Comments on: Visitor Question – How Can I Remove The Greasy Waxy Coating From My Porcelain Tiles?

By: Ian Taylor

Ian Taylor — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:31:28 +0000

Hi Jane, can you give me some more details on the sealer? – what was it and how long has it been down?

The supplier’s comment about porcelain not needing to be sealed is not strictly accurate, not these days anyway (such a statement 15 or 20 years ago I would probably agree). Fact is, not all porcelain is as good as it should be, many porcelain tiles now do benefit from sealing, although they are certainly not likely to be highly porous, they can have micro pores in the surface which can and do accept a sealer. So, it depends on the porcelain.

Ok, depending on how long the sealer has been left to cure/dry and depending on what it is, there are a couple of things to try: as you have tried soapy water, if the residue is still ‘greasy’ try using a white nylon pad (emulsifying pad/ 3m Scotch pad), wet the floor then add some Nanoscrub (By Aqua Mix) to the floor. Scrub and then rinse well with water, dry the area with a towel.

If this does not work, then try a high alkaline detergent (like Heavy Duty Tile and Grout Cleaner) wth some Nanoscrub and the white pad – same prcedure.

Failing that, you will have to resort to a stripper such as Sealer and Coating Remover.

hope tis helps

Ian

By: jane

jane — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:17:43 +0000

We have 300 sq. ft. of porcelain tile (mat finish) in our family room. We used a haze remover to cleanup grout residue and then noticed how nice the tile looked dark. It was suggested we use an “enhancer” sealer, so we purchased it and applied it. We ended up with a greasy residue and placed a call to the supplier. He told us porcelain is not a porous material and the tile does not accept sealer … only the grout requires sealing. Now what do we do? We have tried towelling up the area, using dish soap and then using clean water to remove it. Nothing has worked so far. Any suggestions??

By: Ian Taylor

Ian Taylor — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:57:39 +0000

There are more and more porcelain tiles coming with a factory applied ‘nanosealer’. The problem is that some of these sealers are not very good as sealers, in that they are not as good as sealers that are on the market, in terms of protecting the tile from all kinds of contaminants. However they can be very hard to remove, if not impossible. So as you cannot remove them easily, you won’t be able to put a better sealer into them.

I would say, if you can grout them without staining them then no problem, go ahead. Normally I advise to strip the wax before grouting, but that is because we want to get a good sealer in. As you won’t be able to remove the sealer, there is no need, may as well leave the wax until after grouting. When the grout has cured, use a high alkaline cleaner such as Heavy Duty Tile and Grout Cleaner, to remove the wax.

Hope that helps

Ian