Please help Saltillo Newie with dried thinset mess!

[KimmieFLA]

OH my goodness. This is my first Saltillo tile job and I have a big mess. In a nutshell, I have worked with ceramic tile in the past. If I had leftover thinset on the tile, I could just go back and brush it off with my hand. WELLLLL.... that is not working with my Saltillo tile that I put down in my home office. (135sqft). It's stuck and won't come off. I now have gray stains on some of the tiles where I tried to scrub the thinset off. (I really don't want to pull them up.)

Does anyone have any suggestions on tips and/or products that I can use to get rid of the mortar and discoloration?

fyi... I have finished laying the saltillo tiles, and I have not sealed them yet.

Thanks in Advance,
Kimmie

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[Jason_Butler]

An acid wash would probably work..depending on the severity

I'll defer to those with more experience in Saltillo..

Jason

[KimmieFLA]

Thanks Jason!!


....bump

[Davestone]

You did seal it first, right, or is this just the wonderful sucking effect of the dry grout joints? :)

[KimmieFLA]

No, these are unsealed tile. I am just trying to get the dried mortar off the surface of some of the tiles. I haven't started grouting yet at all.


Thanks, Kimmie

[Mike2]

Kimmie, I'm going to move your thread over to our Restoration Forum to make sure the gurus over there see it. They have all kinds of magic up their sleaves for problems like this.

[Davestone]

If this is small gobs, i would try a scraper,if it's streaks, i would scrub with a green pad and some vinegar water,but do the whole tile in case of a slight color change. :)