How do you clean quarry tiles like a professional?

The age of original Quarry tiles causes them to have an inconsistent surface that often includes small ridges and recesses. Due to this fact rotary floor scrubbing machines with scouring  pads are not ideal as they often skip over lower parts and the pads also get shredded fairly rapidly from the tile ridges and inconsistencies. The best way to really clean these tiles is to get down on hands and knees and scrub them with the a hand detail scrubbing brush and hand scouring pad. See the pic below

Agitate and scrub!

The idea is to apply your detergent with your spray bottle and then after the required soak period (roughly 10 mins) agitate the detergent with the brush and scourer. Its important not to let the floor dry as the idea is to lift out dirty liquid from the tiles. If say for example you apply detergent and wait a while for it to work , then if it begins to dry out apply more detergent or water. You really want a nice wet slurry for you to scrub around and lift out dirt and buildup with your cloth or sponge.

The agitation action with the brush forces the detergent into all the little areas and really breaks down the wax and oil buildup that most original Quarry and Terracotta tiles will have. Its also a good opportunity to clean the grout lines with your agitation brush at this point. Then with a clean bucket of water continuously remove dirty sludge etc.

The detergents you will need to clean quarry  tiles

Alkaline tile cleaners

Old quarry tiles were originally maintained with natural waxes and oils and due to the porous nature of these tiles there is usually some form of oil or wax in the tile. This is only the case indoors as out doors the elements have almost certainly removed any wax and oil.

The first step is always to apply a high alkaline cleaner that is designed to strip and break down wax, oil, old and new tile sealer, paint etc etc. These alkaline cleaners are readily available from any tile shop and will be called something along the lines of “Tile stain remover” , ” Tile sealer stripper” etc.

This type of detergent removes any surface buildup of wax etc and also cleans other stains as well. Use your steamer with this part and agitate allot with your scrubbing brush. Dont forget the grout lines!

*Back in the day the Victorians used to apply natural bees wax and oils such as linseed oil to protect and care for their quarry tiles.

Acid tile cleaners

VERY IMPORTANT ##  DO A TEST FIRST BEFORE APPLYING ACIDS.

Make sure to find an inconspicuous area to test what the acid will do in case it damages the tiles.

Once the alkaline cleaning stage is complete its time to apply acid tile cleaning detergent. Quarry tiles are acid resistant and we find the acid really does a deep clean as it floats out allot of other type of contamination that the Alkaline cleaners dont. Acids break down any adhesive, cement, soil etc and allow it to be easily scrubbed off and lifted out. Acids however will not break down wax or oil so its important to apply the alkaline cleaners first or your acid wont be able to penetrate the tile.

These acid cleaners are also available from tile shops and will be called something along the lines of ” Grout residue remover, “Tile acid” wash etc

* Acids and Alkalies neutralize each other so you will need to thoroughly wipe off the one before you can apply the other.

Solvent tile cleaners

During the wax and oil removing stage if the detergents are not working so well then I always use a solvent that is even better at breaking up oils waxes etc. This solvent is called Lithofin Wax Off.

Quarry tile waxing and sealing (how to guide)

Once all is clean and thoroughly dry the tiles will be in their natural state and will look a bit flat, dull and will be very porous (usually)

Now is the time to put all the good stuff back into the tiles and bring them back to life. Please see my quarry tile waxing guide for the last stage of your Quarry tile cleaning project. *** waxing guide coming soon***

We are available in North London and Herts to do this quarry tile cleaning work if you need