What is the best sealer to seal my porcelain floor tiles is one of the most frequently asked questions I hear. 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, 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, so check the labels, there are some better products available these days with less pungent odours than in days gone by. However make sure work with plenty of ventilation..
What if I want to use a water-based sealer? – No problem, you can, go for a premium water based sealer; 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.
Is there anyway of darkening the porcelain? – This question sometimes arises, in particular with polished black porcelain. In some cases, solvent-based impregnators do darken the tile, but only marginally. There are some enhancing sealer s that can do a very good job, provided they can get into the porcelain, I have had some success with Enhance ‘N’ Seal on black polished porcelain, making a slightly greyed-out looking tile pure black. It won’t work on every tile, so you will need to be prepared to test, and it is expensive, but you will not need much of it as it goes such a long way.
I will come back to this topic later and discuss how to pre-seal a textured porcelain to aid the grouting process.
Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.
hi ian,
we bought high gloss porclain floor tiles and i.have discovered that they are a nightmare to clean.and when walked on are leaving footprints everywhere.would i benefit from a sealant or is there a particular product that makes for easier maintenance.
denise
Hi Denise,
Forgive me, but this question is so close to that from Jess I am going to point you to the answer I just gave her, hope this helps
Ian
https://www.tileandstoneblog.co.uk/porcelain/yet-more-porcelain-tile-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-966
Hi Ian
Have just bought some glazed porcelain floor tiles from wicks . Riga beige and they have a very fine sandpaper feel to them great as a non slip for us and our dogs.The thing is are these going to be a pain to keep clean.only got one box at the mo 22 boxes needed also will these need sealing thanks paul
Hi Paul, will they be a pain to clean? – all depends on your definition of a pain – they will certainly be harder to clean than a glazed floor tile. the two things are inexorably linked; what grips people (and dogs) grips dirt. The better the ‘anti-slip’ characterisitics, the more effort needed to clean them.
It is a porcelain so it ought not to stain, but the texture may hold dirt more redily than a smooth surface. Normal cleaning will work, but you may find using a mop may actually end up leaving the floor more dirty; with the texture in the tile grabbing dirt and even fibres off the mop. Normally, all I would suggest is suplimenting the normal cleaning regime, with preiodic use of a deck brush and detergent – so every oncve in a while, when the floor appears to bne getting a little grubby, lightly scrub the floor with a deck brush.
Hope this helps
Ian
Ian ,
is it safe to use a steam cleaner on polished porcelain tiles. I have used ultra solv to seal them, will the steam melt the sealant
Hi Kenny,
Short answer is yes, it might – well not melt exactly, but steam cleaning is definitely considered a ‘harsh’ cleaning method – the increase in temperature and pressure will have an impact. Exactly what that impact will be I cannot quantify, but it will definitely shorten the life expectancy of the product. So, it may not strip it out 100% on the first of second use, but very quickly I suspect, with repeated use it will diminish the sealer’s effectiveness.
The question it begs though is why, would a polished porcelain, that has been well sealed, need a steam cleaner? Are you having really bad issues?
Hope this helps
Ian
Ian,
thanks for your help. The steam cleaner was suggested by a friend as they tend not to leave streaks so might save a bit of elbow grease. I did doubt it, there’s no easy shortcut to keeping the floor polished and mark free.
cheers.
Our tile installer just finished our walk in shower, using pebble stone tiles on the floor. We are disappointed in the outcome of the floor, including over-grouting. As well, the grout appears to be different shades of grey .
Any solutions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
Over-grouting is not so easy to fix, also the nature of pebble type tiles, being rather rustic in nature, it can be hard to say of the tiler used too much grout or not as it is hard to determine if he filled the joints up too much as the tops of the stones will vary.
However if he/she has left a lot of grout on the surface then you may be able to remove some of this, one way is to use a cement residue remover (safe acidic cleaner made for the job, just as long as your stone is not limestone or some other acid-sensitive stone) and a scrub pad. Also you could try an abrasive cream cleaner. IF there is more than just a thin film of grout on the tiles then it is not going to work, you would need to use mechanical means to remove the excess grout – and on an uneven surface that can be very tricky, if not impossible.
Regarding the colour, if you take the acid clean route then this may lighten the joints up and that just might make them more even (although you may prefer them darker, not lighter). If they look even and nice when wet, then you could use an enhancing sealer to darken them down to an even shade. If the stone has not yet been sealed with anything, then this same enhancer would work well on the stone – provided you like the darker/wet look
Hope this helps
Ian
Hello,
I wonder if you can help me I have 100 square feet of black high gloss tiles and they are driving me mad. They never look clean no matter how hard I try I have tried every cleaning product suggest and steam cleaners and polishers but as soon as you walk on the tiles you are back to square one it is the worst mistake I have ever made. Can I seal them and if I do will it remain shining when I clean it without smearing and cloudy marks all over them. Please help I am desperate.
Many thanks.
Hi Ian!
We have black polished porcelain tiles in our bathroom, completed only a few weeks ago. I used a shower cleaner for the first time and the shower floor tiles have lost colour, and are lighter than the rest of the floor. The are a high gloss tile but not glazed- water that sits on them makes them appear darker is spots until they dry out. I leaned towards enrich n seal but am concerned that you mentioned it is matt. Please advise!
Michelle
Hi Kim,
OK, I have lost count now, the number of times I have had this question – you are certainly not alone – black polished porcelain is so popular at the moment, and everyone, it seems has the same issues.
[I am making the assumption that your tiles are indeed polished porcelain, and not a glazed black tile -f I got this wrong, please come back and put me right]
There may, or may not be an issue with the porcelain; tiny microscopic holes in the body of the tile can be exposed by the process used to polish them – that is; fine grinding with silica grits – (think taking the crust off a loaf of bread, now the holes that are there are exposed).
These holes can collect tiny amounts of microscopic particles like dirt or even grout. A sealer designed for porcelain (usually a solvent based one unfortunately) can certainly help – by simply putting some sealer in those microscopic holes, it stops other dirt from entering. However a sealer may not stop this altogether.
Applying this type of sealer (an impregnator) will not harm the shine of the tiles, as the sealer is only going into he holes, it should not be left on the surface like a coating. If you do leave it to dry on the surface you will have streaks and marks to remove.
[if you have glazed tiles then this is irrelevant, no sealer will get in in any event]
The other issue that is common, (and maybe what you are experiencing) is just to do with the nature of polished porcelain.
Porcelain is the closest thing (in the ceramic tile word) to glass, (without actually being glass). There is a high proportion of silica in the tiles, and they are fired at very high temperatures whereby the silica does indeed form a glass-like material. If it were not for the presence of large amounts of other ingredients, it would be glass.
So, you can think of porcelain tiles as not very pure glass – and as such they behave very much like glass.
Now think what would happen if you were to walk barefoot, or with stocking feet on glass, you would leave a ‘print’ (the moisture and oils from your skin get left behind) the glass has a microscopic texture to the surface, so whilst it looks smooth to the eye, it is really not. Think of when children (and adults) or pets put their faces/noses/hands up against a window – it usually results in you having to wipe a slightly greasy smear off it.
When we wash glass (windows, car screens etc) we tend to realize that even so called ‘clean water’ can leave streaks so we use something to dry it after. This can help with a polished floor – washing, rinse it then use an old towel to buff it dry, thus removing all traces of water and making it impossible to leave water marks and streaks.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi Michelle,
It might just be that you have this the wrong way around; whilst there can be several issues with polished black porcelain (just look a the comments on this post) they would not normally loose their colour or shine.
What I suspect is that you have effectively ‘stained’ them with residue of the shower cleaner or,
some porcelain tiles come with some kind of coating this can be a transit wax, or a factory applied sealer.
It is possible that you have damaged/partially broken down or removed one of these coatings – making the tile look dull could be a consequence of this.
if it is the first point then cleaning it with a cleaner like Microscrub and or something else may well help.
Same too if it is a partially removed wax. It might be a bit harder if it is a factory applied sealer that has been damaged, that may take stronger strippers to remove it.
If you are successful in cleaning the tile, and getting back to the surface, then you may be able to use an enhancer, but only if you are sure there is no coating or sealer left, and not all porcelain will even take such a sealer (some do, I have done it myself) – so before buying that you need to really check whether you can clean them sufficiently first.
By the way, the sealer referred to as being ‘matt’ simply means it is not intended to CREATE or LEAVE a shine in itself – it is intended to not alter whatever the tile has to begin with – so if it is a matt stone, or a polished tile, it should not alter that, if applied correctly.
I would suggest you contact my buddy A’nge at http://www.aqua-seal.com.au – he can help you more locally (well nearer than the UK in any case)
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi Ian,
I’ve recently installed Matt Black Homogenous tiles for my living room and kitchen.
When these matt black tiles are clean, the entire house looks gorgeous.
But these tiles are very prone to water stain marks ( i do have 2 little dogs and their salivas do leave stains around) . I had a guest who came over the other day and he has moist feet and the stain marks are pretty hard to remove.
Water droplets from the kitchen sink also do leave bad water stain marks.
Is there any cure to this problem ? AQUA MIX® SEALER’S CHOICE® GOLD seems to be a good candidate for self-application.
Philip
Hi Phillip,
it is a common issue with porcelain tiles im afraid. They are so glass-like in nature that they kind of behave like polished glass – when we wash glass (windows for example) we often wipe then=m dry after otherwise we get water marks.
The marks are simply whatever impurities may be in the water (calcium carbonate, or oils in sweat etc) when the water evaporates, what was in the water gets left behind – and because the tiles are porcelain the residue is easy to see (even easier on polished).
If there is a micro texture then that will trap dirt, – this is most likely what is happening, so the residue of what was in the water just gets caught in the surface micro texture, rather than actually staining the tiles. Sometimes the only way to clean this is by using a scrubbing brush occasionally. So, if this is what is happening then a sealer may not help – as a sealer will not get in either. Having said that, there could well be a very small amount of porosity in the surface also – I have seen this with some porcelain, but they are all different.
If a sealer was to help, then typically a solvent based one tends to be better on porcelain.
I think you are in Singapore? If so you could try contacting Floor Medics they are very knowledgeable.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi Ian. Have laid some zamora grey porcelain floor tiles in the bathroom, not grouted them yet. cleaned tiles twice to get adhesive residue off and noticed on a fair few off the tiles there is a pattern under the glaze of the tile, of the back of the tile( square shapes.) that would of been sitting upon the front of that tile in the box.I’ve tried cleaning with water And a dry buff clean. no difference. ive tried. to gently scour with wire wool on off cut. does work a bit by making tile look more glossy. Is this stain removable. or is therea option to apply a sealer to make it look more wet/glossy n hide marks? Thanks on advance
Hi Ian,
I recently installed light grey polished porcelain tile in the kitchen. I don’t think my tiler sealed them prior to grouting.
Whenever I have a drop of water fall onto my tile, it becomes dark grey even if I wipe it dry soon after. I have personally sealed them with Aquamix Sealers Choice Gold twice, but water still darkens my tile. There are a lot of water spots near the sink and stove now.
Is there any way of removing these dark spots? And should I seal them with Aquamix a third time, or try another sealer?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks
Hi
OK, those marks can be an issue. But, if you have managed to sour them off, then that is encouraging. Also, if the scouring has made them more glossy, then it might suggest that there is some kind of transit wax on the tiles. This would make sense because the wax may have the impression of the back of tile pattern embedded in it, so remove the wax, you remove the pattern, and reveal the true polished tile surface.
So, try either or combination of both, of an alkaline cleaner, such as Xtreme Clean or a micro abraisive cleaner such as Microscrub.
Either might work on their own, or in combination
If that does not work then you might try a solvent.
Hope this helps
Ian
OK, whilst I am a big fan of water-based sealers, and a good one will work better than a solvent based one in many situations, a polished porcelain is one situation where you generally get better results with a solvent based sealer. So it could be that you have not really got much, if any sealer into the tile – the water just does not penetrate it – in another words you put the sealer on, then wipe 99.99% of it back off again.
I would try a small amount of a solvent based on, the supplier you mention makes one that is excellent, try it on one tile and see if it makes a difference.
You might need to use a light solvent stripper first though in case there are any sealer residues left on the tile. Also, this may help with some of your marks.
All polished porcelains are prone to water marks however, as they act just like glass, so a good tip is to buff dry the floor whenever you mop it – just like we dry windows after washing – to avoid streaks (from impurities in the water)
Hope this helps
Ian
I have a beige porcelain tile with many indentations that, in the high traffic areas, I.e. kitchen hallway and laundry room I can’t get the dirt out of the indentations.
I’ve tried everything and am now thinking of buying an electric brush type floor cleaner. Do you think this would work and what make would you recommend?
Also, can this tile be sealed?
Thank you.
HI Carol,
If your porcelain is textured or has holes and pits etc that can attract dirt, then a bristle brush of some description may well be required more frequently – just to agitate contamination out of those little holes. A hand scrubbing brush, or a deck brush on a pole is often all it takes. A motorized machine amy well be less back breaking provided the bristles can get into the holes, can you hire one first to test its effectiveness?
Regarding sealing, I doubt there is a sealer that could fix this, sealing is intended for porous material, not a few (relatively large) surface holes.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi
I have just had some cracked tiles replaced. The tiles are high gloss porcelain but the replacement ones have more of a matt finish which is noticeable. The tiles are definitely the same make. Is it possible that the original tiles have been sealed and if so what would I use to give the replacement ones the same gloss finish
Hi Andrea,
It is hard to say what has happened here but of they are the same make from the same factory then I would not expect one to be sealed and the other not, and the sealing that they do at the factory is usually some kind of impregnator and should make make a difference to the look of the tiles.
It is possible that the tiles have a transit wax on them (which has been removed correctly from the existing tiles, but not yet removed from the new ones – worth checking.
Also, perhaps the existing ones are polished as you say but the new ones are the unpolished version? -a b it too obvious I think but worth me raising the question.
However, there can also be variances between batches. Polished porcelain tiles go through a couple of processes; firing and then polishing. Just like when buying wools, or wall paper, there are almost always some differences in a variety of characteristics from batch to batch.
With porcelain tiles the things that can differ are, shade (slight differences in colour/tone), calibration (slight differences in dimensional size, flatness etc) and in the case of polished ties, there can be slight differences in the quality/degree of polishing.
As ell as the manufacturer name and the actual tile ‘name’ or model, there should also be some printed information that relates to the batch/shade/calibration number – it would be worth comparing these to the original tiles, if you still have some boxes. IF you don’t and the purchases were some time apart, it is hard to check, but very likely that you have a batch difference – I would go back to the supplier and see if they can get in contact with the factory to see if there are any other batches that you could obtain a sample from to match up.
Hope this helps
Ian
I have black porcelain slate like tiles on the kitchen floor. The black dye comes off. My cream carpet is becoming darker. What can I use on them to stop the dye coming off.
Hi Liza,
This is very odd, there should be no ‘dye’ in your porcelain tiles, there should be nothing that is part of the porcelain that can come off.
There could be some transit wax, some coating or something that should not be there, at least not not after installation. I would be giving them a good initial deep clean. Try an alkaline cleaner or Microscrub on a few tiles rinces well and let dry. See if they still have any kind of dark colour material still coming off them. You could also try a small amount of nail varnish remover (t he old clear stuff that smells of acetone), rub with a cotton wool pad and see if any colour transfers to the cloth – if there then there is come kind of (presumably) factory applied coating still on them and they definitely need a thorough clean to remove what ever it is.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi Ian,
Great web site which has given me some encouragement to tackle the kitchen floor which has been down for 4 months.
We have a light cream lappato porcelain tile (60×60 ) in our new kitchen which we are starting to regret. It is always dirty and the odd grout stain can be seen. Underfloor heating prevents us from taking them up so are really stuck with them.
Having read this blog and googled a bit, am I on the right trail by:-
1. Cleaning the tiles with DETERDEK
2. Seal with ultra Solv
I cannot tell if the tile is porous but it always looks dirty and so thought a sealer would help.
I would welcome your thought. Many thanks.
Hi
Deterdeck, is (as far as I know) an acidic cement residue remover so it may help with the grout stains, unless they are particularly heavily polymer modified – so worth a go.
Sealing then may or may not be a benefit. I doubt the tiles are really porous, if they are polished, then really what you are seeing is the common issue of tiny micro pores being filled with grout. if you can get these out the tiles are not likely to stain with normal household contamination. However, being light coloured and also [presumably] polished meas they are always going to show pretty much anything, dust, dirt, etc even water will leave marks (as water is never pure and always carries come kind of residue, calcium soap etc) – think of when we wash windows and cars, if we don’t buff them dry afterwards we get streaks and water marks – polished floors (porcelain or stone) can be the same.
So good practice is to dry the floor with towel after mopping – thus removing any remaining moisture and anything that may be suspended in it
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi Ian,
I have recently tiled a large area with lefka white matt Italian porcelain 60×60 tiles. They were very expensive and I am now beginning to regret my purchase. They look lovely but they seem to hold dirt around the kitchen table area or show black marks which I have to scrub with a cream cleaner and small brush. I also need to put quite a bit of effort in my scrubbing. I think these marks are from shoes or dragging furniture. I bought a steam cleaner thinking it would be the answer to my problems but the cleaner doesn’t remove these marks. The tile shop told me that I didn’t need to seal the tiles but are now suggesting a sealant called LTP glaze protector. After looking this up it seems to leave a shine, so my tiles would no longer be Matt. I really don’t know what to do.
Hi Caroline,
OK, you have a common problem I am afraid: the tiles are not staining, rather they have a surface texture that grabs dirt. As an analogy consider someone working in the garden, then, with grubby hands, wiping their thumb across the sandpaper on the side of an old fashioned match box. What happens? the sand paper gets grubby right away, the texture of the sand paper has snagged the grime from the persons skin and kept hold of it, but the paper and box is not stained (no contaminants have soaked into the paper).
So, a tile with a micro texture will unfortunately do the same thing; materials which are softer than the tile (an that even includes steel) the tile will act like a microscopic cheese-grater, and rip off tiny particles which will become lodged in the texture. So this applies to metal from furniture legs, rubber from the soles and heels of shoes etc, any thing that is ever dragged across the floor in fact.As you have found out a steam cleaner is no going to add much, if anything by way of help in removing this type of dirt I it might help break down greasy deposits)> as we are talking about material becoming stuck on the surface, an impregnating sealer would offer no real benefit (as they work beneath the surface in porous materials). Note also that the typical western way to cleaner floors often involves wiping with a mop (often one well past its sell-by date) – a mop often carries more dirt than it removes, drag this over a textured floor and a lot more dirt can be grabbed off the mop, along with tiny mop fibers as well.
I am afraid you have already discovered the most effective way to clean these tiles, and that is scrubbing. The addition of a micro abrasive cream cleaner would have been my next suggestion but you are apparently doing this too.
The only hope I can give you is that this problem will get better over time, not worse, as the tile starts to wear-in, and this can happen relatively fast, as the highest peaks in the texture (I am still talking microscopic here) get worn down and knocked off, the dirt-grabbing effect becomes less pronounced.
The other option you discuss is unfortunately a coating that will leave a visible shine, it may not be a high gloss, perhaps more of a wet look or low sheen, (I have not tried it to know for sure) but, it WILL make the tiles look less mat for sure, weather it too much is a personal taste thing, but from your comment I suspect you would not like it. The other thing to say about such coatings is that they will wear down and need re application, depending on the traffic type and volume and your cleaning regime, this could be anywhere from after a few months to a year or more, but it will need regular reapplication. It should help with the cleaning as it will basically fill up some of the texture with a polymer of some kind, this making the surface effectively less textured, and less inclined to collect dirt, and easier to wipe when it does.
Sorry if this was no the magic bullet you were looking for but hope it helps a little
Ian
Thanks so much for your reply. I think I will stick with my brush and cream cleaner instead of a sealer. At least you have given me hope that this will improve when the tiles get more worn. Are steam cleaners safe to use regularly on tiles or can the heat damage tiles or grout?
Hi Caroline
Great, steam cleaners will not harm the tiles (they are fired at very high temperatures) – I doubt any harm will come to the grout either unless it is a particularly high pressure jet steamer
Hope that helps
Ian
Hi, I have had my bathroom floor tiled with porcelain tiles. To my horror when the tiler finished tiling and I washed the floor, I found that the tiles did not have that tinge of peachy pink the sample I had ordered did have, they were of a graybeige shade. The tiler had collected the tiles. The code was correct, only the shade was way off that of the sample they had given me. They refused to help me as they said I should have checked. Now, I am left wondering if by adding a sealer with a tiny drop of chemically suitable colour I could add the shade I need for the floor tiles to match my wall tiles. When I tried adding pur ink it washed off leaving no trace of stain. If it cannot absorb anything could I put some sort of sealant which is excellent quality and covers it rather than being absorbed. The idea is colouring the sealant with a tinge of peachy pink so that I have ghe closest match to my wall tiles. Many thanks.
Hi Gianna,
Sorry to hear you have this issue, I do not think there is much you can do, most tile companies (manufacturers) will state that you must check shade before installing, and that by installing them, you have accepted them etc. I realize that this gets complicated when you leave a Tiler to fix what he believes to be correct, and you may not be there to check – this is a question for a lawyer I am afraid – but it is going to be difficult to make a case. If the shade is very different to that of the sample you saw, then it might be deemed outside of normal/allowable batch shade variation, but you still have the ‘inspect before installing’ issue to deal with – might be worth a chat with a good solicitor with experience in this filed (ie a commercial one, not a conveyance specialist).
As far as rectifying them, unless the porcelain is a very highly textured one you will not find a sealer that will stick (cover) or penetrate – they just won’t bond to the tile. There are some sealers designed for adhering to very textured porcelain (that rely on being able to grab hold of the texture, rather than penetrating) but even they are not 100% effective, they are also milky white in colour and I am not sure how easy it might be to colour them, it would certainly involve a lot of messing about, waiting for it to dry and see what the colour looks like but, at best it would look like a coloured plastic film on the surface. Also, they don’t last long, they wear off quite quickly and need constant re-application – basically they are just not compatible with non porous porcelain. If the tiles are smooth or even polished you have no chance, the sealer will simply not stick, it will peel and blister and come off right away and look awful.
Sorry if this is not what you need to hear
Ian
Thank you, I really appreciated you taking the time to reply. It has been a costly lesson for me to learn. I can now stop thinking around the possibility of a hard wearing film sealer which I could tint. All the best. Your blog is so very useful. By the way my porcellain tiles are matt and smooth. Thanks again. Gianna
Hi Ian
2 years ago we had our kitchen/family room (a large area) tiled with a dark slate coloured matt porcelain tile.
I am finding it impossible to keep clean. The rep advised me that it is glazed and does not require to be sealed but it is so abrasive that it destroys mop heads and microfiber pads for my steam mop with only one use. It is also hard work as the mop doesn’t glide on this surface. I have a dog and when he run it leaves white scuff marks from the skin of his pads. It looks so dirty and unsightly even although it is cleaned every day. It is causing me a huge amount of distress. I would really appreciate any comments. Thank you in anticipation.
Hi Lesley,
This is a very common issue I am afraid. I am not sure if it really is glazed if it is as hard to cope with as you say. However it could be. Either way, it is the texture in the surface of the tile that is giving you the issue (grabbing dirt and particles). Most porcelain tiles that need sealing tend to be the polished ones as they have micro pores in the surface (which are opened by the polishing process). Most non polished porcelain are so impervious at the surface that they would not accept a sealer (so there is no need and no point in applying one) If they are additionally, truly glazed then there is absolutely no point.
I am sorry to say that most likely there is little you can do, in reality (and I really am at pains not to cause offense when I say this) you have bought the wrong material for your needs. Now, that said, it looks great in the store and you could not have envisioned quite how it would be to maintain and clean – and I do think that by now, with all the years of experience we have gained with this type of material, the tile shops and sellers ought to perhaps make a better effort to inform people, at the end of the day you have selected a tile that has a very dense body (which is generally a good thing) and a very abrasive surface. No sealer will do much to alter this, and no sealer would be able to penetrate.
There is a slight possibility that a coating sealer, designed for porcelain, might manage to bond to the surface – this might help a little, in that it will coat the surface with a layer of acrylic, it will wear off, and need reapplication, at regular intervals (maybe several times a year – depending on traffic) but it might go some way to partially evening out the aggressiveness of the texture and make it slightly less ‘grippy’ and a bit easier to clean.
You would have to search for a coating sealer suitable for porcelain – most coating sealers need porosity and simply would not be able to bond to the surface. The down side is the fact that they look a bit shiny and plasticity, leaving a kind of wet look and need constant maintenance.
I don’t think they would have too much of a negative impact on slip resistance (one of the benefits of the texture) but I would try a small area as a test before doing the whole floor.
I hope this helps,
one thing to bear in mind, (I am aware the floor is already 3 years old) over time they will wear and the issue will become less as the texture wears and flattens out
Ian
P.S
Just remembered also that in theory, porcelain can now be polished in situe – but this would involve professionals with appropriate equipment coming in and grinding the surface down to a smoother one. It can be done, but it is not inexpensive, very few people can do it and I imagine it could cost as much as the original floor, but may be something to consider.
Hi Ian
Thanks very much for your reply. Your comments are much appreciated.
The tiles are definitely not porous as liquid spills wipe off without penetrating the surface so as you say finding a sealer to bond may be difficult.
You are correct in saying that I’ve bought the wrong material for my needs but I cannot imagine these tiles being suitable in any situation.
There is no sign of them beginning to smooth down with wear…as I’ve said they wear out everything that touches them!
They are truly the terrorist of floor tiles and I’ve never experienced anything like it!
I will look into your suggestion regarding having them polished in situ but have a feeling that this may be cost prohibitive.
Live and learn is the motto!
Thank you once again for your quick response.
Kind regards
Lesley
I just put porcelain tile in my front hall and laundry room and it is much more rough than I realized… Is there anything I can do to help this situation?
Thanks,
Karen
Hi Karen,
This is a common issue, tiles look great and like say natural stone in the showroom, yet when you actually feel them in situ they are more textured than you realized – and this can make cleaning harder, and or they just look dull. Not really anyone’s fault.
OK, there are some topical sealers around that will bond to the surface, ironically the more textured they are, the easier it will able to get a sealer to bond. If the tiles are just rough enough to be annoying but have no real texture, then you might have to go to a very artificial (plastic) looking kind of coating – you would need one that contains some degree of adhesive properties.
These products are not as widely available as regular sealers and they are temporary, they will wear and wash off (not with the first wash) over over short periods – so will need regular reapplication and maintenance – but they can be relatively easy to apply and maintain. Suggest you contact a local tile restoration company and ask then if they have a coating sealer suitable for textured porcelain. It will alter the look of the tile, adding some degree of shine.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi Ian,
You certainly seem to have a lot of experience in this area, so was wondering if you could help me?
I have Topps Tile – STRATUM in my shower cubicle. On their website it says they are porcelain.
These tiles are not easy to create a waterproof area due to their textured finish. I have a slight leak which i suspect is from capillary action through the joints.
Can I use a sealant on these porcelain tiles to make them water proof and stop capillary action through the joints?
Its a large feature shower and would be expensive to replace the whole lot…
any thoughts?
Hi Jon,
First of all I don’t think the texture has anything to do with the leak – texture will certainly make cleaning a little harder as it can grip dirt etc but the tiles themselves will not be letting water through them.
Most leaks in shower cubicles are at the tile to shower tray interface, through the silicone seal joint, after that the vertical joints such as the corner between two adjacent walls and after that, as you mention, you can have water transgressing through the grout joints.
I would look to the obvious weak points first:
make sure there are no plumbing leaks – fill the shower tray with water without wetting the walls – if you have a leak – then it is in the shower outlet, waste water part.(It could be in the plumbing of the shower itself not easy to find that though)
If not then slowly start to play water on the walls, at the bottom, around the seal between the shower tray (or floor if it is a tiled wet room) as this is most often the area.
If you really do have a leak coming from water simply getting through the tile joints then you must have pretty poor grout
Sealing the tile itself (if it is a porcelain) will do little if at all- it may help with ongoing clean-ability if the sealer can get in or bond) Adding a good sealer to the grout joint may help, a little, in that it will improve water resistance (it won’t make the joints water proof though) and it will keep more water out for longer.
If the issue really is the grout then no sealer is going to stop this and render the joints water proof.
If you have a flexible shower tray, on a wooden floor then your real issue may be movement, even cutting out and replacing the silicone may not work if you cannot stop any movement.
lots of things to check there, let me know how you get on
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi Ian,
I’ve had some large matt porcelain tiles installed in a wetroom and they look quite nice on the walls, but not so great on the floor – it’s the way the light reflects. They all look so much nicer wet. I can’t believe I neglected to think about the matt effect. Anyway, my builder has suggested applying HG product 14 (satin polish). Saying that it could bring them to life as he had done something similar with his slate tiles. When I queried this with the tile company, they avoided recommending any brand – saying that sometimes the result can be patchy on porous matt tiles.
I guess I am wondering what your opinion might be as presumably if the result didn’t look great, I could remove the polish layer? Or perhaps applying one of the HG impregnators (4 or 13) would safeguard against a patchy result. I think I am game to try something.
Natalie
BTW – I just wanted to reiterate that my porcelain tiles seem very porous!
Hi Natalie,
Are you in the UK or Australia? Ok, in order to alter the natural matt finish, you need to add an artificial one – a sheen etc. This is normally done with a coating sealer and or surface polish. In most cases though, a surface coating needs porosity and texture – and not too many porcelain tiles have this. It might just be that your tiles are textured enough and porous enough to allow a coating sealer to bond. In any event it will not be permanent, as coating sealers will wear off and need frequent re-application. There are some coating sealers out there that will bond to porcelain but success is a bit hit and miss. As you say though you can quite easily strip on off if it does not work. You could try the HG product – I think I know the product and it has only a very low sheen hence the satin description, but this normally requires some porosity – which you say you have, so worth a try. Do not use an impregnator first, this will simply remove any porosity that you have and repel any surface coating.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi, We put light brown color porcelain floor on a our kitchen 2 years ago. The water does not leave any marks, but when we walking… I am washing floor 5-7 times per day with wet paper tower. I am getting tired of that. The grout was beige color, now its black. A man, who did our floor, did not seal the grout. He said, your floor does not need that. What I can use to clean and protect our floor, that I will not have to wash so many times?
Hi Ann,
I am assuming the tiles are polished? One of the things about polished tiles, is that they are so shiny, and ‘perfect’ at the surface that they show every little mark, think of glass in a window, touch it with your fingers, or like a child presses their nose to the glass, even breathing on it – and you get smears, marks etc, well imagine having coloured glass down as your flooring material, the same thing would happen. Well, in actuality, glass is a ceramic material, and polished porcelain is basically impure glass – so it behaves in much the same way.
One of the downsides to such a finish is that they show every little speck, mark, and damp, moist foot prints from bare or stocking-clad feet etc. However if you had a carpet, you would not see any of this – BUT it would STILL BE THERE, and more, so the benefit is that you end up with a MUCH cleaner surface as a result. You could try using a flat microfibre mop head just dampened to make the regular ‘wiping’ a little easier.
there are not too many ‘coatings’ or treatment that can alter this, there are one or two coatings available but they tend to need some texture and porosity to work, so will not bond to your tile, even if they do, they will wear off (and look awful) rapidly and need constant replacement (so you replace one tiresome chore with an even worse and more expensive one). Plus they look cheap and plasticy, no where near as nice as the factory finish of the tile.
Regarding the grout if the grout has discoloured so much in 2 years then your installer did you little favour by saying they don’t need to be sealed. The tile may not need it but the grout can benefit from a sealer. However you ought to be able to deep-clean the grout quite easily then you can apply a sealer to just the grout, there are grout sealers that you can apply directly to the grout joint wiping any residue off the tiles as you go. Or you could try sealing the whole floor, using an appropriate impregnating sealer – the tile will take very little if any but it might help, it will certainly help to protect the grout. As you are in the USA, there are several brands, you could try Mapei USA they have a deep cleaner called Ultra Care Heavy Duty Tile & Stone Cleaner plus they have a range of quality sealers, contact their tech support for the best one to use.
Hope this helps
Ian
I’m looking for some assistance, I have Glazed porcelain tiles, in the kitchen/hall, which are slightly mottled/speckled (not entirely smooth). They are turkish “Bien Seramik” branded, colour is known as “Buxy Grey.
Essentially my understanding is that they should not require sealing, (except the grout). However they stain/discolour very easily despite regular steam cleaning with a tile/stone cleaner. They become black very easily within the speckle. I have just got down on my hands and knees to use the tile cleaner neat and a stiff scrubbing brush. This worked well but required a lot of agitation and hard work.
Firstly would they benefit from sealing? If so what should I use?
Secondly what is the best product to use for deep cleansing/dissolving the dirt/grime easier?
Thirdly what is the best product for more regular daily cleaning?
Fourthly would a mechanical floor scrubber help? (can’t really afford the more commercial stronger products such as the Kleanstore ones but the Vax HF86-FM D is within range).
Thanks
Stephen Lee
Hi Stephen,
I will try to help as best I can:
Firstly, if the tiles are truly a glazed porcelain (as opposed to a polished porcelain) then there is no need (or point) in sealing them as they are in effect ‘sealed’ with a layer of glaze, i.e the glaze. I say this as some times it is hard for people to tell if they are glazed or polished (polished is simply a mechanical grinding of the surface to achieve a mirror like shine) Some (but not all) ‘polished’ porcelain can benefit from being sealed but many are effectively the same as glazed (porcelain tiles themselves are almost glass in nature)
So, it is more likely that the tiles are not actually ‘staining’ per se (they are not absorbing any contamination into the body of the tile) it is more likely that there is just a micro texture, that is gripping small particles of dirt – Like if you were to rub a dirty finger over the sand paper on the side of a match box, the sandpaper would very quickly discolour – it just grabs the grease and dirt from the skin and then holds it.
Your success with the hands and knees approach, scrubbing with a detergent does not suprise me as this is what I tell people they may have to do if they have an impervious floor that is just holding onto tiny dirt fragments in the surface texture. You may have to keep doing this, but, the slightly good news is that this should improve as the tile ages (and wears, all though that will take some time).
So, no point sealing (apart from perhaps, as you say, for the grout, and any good impregnator or grout sealer will do this)
You can take some of the back-ache out of your current procedure by using a deck brush on a longer handle
As for what detergent – use a high alkaline product – there are many, my own brand is All for Stone Xtreme CLean but any similar product will do
For every day cleaning I have a product called Ezy Clean – but all you need is a MILD and Near Neutral detergent – be aware that most off the shelf products in supermarkets can be a bit high in PH and you don’t want that for every day cleaning
Regarding a mechanical scrubber, yes it may help. I have never tried the Vax products but they look interesting. Anything that gives you the ability to agitate and extract the dirty water is going to help – but without trying them for myself I would not know how effective they are. The counter-rotating brushes seem good, if they get into the joints that will help, but they should help – any agitation along-side the chemical is going to help remove the dirt.
One of the fundamental flaws with all machines is that they are designed to apply the detergent, scrub and then extract – but this takes place over a few seconds, meaning that the detergent has only seconds contact with the dirt, before being scrubbed and extracted – this is barely enough time to even wet-out the floor, let alone enough time for the detergent to do anything (it may as well be plain water). Having said that even plain water and the agitation may work to some degree.
If you can turn the various functions on or off then it might be better: So, if you could go over the floor with the brushes and the extractor switched off (or at least the extractor part switched off) then you could spend 5 to 15 minutes agitating – i.e scrubbing, thus allowing the detergent to ‘work’. Then, go over again with brushes and vacuum/extractor part turned on to pick up the dirty water then it might do a great job.
One other thing this system misses, is the all important rinse phase, applying detergent, scrubbing and extracting the dirty water is NOT rinsing, so there will inevitably be some (maybe not much each time, but it builds up over time) detergent residue left behind – this is perhaps one of the main causes for that sticky dull patina that builds up on floors and ironically, dirty/black grout joints. So, after deep cleaning, I would (periodically, not necessarily every time you use the machine), change the detergent /water to clean water and go over the floor quickly once again with the brushes and vacuum switched on – this will rinse and remove any trace of the detergent.
If you cannot use it with the vac turned off in the way I say, then the other option is to disperse the detergent manually, by mop, and leave it on the floor for say 10 minutes then go ahead (perhaps with clean water in the machine or more detergent) and scrub/extract.
Hope this helps, if you go ahead and have a positive(or negative) experience with this machine I would love to hear back from you – would be good to share on the Blog
Kind regards
Ian
Hi Ian
I have been reading comments on your very helpful website to ascertain what type of tile to put in a very large & expensive reno/extension we are about to start in Qld, Australia. I had my heart set on a sandstone coloured polished porcelain tile but am not sure now with so many comments about constant cleaning required, then thought about a Matt finish but this seems to ‘trap’ dirt, then thought about Lappato finish but not sure about cleaning/maintenance with this either. If you were building a new home, what type of tile & tile finish would you put down or would you go with a completely different flooring altogether? Your opinion would be very much appreciated. Kindest regards 🙂
Hi, well the first thing I would say is that people only tend to post the bad stories on here, in other words no one ever comes to the blog just to say how great the tiles they bought are. The point I am making is that although there are a number of issues reported on here about porcelain, it does not reflect the entire story – there are many many very satisfied customers out there with porcelain tiles.
The other point is that there are so many manufacturers of porcelain these days that a wide variety of standards and qualities is inevitable. So don’t be put off just because of a few reports. Also, tiles won’t necessarily ‘grip’ dirt just because they are mat.
It is true that some mat finish porcelain have a micro texture that will grab dirt and some polished finishes have staining issues – but it cannot be said to be a universal problem.
Given the size of your floor (and the investment you are about to make) I would request a number of samples, take them home, put them on the floor, walk on them, drop likely contaminants for the situation onto them (e.g coffee, oil, whatever you might accidentally get on the floor over time) see how easy they clean up. Also ask the supplier if they have a wax that needs removing, ask for their recommendation on how and when to remove it in the processes.
Also why not ask them if they can give you a couple of names/numbers for customers they have already sold this tile too, so you can contact them and see if they were satisfied or not. When choosing your tiling contractor, ask them about their experience, make sure you do not employ someone who has never laid this type of material before, ask them for past customer contacts too, and pictures of their work – if they are proud of what they do and have no skeletons in the cupboard they will most likely have a portfolio of their work to show you. In other words thoroughly research before yo commit.
The bottom line is that although there are occasionally some issues, on the whole, good quality porcelain tiles are pretty hard to beat. Any floor material you choose will have some weakness or issue, it is about finding the one that gives the best, or at least most practical overall compromise for: Aesthetic appearance, ease of cleaning, safety and longevity. But the point is there is ALWAYS some compromise somewhere.
Hope this helps
Ian