Porcelain Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find detailed examples of the cleaning and renovation of Porcelain tiles carried out in South Buckinghamshire

Cleaning and Polishing Porcelain tiles

Harder than ceramic tiles modern production methods have allowed a growth in the availability and design of Porcelain tiles which are known for their durability and water resistance making them a popular option for floors. Like Ceramic, Porcelain tiles are generally very easy to clean and need little maintenance however some are micro porous and do require sealing, you will need to ask you supplier which type you have installed as it can be very difficult to tell.

If your Porcelain tiles are of the micro porous variety then they will need to be sealed to avoid a build-up of dirt in the pores of the tile. For this we recommend Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which works by impregnating the pores to ensure dirt can’t become ingrained there without changing the appearance of the tile itself.

Apart from sealing the biggest issues with this type of tile are usually grout related. Either the adjacent grout discolours over time or the tiler has been unable to remove excess grout from the surface of the tile, an issue known as Grout Haze or Grout Smears. Modern grouts can be particularly susceptible to the grout haze issue due to shorter working times and polymers in the grout which make it difficult to remove once dry. If this sounds familiar do contact us so we can advise you on how best to remove it.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.


Porcelain Tile and Grout Renovation Chalfont St Peter

End of Tenancy Renovation of Porcelain Tile and Grout in Chalfont St Peter

I recently paid a visit to a rental property in Chalfont St Peter which had Porcelain tiled floor which needed an End of Tenancy Clean. Porcelain tiling is a great choice for a rental property as its very to maintain however in this case it was the grout that was letting the floor down.

Porcelain Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Chalfont St Peter

It seems the previous tenant had tried using a white grout pen to colour the grout lines when they first moved in and since then the colourant has started flaking off resulting in a very patchy appearance and the exposed grout becoming darker.

The client wanted me to come in and clean the floor and to make the grout lines unison. The property wasn’t going to be rented out again as the owner was planning to move back in after living abroad for several years.

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Tile and Grout

On the first day I started giving the Porcelain tile and grout a much needed deep clean using a Rocky floor machine fitted with a Silicon Carbide brush and lubricated with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. Carbide brushes are perfect for hard floor cleaning and in this case had the additional advantage of cleaning away the flaky grout pen.

This cleaning process was applied section by section vacuuming up the slurry with a wet vacuum along the way. I then hand scrubbed the grout lines with Grout Colourant Pre-Treat Cleaner which is an effective ready-to-use cleaner designed to lightly etch the surface of the grout to ensure a better adhesion with the colourant. It also removes dirt, soil, soap scum and hard water deposits from grout joints. Once everywhere had been treated I mopped the floor with Neutral Tile Cleaner, rinsed with water, extracted with the wet vacuum again before finally leaving the floor to dry off overnight.

Applying White Grout Colourant to a Porcelain Tiled Floor

On day two I knew my main problem would be making sure that the White grout colourant was able to adhere to those areas of grout that had been coloured with the pen. I didn’t have to worry though as it worked perfectly. The application basically involves using a small brush to push the colourant into the grout lines and gently cleaning up the edge of the tiles to remove the excess colourant before it can dry.

After the first coat dried it brighten the floor massively however in some of areas you could still make out the old from the new so I needed to give the grout lines a second coat using the same technique as before. Once the second coat had been applied, I allowed it to settle and go off before giving the floor a check over to make sure I was happy with the result.

Porcelain Tiled Floor After Cleaning Chalfont St Peter

My customer was over the moon with the difference and was much relieved that the floor had been restored after the condition the previous tenants had left it in.

 

Professional Grout Restoration Services in Buckinghamshire

End of Tenancy Renovation of Porcelain Tile and Grout in Chalfont St Peter Read More »

Porcelain Tile and Grout Before After Cleaning Beaconsfield

Cleaning Porcelain floor tiles and grout in Beaconsfield

Recently I was called to visit this client in Beaconsfield who had moved into their house several years prior. Their hallway floor tiles were already dirty when they moved in and with several young kids the problem had slowly got worse. The hallway should look nice and bright and inviting, but instead the Porcelain tile and grout was looking dull and worn. According to the previous owners the tiles had not been down long before they sold the property.

Porcelain Tile and Grout Before Cleaning Beaconsfield Hallway

I went around to survey the floor and could see the biggest problem was the grout which had darkened due to the trapped dirt. It is always easiest for us to view the job and then we can see what work is involved. Pictures alone rarely provide enough information. I did a test clean with great results and once we had agreed a price, I was invited back to do the job. I booked it in for a few weeks’ time.

Porcelain is a popular choice in homes these days, they come in a huge variety of colours, styles and are hardwearing and versatile enough to be used in bathrooms, kitchens and on floors such as these. With the addition of underfloor heating, there is no need for the myth of a tiled floor being cold to exist either. With a small amount of maintenance, the floor can be kept looking nice.

Cleaning a Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor

To clean the Porcelain tile and grout I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in with a black scrubbing pad fixed to a rotary floor buffer. The abrasive action of the pad combined with the cleaning power of Pro-Clean got to work cleaning all the tiles and got the worst out of the grout. We followed this by rinsing with water and extracting the soil with a wet vacuum, keeping the mess to a minimum.

Porcelain Tile and Grout During Cleaning Beaconsfield Hallway

Some of the grout lines were still not 100 percent so I went back over them using neat Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up scrubbing it in by hand with a stiff brush and then giving the floor another rinse. Once I was satisfied the tile and grout was as clean as it could be the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing the Grout on a Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor

The next day I returned and used a pipette to apply Tile Doctor Ultra Seal to all the grout lines. Porcelain tiles themselves won’t usually accept a sealer, however the grout will benefit hugely and hopefully they can now keep the floor looking much cleaner for longer.

For aftercare I recommended that they use Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner on a regular basis rather than the household cleaners which are available in supermarkets. It is pH neutral, so it won’t prematurely degrade the sealant on the grout.

The client was very happy with the work we had completed, the floor looked pristine, and the hallway looked welcoming. They now felt confident they would be able to keep on top of it going forward.

Porcelain Tile and Grout After Cleaning Beaconsfield Hallway

 

Professional Clean of a Porcelain Tiled Hallway in South Buckinghamshire

Cleaning Porcelain floor tiles and grout in Beaconsfield Read More »

Commerical Porcelain Toilet floor Milton Keynes Before and After Grout Colouring

Recolouring Stained Grout in Milton Keynes Office Toilet

Although much of the work Tile Doctor does is residential were more than happy to take on commercial tile cleaning jobs, as well. In fact, many office buildings contain very nice tiled kitchens and bathrooms, but the cleaners who visit them daily are rarely have the right training and products to keep stone, tile and grout looking it’s best.

In some cases, a long period of time passes before the facilities manager or cleaning company reach out to seek help from companies like Tile Doctor and by this time the tiles can be a very bad way. With this in mind I received a call from an office manager in Milton Keynes who needed help to restore the appearance of the tile and grout in a Porcelain tiled toilet.

Commerical Porcelain Toilet floor Milton Keynes Before Cleaning
You can see from the photograph that the White floor grout had become stained and unsightly through use and a lack of adequate grout cleaning. The owner of the building had decided, in fact, that he wanted to change the grout to a dark colour but was concerned about the cost and time it would take to remove the original grout and applying new.

I suggested to him that we give the tile and grout a deep clean and then simply recolour the grout with a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant. Additionally, it’s a relatively quick process which could be done outside of office hours to minimise disruption. The customer was happy with this solution, so I we agreed a time for me to come back and carry out the work.

Cleaning and Grout Recolouring of a Porcelain Tiled Office Toilet

The restoration process began with a deep clean of the tiles using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is a strong alkaline tile and grout cleaner. The product was applied to the tile and grout and then left to dwell for a short period before being worked in with a large scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. Pro-Clean very reliably breaks down ingrained dirt and muck and can even be used to remove sealers in a concentrated form.

Next, I paid special attention to freshening up the stained grout lines. This was done using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up, an acidic product which is usually used to remove grout smears from the tile surface but in this case applied to etch the grout surface to ensure a stronger bond with the colourant.

The tile and grout was rinsed and then dried before I could continue with the final step of recolouring the grout lines to make them darker, as per the customer’s request. This was done using the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Grey, which is just one of ten colours available. Other options include White, Chocolate, Sandstone and Black.

The Grout Colourant serves not only to recolour and rejuvenate the grout lines but also adds a barrier over the grout sealing it in and protecting it from further staining.

Commerical Porcelain Toilet floor Milton Keynes After Grout Colouring
I think you’ll agree, looking at the photo of the result below, that the toilet now looks much smarter and more professional. The customer was very happy with the outcome of the work and left me the following feedback on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Great diligent work undertaken by Andrew-very pleased with the outcome.
Mr. Hirani, Milton Keynes 03 February 2018

Professional Renovation of a Stained and Discoloured Porcelain Tiled Office Toilet in Buckinghamshire

Recolouring Stained Grout in Milton Keynes Office Toilet Read More »

Kitchen Porcelian Tile and Grout After Cleaning and Grout Colouring Leighton Buzzard

Porcelain Tiled Kitchen and Hallway Refresh in Leighton Buzzard

This Porcelain tiled floor had been laid in the hallway and kitchen of a house in Leighton Buzzard five to six years earlier. During that time the floor had become very dirty and the grout was discoloured to the point where it had turned black and no matter how hard the customer tried they were unable to get the grout clean.

On my initial visit to the property we discussed the options with the customer and decided that the best thing to do would be to thoroughly clean the grout and then seal it with grout colorant saving a messy and costly replacement of the grout.

Hallway Porcelian Tile and Grout Before Cleaning Leighton Buzzard

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles and Grout

To get the porcelain tiles clean and deal with the worst of the grout I treated the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The product was mopped onto the floor and then left to dwell for 20 minutes. It was then scrubbed into the tiles with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine running on a slow speed. I also ran a stiff grout brush along the grout lines to get the grout as clean as possible.

The floor was then rinsed with water under high pressure and the slurry extracted using a wet vacuum. As we were grout colouring later I gave the grout a further scrub using Grout Colourant Pre-Treater which ensures a better bond between the grout and the colourant, this was then rinsed off with more water and also extracted using the wet vacuum.

Kitchen Porcelain Tile and Grout After Cleaning Before Grout Colouring Leighton Buzzard

Re-Colouring Grout

Once the grout was dry I started applying the Grout Colourant in a colour that best matched the original grout and colour of the tile. The process is quite straight forward and involves using a small brush to carefully apply the colorant along each grout line. When I was finished, I made sure to clean any excess product off the tiles before it had time to dry.

Kitchen Porcelain Tile and Grout After Cleaning and Grout Colouring Leighton Buzzard

My photographs probably don’t do the floor justice but hopefully you can appreciate how the grout is now uniform in colour and with the protection of the grout colourant which forms a barrier over the grout it will stay that way for a long time to come.

Restoring the Appearance of Porcelain Tile and Grout in Buckinghamshire

Porcelain Tiled Kitchen and Hallway Refresh in Leighton Buzzard Read More »

Porcelain Floor After Cleaning in Buckingham

Tile Cleaning and Grout Re-Colouring of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen in Buckingham

Grout is an incredibly important feature of tiled floors, not just from a structural perspective, but from an aesthetic perspective too. If the grout lines are dirty and stained, it ruins the overall look of the floor. It’s important to try and keep them clean, but with grout being rough in nature it does attract dirt and if left un-checked it can easily get to the point where cleaning becomes very difficult.

A good case in point was this Porcelain tiled kitchen floor at a property in the historic university town of Buckingham. The floor had been installed approximately eight years prior and while during this time the property owner had made the best efforts to keep the tiles clean, the dirt and grime had begun to build up – particularly in the grout lines.

I visited the property to see what could be done, starting with an initial test clean with a strong solution of our high alkaline cleaner, Tile Doctor Pro Clean. The tiles came up beautifully, but due to the extreme porosity of the grout, some of the dirt had been absorbed too deeply into the grout to get it completely clean.

Porcelain Floor Before Cleaning in Buckingham

The customer was worried that this would mean ripping all the grout out and re-grouting, which is a messy and time consuming process. As an alternative, I advised him that recolouring the grout would be the better option, using one of the excellent grout colorants made by Tile Doctor which are available in ten popular colours.

These products not only restore a clean and uniform appearance to the grout, they also provide a waterproof barrier which prevents any dirt and grime from penetrating the grout in the future. The recolouring process is a relatively quick, affordable, and a tidy alternative to re-grouting.

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles and Grout

Impressed by the efficiency of the Pro Clean product and the cleanliness of the test patch, the customer requested that we go ahead and deep clean the tiles and re-colour the grout.

The work took two days. On the first day, we deep cleaned all the tiles and grout using the same strong solution of Pro-Clean. The solution was applied to the floor and left to dwell for approximately ten minutes and from there I used a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad to loosen the soil from the tiles.

Once the floor had been thoroughly scrubbed, I used our wet pick up and rinsing machine to remove all the dirty water, and rinse the floor with clean water.

Porcelain Floor During Cleaning in Buckingham

Next we moved on to cleaning the grout. I started by applying Tile Doctor Pre-Treatment Cleaner and left it for approximately 15 minutes before scrubbing it in by hand using a stiff grout brush.

This process serves two purposes: firstly, it helps to remove as much dirt as possible from the grout lines prior to re-colouring and secondly, the acidity in the product etches the grout slightly, helping to make a better bond with the Grout Colourant.

Once the process was complete, I rinsed and dried the floor one more time and left it to dry off overnight.

Recolouring Grout

The next morning, I returned to colour and seal the grout with an Ivory Grout Colourant as selected by the customer. The process is quite straight forward and involves using a small brush to carefully apply the colorant along each grout line. When I was finished, I made sure to clean any excess product off the tiles before it had time to dry.

Finally, I buffed the floor with a fine white buffing pad, leaving the tiles looking clean and fresh, with the grout uniform. The customer was absolutely delighted with the service and the results.

Porcelain Floor After Cleaning in Buckingham

Restoring the Appearance of Porcelain Tile and Grout in a Buckinghamshire Kitchen

Tile Cleaning and Grout Re-Colouring of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen in Buckingham Read More »

Aylesbury Office Porcelain Floor Cleaning After

Cleaning White Porcelain Tiles at Premises in Aylesbury

This commercial unit in Aylesbury had white porcelain tiles laid in the restroom and reception areas several years prior and had been assured they would be easy to clean, however over the years they had deteriorated leaving an unsightly grey staining throughout and were now in need of a thorough deep clean.

Aylesbury Office Porcelain Floor Cleaning Aylesbury Office Porcelain Floor Cleaning

Cleaning White Porcelain Tiles

A mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean combined with NanoTech UltraClean impregnating cleaner products was spread evenly across the tiles and worked into the floor using a rotary scrubbing machine set on slow speed. We proceeded to work the floor in this manner to lift the soling followed by black stripping pads on a 150rpm rotary machine. When we were satisfied that the ingrained dirt had been lifted from the porcelain tile we used our van mounted pressure cleaning system to wash the dirt from the floor, this system has been a great investment for us and uses heat and high pressure to clean and remove the slurry back to recovery tanks in the van.

Aylesbury Office Porcelain Floor Cleaning

We let the floor dry and returned the second day to scrub along the stained grout lines and return them to their original colour using a strong mix of Tile Doctor Grout clean-up and with this solution rescrubbed the areas using our rotary machines and with a complete final clean and rinse buffed the tiles to a high shine.

Aylesbury Office Porcelain Floor Cleaning After

 

Porcelain Tile Cleaning in Aylesbury

Cleaning White Porcelain Tiles at Premises in Aylesbury Read More »

Cleaning Micro porous textured porcelain in beaconsfield

Cleaning Micro-Porous textured Porcelain Tiles in a Beaconsfield Kitchen Diner

Our customer in Beaconsfield had been having great difficulty cleaning a textured Porcelain tiled floor that was installed in the kitchen and adjacent dining room; despite numerous attempts whatever she tried never have the desired effect. During the home survey we demonstrated on a single tile how using our cleaning agents we could remove the soiling and restore the original colour of the tile which hadn’t been seen for a number of years.

Micro porous textured porcelain in beaconsfield before cleaning Micro porous textured porcelain in beaconsfield Before Cleaning

Scrubbing Micro-Porous Textured Porcelain Tiles

Equal amounts of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean combined with Tile Doctor NanoTech UltraClean was spread evenly throughout the floor and worked in with a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad running at slow speed. The tiny abrasive particles in the cleaning solution worked deep into the tile to bring out the dirt so once the whole floor was treated in this manner we switched to the next machine.

Cleaning Micro porous textured porcelain in beaconsfield Cleaning Micro porous textured porcelain in beaconsfield

The next machine we used was a truck mounted device that directs hot water onto the tile at high pressure using a second hose to remove the soiled solution back to a storage tank in the van. It’s a very effective machine that has an instant effect on the tile.

Cleaning Micro porous textured porcelain in beaconsfield
Once this process was completed we scrubbed out the grout lines using a mix of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which did a good job of cleaning the grout and also removed any soiling left from our previous clean. Once this was done we gave the floor a final clean and rinse and then left to dry overnight.

Sealing Micro-Porous Textured Porcelain tiles

Most porcelain tiles like ceramics won’t take a sealer however Micro-Porous Porcelain tiles do need sealing due to their porosity so we came back the 2nd day to apply two coats of Tile Doctor Seal And Go which will protect the tile from staining and aid the future maintenance. I should mention that we recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral tile cleaner for regular maintenance; its neutral PH formula is ideal for sealed floors as domestic acidic cleaners will eat away at the sealer over time and reduce its life.

Micro porous textured porcelain in beaconsfield after cleaning
 

Porcelain Tile Cleaning in Beaconsfield

Cleaning Micro-Porous textured Porcelain Tiles in a Beaconsfield Kitchen Diner Read More »

=================================

South Buckinghamshire Tile Doctor

================================= Read More »

Scroll to Top