Cleaning Bathroom Tile/Stone Floor After Reno
A friend of mine bought a new condo and had some small additional work done in the bathroom. The workers left some paint and plaster/dirt on her tile walls and floor. The walls are marble looking tile and feel a bit like marble but aren’t and floors are tiles as well but not ceramic or…
A friend of mine bought a new condo and had some small additional work done in the bathroom. The workers left some paint and plaster/dirt on her tile walls and floor. The walls are marble looking tile and feel a bit like marble but aren’t and floors are tiles as well but not ceramic or porcelain. They are some kind of rough rock terrain looking thing. What would you suggest the best way to clean them without damaging? She has a few tiles left over so she can always try on them before actually applying to walls or floor. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!!
Ummmm Peter, read carefully. Work is done! Just need some cleaning to do. They job was done beautifully and no need to hire anyone else. There is just some spots that my friend will need to scrub out. That’s all. All I was asking is for what products to use.
If the tiles are ceramic and unsealed, she might want to pay someone to seal them after they’re clean. Otherwise, they are impossible to keep clean, in my experience.
Seems like you need a professional consultation by either a geologist, or a tile setter. It does not seem like the last folks were pros. The rough stuff may indeed be porcelain made to look like stone. If so, you can get calcium-based products off with acid, but you can also hurt yourself if you are not experienced, and if you get acid on marble or limestone, you can damage it too.
Plaster and the cement in mortar, grout and concrete are made from limestone (calcium) and marble is metamorphic limestone.
You can try household vinegar, but for stronger stuff, I say, don’t come home with a gallon of muriatic (HCl) acid from the hardware store. That would be way too much of it, and then what are you going to do with what you don’t use? It is not safe to keep in the basement, or a closet. Never bring sulfuric(H2SO4)acid near your bathroom.
You will not need to scrape much.
Thanks BHS, will try.
Start with a wet sponge to remove any plaster and dirt, which should come off easily. The try a plastic knife (the kind that comes with take-out) or plastic scraper to scrape any paint on the tile without scratching. You could alternate that with a no-scratch scrubby sponge but be careful of the green heavy-duty sponges which might scratch or dull glazed tile.