Fred,
 
If you recall, about one week ago I posted some pictures of a newly installed porcelain tile floor. The grey tiles had black stains on them, seeming to have come from the black grout.  I also wrote that I had tried to clean that floor with alkaline cleaners, acid cleaners, strippers and solvents and acetone, and nothing moved the stains.  You suggested something that seemed rather off the wall ( Iwas thinking, Is he joking with me?) : mix liquid tide with polishing powder and create a slurry using a hogshead pad.  Well we just finished cleaning that floor today and the credit is all yours!!!! As I had written, that floor would have to be torn out and and a new one installed. I saved the day.  The flooring company that called me on this job can refer me a huge volume of business.  I don't care how much they pay me on this one (half the cost to tear out and install a new one?)  but in the future this kind of problem solving is worth tens of thousands of dollars in referrals from this company.  Once again, thank you so much.
 
Now the owners of this building want us to seal the floor.  I have never sealed a procelain tile.  It is textured, not glazed. Does the tile need to be sealed as well as the grout?
----- Original Message -----
From: Fred Hueston
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 5:36 PM
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] stained porcelain tile

One trick you might try and this is going to sound strange but have had great luck with it.. take some Tide Laundry detergent and add some polishing powder and work this paste into a heavy slurry with your floor machine. Use a hogs hair pad..Of course try a small area first for results.  Start out with one cup of Tide to Half a cup of Polishing powder

Make sure to listen to my show this week and join our going green seminar.
www.blogtalkradio.com/drfred 

On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 5:33 PM, John Freitag <jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com> wrote:

Stuart,

 

From the pictures it appears to be a grout residue that has attached it’s self to the tiles. If this is a porcelain tile that is textured finish and the installer did not clean the grout from the tile this ia a grout residue around the tiles.

 

Suggest using an acid based cleaner with a soft brush on you floor machine. After the cleaning with the acid based cleaner you need to scrub the floor one additional time with  Stonecare Central’s neutral cleaner to put the floor back into a PH balance.

 

As always test an area before bidding the job to make sure this is not an epoxy grout that is on the tile, if so you have a totally different approach and will cost more money to remove.

 

Should you have any additional questions, please let me know

 

 

John E. Freitag

President/Director

The Stone and Tile School

Office 407-567-7652

Cell 407-615-0134

jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com

 

schoollogo

 

www.thestoneandtileschool.com

 

   

 

From: Stuart Young [mailto:santafefc@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 5:20 PM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: [sccpartners] stained porcelain tile

 

To All Partners,

 

I am currently trying to remove stains from a new porcelain tile installation.  The porcelain tile is unglazed, and more or less "open" .  It is in a bathroom in a commercial building. The staining appears to be coming from the grout.  The grout is black and so are the stains.   The tiles were sealed prior to installation with Miracle Sealants "Porous Plus". The grout is laticrete perma color.  We have tried cleaning it with our usual stone cleaner, Viper Venom by Bridgpoint. No results. Then we tried acetone which yielded next to no results.  The we tried Aldon's Premium Stripper (solvent based).   The we tried an epoxy grout film remopver.  No results.  None of these chemicals have impacted these stains. The floor will have to be torn out unless I find a solution.  Attached are some photos of the floor.  Any ideas?

 

Stuart Young

Santa Fe Floor Care

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--
Frederick M. Hueston PhD
www.stoneforensics.com
www.stoneandtilepros.com
Recommended stone care products  http://www.stonecarecentral.com/?Click=2149

Many of my informational articles can be found at www.thestonedude.blogspot.com
Listen to my radio show at www.blogtalkradio.com/drfred
888-314-9077
702-314-1017

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