How to Clean Off Excess Tile Grout or Cement Left on the Surface of Your Tiles
By Ian Taylor on Apr 2, 2008 in Cleaning, Grout, Problem Solving, Tiles
This is a particularly common and frustrating problem and the solution lies in applying the right kind of tile cleaning product.
The first step is to assess the nature of the residue left on your tiles. Commonly this would be something called “grout haze” or fine grout residue. If so, I’d recommend using something called Nanoscrub. Unlike the more traditional grout or cement removers, Nanoscrub contains no acidic chemicals. Why is this important you might ask? Well, if you have limestone tiles for example, the last thing you want to be applying to your tiles is anything acidic for obvious reasons. Instead, Nanoscrub uses a mild cream cleaner, combined with a safe abrasive cleaner which is itself derived from limestone, so it won’t scratch your stone. It acts as an “exfoliating cream” for stone and will safely remove fine grout hazes and residues. The nano-technology used in the product will also work on the surface tension, allowing the cleaner to get into smaller micro pores.
If you have very heavy cement or grout deposits left on your tiles, this will be far more difficult to remove. Worst case, you may have to employ a specialist floor restorer to regrind the floor. This can be done using polishing or honing compounds or diamond grinding and is a highly specialized job.
tony | Jan 18, 2011 | Reply
Hello, i have laid x3 square m of Encaustic floor tiles in a Bathroom, supplied by fired earth, i sealed them before fixing with there product, then grouted them with there flexible grout. there was some light grout residue left on the Tiles, so i cleaned them with grout residue remover and now that has left water stains on them which i cant seem to remove. I have now tried to clean them twice more but it seems to have made them worse.Please can you give some advice on cleaning them back to there original state so i can seal them once more and wax them ?
Kevin Martin | Feb 20, 2011 | Reply
Try a mild solution of diluted Aqua Mix Phosphoric Acid
chris | Nov 3, 2011 | Reply
I have a stone floor that I have laid in my house . I sealed the stone with a impregnating sealer . Then grouted it with a lime stone flexable grout . I have cleaned it with a grout remover. To get rid of the haze of grout on the stone . But it is not coming off . Will the nano scub remove this .
Ian Taylor | Nov 4, 2011 | Reply
Hi Chris, the flexible grout contains a poluymer that is designed to stick like the proverb says… amongst other things.
If not properly cleaned at the time (and this can be a bit painstaking even for pros) Even though the impregnator will have prevented the grout haze from getting deep into the stone, the polymer will have helped it stick like… to the surface, if the surface has any texture at all, then it will stick even more.
You may well need a little extra help getting this off and certainly, nanoscrub if you can get it (no worries if you cannot, Microscrub does the same job and is now avaiable from All For Stone on the top right) may well help as it may provide just enough abrasive to dislodge the grout haze.
Worst case scenario you may need a solvent to soften the polymer first
Kind regards
Ian
daz | Nov 8, 2011 | Reply
Hi, i recently laid some sandstone multi coloured floor tiles.Having laid them and then sealed using a colour enhancing lithofin stain stop plus, proceeded to grout them using a bal limestone flexi grout there is a massive discoluring of the surface tiles. Is there something that can be used to reduce the haze or is it irreversible now.The tiles were not left with grout on them and were cleaned straight away and washed three times but still left with a white out finish on the surface. Any feedback would be gratefully received. Thanks
Ian Taylor | Nov 11, 2011 | Reply
Hi Darren,
I don’t think that there is any issue with the sealer, that will have helped prevent the situtaion from being 10 times worse. I note that you say no grout was left and it was washed three times, but I am fairly confident that it is still grout haze (i.e. thin film of residue) that you have a problem with.
Sandstone is much more porous and textured than many other popular stones and so an impregnating sealer will sit quite low in the surface (it soaks in much further than it does on other stones). Then you have a grout that is highly polymer-modified (it has synthetic latex) this grout will adherere to most things, even if they are sealed, add to this the surface porosity and texture that an impregnator will have greatly reduced, but not totally eradicated, and you have perfect conditions to trap some polymer/cement residue.
I would try a couple of things, first try to use a proprietary haze remover (based on a safe acid like phosphoric, not hydrochloric) – use it as directed, diluted with water if this does nothing them try using an abrasive scourer like Microscrub. Niether of these should harm the stone, grout or the sealer BUT TEST a small area first. There are some sandsotnes, (and this is worse on the semi polished/polished ones) that can react badly to mild acids).
If you get no result, then you may have to consider a solvent (to attack the polymer) treat thisas the last resort as that mayhave some effect on the sealer also
Hope this helps
Ian