Help, I think my tile may be ruined!

[Tocohillsguy]

Came home today and found that my wife had cleaned the grout in both bathrooms using Zep grout cleaner and whitener. I think she was pretty agressive and used a brush on all the grout joints. The real problem is that the ceramic tiles now have a dull 1" to 1.5" ring around each tile, and there are round circles of dullness where she stood the bottle as she worked her way around the room. I think she etched all of the tiles. What to do?

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[Tool Guy - Kg]

Welcome Tocohillsguy,

Are you sure your tiles are ceramic tiles with a glazed surface on them? They aren't a natural stone of some sort, are they?

Was the cleaner rinsed from the grout/tile edges after scrubbing, or allowed to dry on the surface?

:)

[Tocohillsguy]

Yes it's ceramic tile. I suspect at least some of it was allowed to dry on the surface but has subsequently been rinsed and scrubbed with different cleaners and warm water. Still have the dull affected areas.

[doitright]

Hi Toco, Welcome! :)

Can you share a first name with us? :shades:

I believe one of ZEP's grout cleaners contain hydrofluoric acid. If that's the case, it's very possible that the glaze is indeed etched. Try to procure a list of ingredients and see if the hydrofluoric acid is mentioned. If so, stick a fork in the tile, because it's done. :(

[dl]

Hydrochloric acid and phosphoric acid according to this site (http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=5005025). Note that the instructions say to not let dry and to rinse off with warm water. Even so I won't use anything that says "industrial strength" and makes me wear rubber gloves except as last resort. I remember HCl from chem lab as being very nasty stuff.

- DL

[doitright]

Hi Don :)

Do you have a link to the exact product from ZEP. I did a search and could not find it. Hydrochloric acid is the same as muriatic acid, and yes it is nasty. However it isn't as nasty as Hydrofluoric acid. :eek:

[Tocohillsguy]

Yes, it has hydrocloric acid. Our current strategy is to use a diluted solution of the Zep to try to even out the etching. Then apply a coat of Aqua-Mix Gold sealer. Seems to look better, but I'm sure it will never be as good as new and I suspect it won't perform as well. Oh well, the damage is done.

[doitright]

Hi Don :)

After your cleaning is completed, you may want to consider TESTing with Aqua Mix Enrich n Seal. It may slightly enhance and bring some color back lost in the etching. Did I say to TEST first? :shades: :D

[dl]

Tacohillsguy, give us a name, or better yet go to your control panel and put it in your sig - so's John and I don't get confused as to who we're talkin' to. :shrug:

John, I wasn't the OP but was curious and couldn't find the ingredients on the Zep website so googled and found the link I posted above. I've never used anything stronger than Ajax or Comet on grout.

Tacohillsguy, just a hair-brained idea but you might try a polishing compound on an inconspicuous area and see if you can polish out the dullness. Autoshop stuff or cheap toothpaste might give you an idea if there's any promise.

- DL