Cement encaustic tiles are very fashionable and designers absolutely love them! These tiles have a bespoke handmade look and their colors are deep , vivid and just beautiful. However people are realizing how sensitive these tiles are to just about every chemical or liquid found in the home. Shampoo, ketchup, soaps, even hard water leaves unsightly marks on these tiles if left.
I restore , deep clean and seal cement encaustic tiles in North London, West London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and South Buckinghamshire. I can really bring them back to their former glory.
The cleaning/restoration process for cement encaustic tiles
ALKALINE STRIP-There is usually an alkaline strip to deep clean the tiles and remove dirt and old tile sealing products. Steam cleaning helps allot by allowing us to remove contamination without using strong chemicals. One has to be very careful when applying any chemical to these tiles and thorough testing is an absolute must!
ABRASIVES-Once tiles are as clean as we can get them we then make use of abrasives to further condition the tiles and try remove issues caused from etching , grout residue staining etc. There is a very fine layer on the surface of these tiles that holds all the color so we cant get too aggressive with abrasives or the colors may fade , they get like a mottled look sometimes if sanded down too deep. Again testing is very important before any abrasives are used.
SEALING-Finally when dry the next day comes religious sealing. They have to be sealed more than any other tile or stone. It usually takes allot of sealing product being repeatedly buffed into the tiles over multiple applications. We use allot of color enhancing sealers to further improve the look and customers should be around on this day so that they can see how to top up the seals themselves in the future
Brief guide on proper sealing of your cement encaustic tiles
Probably the most important part of having cement encaustic tiles is maintaining them well. They need to be treated more like a natural wood product that needs protecting and maintaining rather than a hard wearing ceramic, because they are very sensitive.