The answer to this is not so simple. The key factor is the type of porcelain used. Porcelain tiles have changed a lot over time and today there are a variety of differing standards associated with them. The first generation of porcelain tiles were actually so dense that sealing was not required at any stage. However, today, not all porcelain tiles in the marketplace are so impervious to water and other liquids.So, what do you do? Well, you need to do a simple water test on your tiles. Add a few drops to the tiles and if they appear to absorb water then we would recommend that you seal them. There are many different products around that can do the job but one of the best is Sealer’s Choice 15 Gold Penetrating Sealer. You can’t really go wrong with this product.
Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.
Hi
can you help? We have Outdoor Non Slip Tiles on our outdoor area, I do not know why but they are extremley hard to clean EVERYTHING seems to just catch oon them and anything spilt etc just sucks in and sits. Can you Please advise me what i can do to rectify this problem before i cover them with Lino or something!!
Thanks Elaine
Hi Elaine,
I just answered a similar question to Paul in the UK : the two things are inexorably linked; what grips people grips dirt. The better the ‘anti-slip’ characterisitics of the tile, the more effort needed to clean them”.
Usually you need to adopt a slightly different cleaning regime:
Sweep or vaccum loose dirt
Use a deck brush with long enough bristles to get into the texture frequently
Use a high alkaline cleaner , inconjunction with a deck brush more regularly than you would for a smooth floor.
As you appear to be in Aus, try contacting my friend A’nge at http://www.aqua-seal.com.au – he can advise you in real time
Hope this helps
Ian
Use
Hi please help,
my porceline tiles leaves water marks when cleaning them the shine is not even when clean,
realy realy a newsence to keep clean,does it need a sealer will this help desperate need of helt just tiled out 108m2 out and feel like taking it out
Regards
Ross
Hi Roseline,
there could be a number of reasons for an uneven shine, most of which I have posted about here on the blog. But it could be simply water marks due tot he water, not the tile.
Porcelain tiles are like glass, especially the polished ones. If you were to wash some glass (windows, car windows etc) with soap and water, you would probably use something to buff them dry afterwards, other wise you get streaks (due to detergent residue or other natural impurities in the water). Most people seem to understand this but do not realize that a porcelain floor is just the same.
So next time you clean, try buffing the floor dry with a towel or something – see if that makes a difference. If not come back to me and we can look at other potential issues.
Hope this helps
Ian
Regarding your advice about sealing Porcelain tile…you mention that there are different kinds and some do not need to be sealed. Mine are brand new. My question is this: If my tiles do not need to be sealed, is there any harm that can be done by sealing them anyway, with the product you mention? (Sealer’s Choice 15 Gold)
Hi Jon,
You are correct that not all porcelain needs to be sealed. In fact one would hope that most porcelain does not require sealing, that was the whole point of porcelain when it was first created, well one of the the points anyway.
You say your porcelain is ‘new’ but unfortunately that doses not tell me anything.
What is important is does it have any surface porosity? You can do a water drop test, put some water on it, does it appear to wet out, get darker etc?
Most standard finish porcelain will not need sealing.
Glazed porcelain should not need sealing
Some polished porcelain has, as a result of the polishing process, micro pores in the surface (think of them as tiny microscopic gas bobbles that have had the tops ground off by polishing, and so revealed these surface ‘holes’) – This type of porcelain can benefit from being sealed, even if all we are doing is dropping a bit of polymer in these holes so as no grout or dirt can get in.
What harm will it do if you seal a tile that does not need sealing? Well provided you apply it correctly which means wiping up any excess before it dries, then none I guess. Worst case is that you apply the sealer then wipe it all off again – so it is just a big waste of time and effort oh, and money. If you do not wipe up the excess correctly then you will also have a dull sealer residue / haze to deal with .
There can be a benefit though and this is that the grout will be sealed (if you apply the sealer after grouting of course) but again you have to make sure you wipe away any sealer that has not penetrated after about 5 minutes, do not allow it to dry.
Any good quality penetrating sealer should be ok, but a lot of people prefer a solvent based one – if they really do need to seal the porcelain.
Hope this helps
Sears just installed the Daltile Yacht Club Cockpit in my MBR/Bath/closet. I chose the dark grout and as I go around cleaning the mess and dust, the grout seems to keep coming up. Will the dark grout remain a problem? It seems like they skipped a sealing step or something. I thought it would stop coming up once I washed it, but it’s a chalky substance that seems to remain in the grout lines? I’m going to call Sears, but I wanted to educate myself as to a correct answer. Please help.
Hi Jennifer,
OK it should not continue to be chalky. Chalky white grout could be a sign of efflorescence – a chalky white powdery deposit that comes as a result of moisture leaving the cement and and depositing salts at the surface. This can often occur due to using too much water in the grouting and grout wash up procedure. It can settle down after a while (once all the efflorescence has come out and been removed by brushing and washing) but it can also leave stains in the grout, it can be particularly noticeable in dark grout as it stands out so much. A very light rinse with a MILD and very dilute phosphoric acid-based cleaner can help here BUT it runs the risk of bleaching out more of the colour.
It could also just be that the grout was used with way too much water (in the mistaken belief that this would make grouting easier) to the point where the grout has not cured as strong as it should have done – in which case it will be inherently weak and forever powdery – this would be user error on the part of the contractor. Not really any fix for this, just raking back the joint and re grouting.
Lastly it could be that the contractor has found it difficult to clean up (common with dark pigmented grout, especially if they are latex polymer modified for porcelain) and in order to get them out of a tight spot (lots of dark grout drying hard and fast on the tile surface) or just something they ‘always do and never have any issues’ with this type of thing, they may have used an acid already, and used too strong a product, way too soon (grout needs a good few days before cleaning with any form f acid, otherwise it is just damaged too easily) or they have used an inappropriate type of acid (such as HCL/Muriatic).
So, all three of these issues stem from the application of the grout and /or its clean up so I would first call back the contractor. You could go back to the vendor, who will likely get the grout manufacturer involved, but in my experience the grout manufacturer is likely to look for evidence of and then seek to prove user / applicator error, and again in y experience, (whilst I am aware that manufacturers will take any steps they can to avoid blame) they are most often correct in cases like this.
Not sure if that is any help but good luck.
Hi
We laid polished porcelain white tiles 6 months ago.they weren’t sealed as I didn’t think they needed sealing.we clean with a damp cloth and they have started to haze.its as though the white is being stripped out and the dark colour is coming through from underneath.they cost a fortune and they are all over the house.i have 3 questions
1. If we get them cleaned now can they still be sealed
2.if they are sealed do we have to reseal them again and again and ifso how often
3.they seem to be getting very dull.why is this
Thanks for your help
Hi Emma,
Apologies for the late replay – I have been away.
OK, there are 3 reasons why a tile such as this could change in terms of colour and finish:
1. Wear – the surface can wear down and scratch etc causing it to dull and lose colour and vibrancy – however, this is highly unlikely in just 6 months – so I think we can discount that
2. Something getting ‘ON’ the tiles – this could often be the first thing I look at – the usual culprit is detergent residue, however, you say that you use only a damp cloth so, if as you say there is no chemical, no soap or detergent then there is nothing to buid-up. Is there any way you have cleaned them with something that has been allowed to build up?
One other thing to look at, if you are in a hard water area (Cork is, I think), then you could be seeing a build-up of hard water deposits from the wet/damp mopping – a little hard to believe in the timescale, esp with just damp mopping but possible. You could try rubbing a dull area with a little white vinegar – just to see if it does remove any ‘haze’ and reveal the shiny white finish beneath If it does then you might solve this with a very dilute wash using a mild phosphoric acid based cleaner such as our Grout Haze Plus.
3. Something coming ‘OFF’ the tiles. This is the only one left really; over the years there have been lots of issue with polished porcelain, some have a transit wax put on them at the factory, others have ‘nanaresealers, and some others have even had other kinds of treatment that is meant to mask poor quality. The latter though I have really only seen on black tiles, where the manufacturer added something to artificially darken the tile and make up for a less than perfect product. Sometimes these treatments are intended to be temporary, (to provide protection during transit and or during installation/grouting etc) sometimes they are not intended to be removed as with some of the nano sealers. Problems arise though when some that are intended to be removed are hard to remove in practice and leave a patchy appearance as they are cleaned, of those which are intended to remain come off rather too easily, again in an uneven and patchy manner, sometimes revealing a different surface beneath.
#3 would seem the only one left but, given the tiles are expensive (i.e most likely very good quality) polished white porcelain I am struggling to believe it. I could believe that a transit wax may be present and that by using a damp cloth you could be partially removing it and just smudging it around? In which case giving it a good clean with an alkaline detergent may get it off completely and reveal a perfectly good finish beneath?
I would investigate if you have hard water deposits first, then after that rule out any detergent residue. Failing that contact your supplier and ask them to give you a definitive confirmation (from their supplier) as to what factory-applied treatment if any is on the surface, ask for this in writing, and how it should be dealt with. You can also ask for their recommendations as to whether the tile needs sealing.
Hope this helps
Ian
Thank you so much
Hi,
Just had our patio laid with cream porcelain tiles a week ago. However my husband had to do some garden work and got mud on them. I’ve noticed the mud has stained the tiles. How can this be seeing how they are porcelain. I’ve tried to get it off the best I can with soap and water. I guess what I’m asking is should I seal them and if so with what sealer as there are many sealers to choose from and some may not be suitable. The tiles are matt and non slip.
Looking forward to you advice.
HI,
OK, it is a little difficult to say as you are correct in thinking that porcelain oughtn’t need sealing. Not by the old/ true definition of porcelain but unfortunately, the mere word porcelain no longer guarantees the quality of materials. So, your particular tiles may benefit from sealing. In most cases, a solvent-based sealer such as those used for indoor tiles will most probably work. Do a test on a spare piece, see if allowing water to sit on it for a few minutes then wiping it off and checking to see if there is any darkening, however slight. This will indicate if there is any surface porosity, if there is then ok, try sealing it.
However it could just be a function of the matt, micro-textured surface just grabbing hold of dirt, rather than any dirt actually penetrating the pores of the tile and ‘staining’. I would try cleaning again, but this time use a stronger product, a high pH/alkaline (such as our Xtreme Clean) – but also use a nylon scrub brush to really get into the surface, scrub well and rinse before inspecting.
Hope this helps
Ian