I have done many of these Victorian ,Georgian , Edwardian style tile restorations. Its been a pretty fiddly road to work out all the kinks and tricks with a few mistakes along the way. However I have the perfect formula on how to bring these old tile installations back to life! I specialized in the installation of new Victorian tiling as well so there are very few who can compete with my skill set in this department.
How do we clean these Victorian tiles?
There is actually quite allot involved in the cleaning of these tessellated style tiles and we are able to use a similar process for cleaning Victorian, quarry and terracotta tiles as they behave roughly the same. They are all porous and we find the colours and clays used in the original reproduction of these tiles was similar. ( Well at least this is how it appears to me when I work with them) .
To thoroughly deep clean these tiles there will usually be some form of steam involved as this really allows one to remove stubborn build-up and dirt. Steam also works very well with cleaning agents as it enhances their cleaning power. Sometimes the surfaces of the tiles need reconditioning where possible and then floor machinery is used to scour the surface of the tile and remove stubborn build-up etc. This does require allot of moisture which brings salts up through the tiles which interferes with the waxing process if not thoroughly dry before application so I personally try to avoid rotary floor machines on Victorian and quarry tiles if I can.
Then there will always be a heck of a lot of scrubbing and scraping with plain old hand detail brushes and blades. Once all is clean and refreshed I apply sealers and build up layers of an acrylic/ wax combination that both enriched the floor and protects it. The wax build up will give the floor a nice depth and sheen that really does bring these tiles back to life!
I have written a bit of a guide (link below) on the thinking behind restoring Victorian tiles and some of the challenges you would be faced with if you where to undertake the restoration work yourself https://tilerestoration.uk/victorian-tile-restoration-thought-process-guide/