” Extremely sensitive to staining & discoloration!”
Cement encaustic tiles are very fashionable now and have been for several years. They are hand made and special but the downside is that they are one of the most difficult tiles in the world to clean and maintain. They are more sensitive to staining and discoloration than limestone and white marble. The main reason for this is that the pigments used in the patterns are effected by almost everything that may be found in a bathroom or kitchen and acidic products will leave visible drip marks and rings etc etc.
I would strongly advise against getting these in a shower area or bathroom floor because its only a matter of time before they get badly effected unless proper maintenance is undertaken. Everyone is starting to realize now the problem that these fancy tiles present. However its not all bad, continue reading below..
In the pics above you can see how badly damage these cement tiles where on a bathroom floor. In the after pic you can still see a few blemishes but it is much much better!
So how do we clean and maintain cement Encaustic tiles?
To clean these tiles we are limited to what chemicals we can use as anything too strong or acidic effects the pigments. So we are mostly left to mechanical means to remove grout residues, marks, etches and staining. This for us involves many different types of abrasive products and some of our results have been quite amazing.
There are some chemicals that work better than others and after having done many of these floors we have a pretty good method for cleaning them that we feel is likely to be as good or better than most other tile cleaning companies. We also polish and clean concrete cement worktops!
Sealing and maintaining Cement Encaustic tiles
It is absolutely imperative that these tiles are properly sealed after laying or cleaning and then maintained as the years go by. Without proper maintenance they will likely get stained and damaged especially if in a bathroom or shower room.
After cleaning we will work as much sealer into these tiles as practically possible. Usually around 4-5 coats. Then it is up to the client to keep the sealer topped up down the line. We really aim to teach our clients how the sealer works and how to apply it when we are on the job. So usually its good if you are around for a day or two when we are cleaning your tiles.
We undertake this work all over North London and Hertfordshire. We go to Bedfordshire and some areas in Buckinghamshire. We also so allot of work in West London mostly, Chiswick and Ealing, We also clean and polish concrete worktops.
We also clean exterior tiles
Other services include quarry tile restoration