What Is The Best Sealer To Seal My Porcelain Floor Tiles?
By Ian Taylor on Apr 18, 2008 in Porcelain, Problem Solving, Sealing
What is the best sealer to seal my porcelain floor tiles is one of the most frequently asked questions I hear. For those in a hurry, I’ll give you my suggestion right away – Ultra Solv. For those with time (and the desire) to find out why, read on.The answer can depend on the finish of the porcelain; for example, it could be a standard, smooth finish, it could be slightly textured (like a faux slate) or heavily textured, perhaps for anti-slip purposes. However, by far the most common question I receive is in relation to ‘polished’ porcelain.
There are still some high-quality porcelain tiles out there that do not require sealing. If you are lucky enough to have one of those then you are not going to need to do too much to keep it clean and looking good. Unfortunately, more and more of the porcelain sold here is of a somewhat more unpredictable quality, at least in terms of porosity and susceptibility to sub-surface staining. If you suspect that your porcelain might need sealing there are couple of ways you can check:
1. Do a water drop test – put some water on the tile and leave it for about 20 minutes then wipe off. If there is any darkening of the surface, showing that some water has penetrated the tile, then it will benefit from being sealed.
2. You can do the same thing with oils (warm engine oil off your car’s dipstick, cooking oil etc)
3. Or, for the ultimate test, use a highly penetrative chemical like a solvent; a permanent ink marker pen is perfect – needles to say, do this test on a spare off-cut, not on your floor!
Having determined that your porcelain needs sealing, which sealer should you use? First of all, the ‘type’ of sealer you will need is known as an ‘impregnating sealer’, as the name implies, it is a sealer that penetrates the tile and lies just below the surface, acting like a safety net to contain contaminants and keep them at the surface until they can be cleaned.
There are many impregnators out there and the old adage of “you get what you pay for” is certainly applicable here. Next question is what is best, solvent-based or water-based? Well this is one of the very few situations nowadays where I would still favour a solvent based one, not because water based is not up to the job, quite the contrary, but some modern water-based sealers can out-perform the best solvents, but simply because porcelain has a very dense surface and a solvent-based impregnator will penetrate it more easily.
So, having decided that a solvent based sealer is required, ideally we are looking for a high performance one that is as kind to the user and the environment as a solvent sealer can be. Hence my suggestion of Ultra Solv; this is a premium quality sealer, designed for high performance and longevity, with excellent resistance to oil based, water based and acidic contaminants, it is a fantastic sealer to use for pre-grout sealing. Unlike most other solvent based sealers though, it uses the latest, ‘safer’ solvent as a carrier, so it has much lower VOC’s and a greatly reduced odour, it is technically non-flammable, with a flash point of 150dgs C (meaning the fumes won’t ignite, unless you heat it to a high temperature). Consequently, it is a much nicer product to use than traditional solvent sealers whilst compromising nothing in terms of quality.
What if I want to use a water-based sealer? – No problem, you can, go for Sealer’s Choice Gold; just adapt the application a little: allow a liberal quantity of the sealer to dwell on the surface for a little longer. Then rub in the sealer with absorbent cotton or paper towels, leaving the surface of the tiles dry and free of sealer residue as per normal.
I will come back to this topic later and discuss how to pre-seal a textured porcelain to aid the grouting process.
Anna Sammon | Mar 1, 2009 | Reply
hello i would like to know how often do you have to seal the floor we are a family of five and we have a lot of foot trafic so if i where to use any type of sealer do i have to seal it from time to time.as someone told me you seal it once and its done for life no need to repeat the sealer which i find hard to belive if you can answer my questions i would be gratefull thank you anna sammon
Chris Rayner | May 21, 2010 | Reply
Hi, I have a big problem. My tiler has just started to grout the lovely porcelain tiles in my new kitchen using dark grout on the pale tiles. But the grout has stained the tiles! On close inspection the box of the tiles says they should be sealed and the company accepts no responsibility. Can I get the dark grout out of the tiles? We have already tried HG Cement Grout film remover. Thanks, Chris…
Ian Taylor | May 24, 2010 | Reply
Hi Chris, this is a very common problem, and I have covered it several times, but as it keeps coming up I want to go over it again only I think it will be better if I put up an entire post about it- I’ll get on with it right now so it should be up today.
Ian Taylor | May 24, 2010 | Reply
Hi Anna, apologies, for not answering you sooner, the blog has been up for a while but I am only just getting the hang of the comments!
bit of a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question but you are absolutely correct, no sealer can last indefinitely. As you have not told me what type of sealer or anything about the type of stone, you cleaning regime etc. I can only make vague generalizations but here goes.
There are two broad types of sealer: coating and impregnating. Coating sealers are visible coatings, often with some degree of intentional shine or finish. They are on top of the stone and so will be subject to wear – all that foot traffic you mention. They are also more prone to the effects of strong cleaners.
most coating sealers can last anywhere between 3 to 6 months for the ‘lesser’ quality ones and 6 months to 3 years for the better ones
Impregnators, as the are below the surface, do not suffer from wear in quite the same way and as a result, some can last upwards of 15 years or even longer.
The things to bear in mind, if you have a high foot traffic and the stone is cleaned aggressively with strong alkaline cleaners/bleaches – your sealer will not last anywhere near its potential life expectancy – in some cases a coating sealer may be stripped straight back off again, while Impregnators will rapidly degrade under such circumstances.
One more thing to consider is the stone itself; a soft stone or tile like some limestones and terracotta will wear comparably fast themselves, and as they wear, they take the sealer with them.
There are lots of things you can do to prolong the life of your sealer, like reducing the amount of grit that gets onto the floor with dust mats, and use neutral cleaners for regular washing. But I would suggest that for Impregnators you do a water test once a year (see article above)- as soon as you detect a deterioration, in the sealer, you can usually top it up with another coat. Coating sealers are rather easier to see as they loose their ‘finish’ so there are visible signs.
Hope that helps, sorry it was so late
Ian
Michelle Sica | May 30, 2010 | Reply
Hello… I just had porcelain tile installed in my kitchen and living room. Most of the tiles have a slight texture to them but a handful of them are shiny and it is a very noticable difference. They look like different teils altogether! Is there anything you can think of to help fix this? We are going to try vinegar and water to see if it is a grout haze problem.. but we don’t think this is the case. Thanks for your help! Michelle
Ian Taylor | Jun 1, 2010 | Reply
Hi Michelle,
Not completely sure about this one, it is worth trying to eliminate grout haze as you say. I must just say that I am amazed at the number of people who talk about using vinegar and water – I know it can be a good thing to use ‘home remedies’ and it seems to be very fashionable, especially on the US side of the pond but I think it is ‘bad advice’ – often given out by tv programmes and other web sites. The reason I don’t favour it is that it contains an acid (acetic) – admittedly in very small quantities but more than enough to do permanent damage to acid sensitive surfaces such as pigmented grout, and any calcium based stone. Not an issue here in your case but on the other hand, where an acid is required (and safe to use, like on porcelain) it is nowhere near strong enough.
So, to eliminate the grout haze try some proprietary grout haze acid cleaner, based on phosphoric acid or equivalent (on no account use muriatic or hydrochloric). If it is a polymer modified grout, you may also need to use a solvent type cleaner – I have covered this else where so won’t repeat now.
Ok, if you eliminate grout haze as the problem, what else could it be? – Well it could actually be a manufacturing fault. Without seeing pictures or knowing more about the tile it is hard to advise, it could be as simple as different batches. You don’t say if the tiles are supposed to be textured or smooth, I am assuming that they are supposed to be textured, and it is the shiny ones that are out of place? This, if it is the case, it very odd, it could be something as simple as the wrong tiles mixed up with yours but unlikely. Any chance you could post some pictures – or send them to me by email?