Porcelain Tile Cleaning Archives - South Lancashire Tile Doctor

Applying Charcoal Grout Colourant to a Porcelain Tiled Floor in Chorley

The owner of this Kitchen in Chorley contacted Tile Doctor to see what could be done to improve the grout on her Ceramic tiled floor. The tiles where laid throughout the hallway, kitchen, utility and large diner and the grout which was once white was now badly soiled and made the whole floor look very dirty.

The tiles were also dull and had lost their original sheen in parts. In addition, the kitchen was about to be ‘wrapped’ to change it from cream to dark grey and there was a concern that the grout would no longer match the aesthetic of the revamped kitchen. They had considered replacing the floor or re-grouting but thought they would contact use first to see what we thought.

Porcelain Tiles and Grout Before Renovation Chorley

Having discussed the floor in detail over the phone I recommended our Grout Colouring service which is a service we offer that rejuvenates grout with the application of a hard-wearing epoxy colourant which is available in 11 popular colours. The other advantage of this product is it is easy to apply and doesn’t generate the mess you get with grout replacement.

Happy with my suggestion and quote for renovating the tiles and colouring the grout with a Charcoal Grout Colourant a date was set to do the work.

Grout Cleaning and Colouring a Porcelain Tiled Floor

To get the grout clean and prepare it for the grout colourant a Pre-Treat Cleaner was sprayed onto the grout and then scrubbed in by hand using a stiff brush. This product gets the grout as clean as it can be and etches the grout so it forms a stronger bond with the grout colourant which would be applied next. The tiles were then rinsed with water to remove the soiled solution and then extracted with a wet vacuum.

There was a lot of grout to cover so work focused on the grout cleaning until a section had dried and then I was able to go back to it and start applying the charcoal grout colourant. The process is quite simple although time consuming and involves painting the colourant onto the grout line with a small brush and then wiping any excess off the adjacent tile before it sets.

Once all the grout had been coloured and set the floor was given a quick polish with a soft white buffing pad fitted to the rotary machine. When finished the floor looked so much cleaner and the Porcelain tiles had a nice sheen.

Porcelain Tiles and Grout After Renovation Chorley

My customer was very happy with the finish and left the following feedback:

“Kevin is fantastic both from a service & knowledge perspective. Extremely efficient. The kitchen hallway floor now is like new again after 11 years”

Before leaving I encouraged them to avoid the use of steam cleaners and only to use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for maintenance cleaning going forward as anything stronger could affect the colourant.

Very Dirty Porcelain Kitchen Tiles Refreshed in Heywood

1 Comment / Heywood Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

Porcelain tiles are known to be provide durability at a reasonably low cost in comparison to some other types of stone flooring however you do have to be careful as many varieties are micro-porous and need to be sealed to ensure dirt doesn’t become ingrained making them difficult to clean.

Porcelain Floor Tiles Before Cleaning in Heywood

I recently visited a customer in Heywood, which sits between Bury and Rochdale, who was suffering from this exact problem. Their Porcelain kitchen tiles had been laid about twelve months prior as part of some changes to the property. Unfortunately, builder’s dirt, grout and plaster got stuck to the tiles during the building works and nothing the customer had tried could get it out. The customer was very unhappy with the floor and thought that nothing would resolve the issue, they had even considered ripping it out and getting new flooring.

As their last cry for help, they got in touch with Tile Doctor and being their local representative, I went around to take a look at the problem. I conducted a test clean using Tile Doctor Pro Clean, which is our highly reliable alkaline-based cleaner for tile and stone. The product was scrubbed into a test patch of the tile and grout with a black pad. The results were promising and so the customer booked a day for us to do the job.

Cleaning a Dirty Micro Porous Porcelain Tiled Floor

On our return we repeated the process with Pro-Clean using a black scrubbing pad this time fitted to a heavy rotary machine which weighs 41kg! This combined with the Pro Clean gave the tile and grout a deep clean. Some stubborn areas were scrubbed by hand, especially in the corners where machine would not reach. The grout lines were also given special attention with a grout brush and more Pro-Clean to get them clean again.

Porcelain Floor Tiles During Cleaning in Heywood

The now dirty cleaning solution was rinsed with water and then removed using a wet vacuum. Being micro-porous the tiles didn’t take too long to dry.

Sealing a Micro Porous Porcelain Tiled Floor

The results from the cleaning were great so, once the floor had dried completely, we sealed the tiles using a coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal to protect them from dirt becoming ingrained in the pores of the Porcelain and Grout and also to ensure the floor would be much easier to clean in future.

Ultra-Seal is a premium quality sealer which offers a natural look finish and is designed to provide maximum stain protection, which makes it excellent for use in food preparation and serving areas such as this kitchen. It also very works well as a grout sealer.

Porcelain Floor Tiles After Cleaning and Sealing in Heywood

The customer was over the moon with the outcome of the clean. Perhaps most importantly, this job has saved them the significant cost of having to replace the floor. Another satisfied customer!

Builders Clean of a Dirty Micro-Porcelain Tiled Floor in Lancashire

Very Dirty Porcelain Kitchen Tiles Refreshed in Heywood Read More »