Restoring old hex tiles / grout

[Winge1993]

Hi - I've got a 109 year old house with original hex tile work in the barhroom. They're in pretty good shape in terms of wear and tear but in real need of severe cleanup. I'd characterize them as a matte finish and what I believe is a grey grout. There's about 100sq ft I'm dealing with. I'd like to do what I can to restore these. Can you tell me what steps I should take from start to finish and what products I should use (specific names would be very helpful). Thanks in advance!!!

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[mark129er]

I would recommend Klenzall, it is heavy duty cleaner it is available in the TYW store on this site. Another option would be Tilelab's Heavy duty stripper and cleaner.

As always TEST what you are going to use in a small inconspicuous area first.

If the grout is majorly dirty you may have to get hardcore with it and use something a little stronger. But for now either of these products should give you a good start.

mark

[Davestone]

I wonder if the (dirt) is really the glaze having worn off?Hopefully the kleenzall won't eat up that grout, also,back then you only had one color,gray.I'd be sure to prewet the area,and don't scrub too hard, lest you destroy the integrity of the job.

[Winge1993]

Thanks all! I'll let you know how it turns out.

[doitright]

Hi Winge, Welcome! :)

How do you pronounce that? Seriously, we like it when you share a first name with us. :shades:

There should be no problem with either product mentioned as they are on the alkaline side vs. the acidic side. It's very important to let the product dwell on the surface (without drying), agitate, wet vac up dirty solution, rinse, and vac. You may have to repeat the process until no more soil is being removed. You can follow up with an acidic cleaning using Stone Techs Restore. We always recommend TESTing a small area first, and check for desired results.

[claycarson]

We've done thousands of square feet of these hex tiles and the above advice is basically what we do. :nod: First tape off the area to protect surrounding surfaces. Then test. Then if it's good, alkaline first to dissolve oily soils (most soils are acidic and oily, so need alkaline to dissolve them) Let it dwell, then agitate it (either use nylon brush or insult it's family members...) and then immediately wet vac up the yuckish mess before it dries back into the grout again.

Repeat using acid, but not ugly muriatic acid, until the grout does not 'go anywhere' in terms of cleaning. Acid stage will be faster and have less visible results.

Understand that the older hex tiles were never pure bright white. Even if you chip one in two, the middle is still kinda 'creamy colored'. So don't kill yourownself trying to make it something it never was.

And the grout never really pops back into a bright perky little DeLorean Gray. Ain't gonna happen. But this process will get them as bright as you want. There is a way to diamond polish them, I've heard, but it makes 'em mucho slippery and ain't worth it.