what type of sealer was previously used then reapply it over that area. Basically you need to go through a trial and error process to determine your situation and how to remediate it.  Good luck.