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What should I use to clean porcelain from heavily soiled traffic
QUESTION
How to Clean Porcelain Tile - I have a floor that is made of 'unglazed fine porcelain gres tiles'. Some are white and others a gray/beige type. Can you please tell me what should I use to clean them from the heavily soiled traffic; no grease or marker stains involved, just basic gound-in foot dirt.ANSWER
ANSWER - The best method of cleaning a porcelain tile floor, whether it is glazed or unglazed, is to add a detergent in a bucket of water, preferably one that is supplied by a company who produces cleaners for ceramic tile. Apply the detergent over the floor by sections. For heavily soiled floors let it stand on the floor for ten minutes or so. Then use a bristle scrub brush on an extended handle, so you can stand, and scrub the floor. A floor scrubbing/buffer machine can be used too for larger areas. Then use a wet and dry vacuum to pick up the dirty floor. For heavily soiled floors you should rinse the floor with clean water and pick it up again with a wet and dry vacuum. Then use a dry lint free cloth to buff the floor dry.To keep the tile and grout more stain resistant and easier to maintain apply a penetrating sealer that is recommended for being applied to porcelain tiles. The porcelain tile will not absorb much of the sealer, so it is important to buff dry the floor with a lint free cloth within 5 minutes after applying the sealer or the surface of the tile might get tacky and be a problem.
For a list of manufacturers who supply cleaners and sealers visit our website and go to Expert Answers to find Resources and click on Cleaners and Sealers. Good luck.
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I have lived in our new home now for a year. I have tried everything to get the grout haze up that has left the tile looking as though I haven’t ever cleaned it. I used the cleaner that floor and decor said would take it up and look new again. Didn’t help with the problem at all! I feel the 1400 sq ft of the tile is dull and unappealing. It looks as though I never clean our floor. Specially when the sun shines in. What do you do when the haze will not come off with good scrubbing of the cleaner they recommended to get that up? the product is epoxy grout film remover, by miracle. Hope you can help?
I assume you grouted the tile with an epoxy grout. If you used an epoxy grout film remover and it didn’t remove it, then I’m wondering if you don’t have what is called an “optical haze.” This can look kind of cloudy or blotchy if you look as the sun or a light is reflecting off the surface. This normally happens on polished porcelain tiles and is due to how the tile was polished at the factory. To fix this problem, you need to refinish/polish the floor.
If you have glazed tile with this problem and none of the cleaners work, then perhaps you have etched the tile surface. This is where something acidic altered the surface of the tile in spots. There is no remedy for fixing an etched surface on a glazed tile.