2 thoughts on “Slippery Tile – My ceramic tile is too slippery. What can I do about it?”

1. 

   Kristin Pittman says:

   Hello there. I just moved into a new home and the main shower floor is extremely slippery when wet. It is so slick that I am afraid to use the shower. The tile is a Soho Studio Surface Series Canvas Natural. It is a 12×32 ceramic tile that has a water absorption rate over 10% and is non-vitreous. When I look up that tile online it says its use is “walls” yet this tile is on the floors. Can I ask if this should be on a shower floor? Also, how do you go about finding the C.O.F. of a tile? Thank you!!

   June 27, 2023 at 1:14 am

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2. 

   Donato Pompo says:

   ANSWER – The tile you referenced is a wall tile. I assume it is a smooth glazed tile surface. Per ANSI A137.1 floor tiles used in interior wet areas need to have at least a DCOF rating of 0.42 per test method ANSI A326.3 to be considered safe enough to use under those conditions. You can have the tile tested while it the tile is installed with a BOT 3000 device per ANSI A326.3 or if you have extra tiles on hand you can send the sample to a testing laboratory to test its DCOF such as at the Tile Council of North America Testing Laboratory.

   It is important to keep the tile surface clean or it can add to it being more slippery. There there are products that you can use to treat the ceramic tile listed under cleaners, sealers and coatings on this website resources and links section (click here).  Beware, these products are actually etching the surface of the tile and it will somewhat give it a different look and more texture.  The more texture, the easier it gets dirty, the more frequent you have to clean it and the more difficult it is to clean.  Good Luck!

   June 27, 2023 at 1:37 am

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