Help me clean my tiles

[Richard C]

> Hi,
>> > I currently live in Haiti and do not have
>> available to
>> > me the products that one can find in US hardware
>> > stores or other, and because of airline
>> regulations
>> > most of these products cannot be shipped to me.
>> > Anyway I installed white, mate and rough looking
>> > Spanish ceramic tiles in my house about a year
>> ago.
>> > The grout is light caramel color. I even purchased
>> >a cleaning machine.
>> > However my grout looks dirty and my tiles are
>> > yellowish. I have had so many opinions about
>> cleaning
>> > that I do not know what to use. They include:
>> > - a mixture of white vinegar and water (half and
>> half)
>> > - a mixture of muriatic acid and water (1/4
>> acid-3/4
>> > water)
>> > - a mixture of Baking Soda and water
>> > Which do you recommend or what would you recommend
>> > since I my house is very open and tropical and I
>> need
>> > to get the tiles white so they look good and
>> mostly
>> > clean my grout.
>> > I will be awaiting your answer impatiently.

[flatfloor]

Bon Jour Richard,

Please look in our Tile Your World store at the top of this page. I believe most of our products can be shipped via DHL or Fedex.

Someone should be along shortly to answer specific questions.

[Davy]

I'm NOT a expert on this but don't use the muratic acid and water at the 3 to1 ratio, you may not have any grout left to clean. I have used it many times and never go stronger than 10 water to 1 acid.

[TRS Ry-Dog]

I tend to shy away from muriatic acid and like using phosphoric. should be pretty easy to find, pool supply, janitorial supply, etc. I usually mix it 20:1 or 10:1 for the really stubborn stuff. When working with any acid make sure the area is well ventilated. I've heard a story of a guy dying while working alone in a closed bathroom with concentrated phos. Make sure to aggitate the acid using either a stiff bristle brush or for really ugly grout you can use a wire brush, then wipe clean using a sponge and clean water. Make sure to rinse all the acid off and let the tile dry before sealing.

Good luck,

Ryan

[kemguru]

Hi Richard

I recommend using TYW Grout Stain & Seal on your grout. We can match any color you need. It will make your joints look better than new and keep them that way. You may have to touchup small areas that are subject to high traffic in 5 years, or so, but that’s it.

TYW Heavy Duty Cleaner & Stripper will remove oils and other contaminates. I’m a bit concerned about the yellowing, though. Can you tell if this is just “dirty”, or is the tile itself yellowing? Was the tile sealed with anything? How about a mop on wax, like Mop N Glow? TYW Heavy Duty Cleaner will take any wax and “dirt”, but it wont help if the tile itself is yellowing. We have a few things to try if it is the tile.

TYW Tile & Grout Restorer is used after the TYW Heavy Duty Cleaner. It’s a one—two punch that whips most tile into shape. This is a low pH product, but it is much safer than muriatic and more effective than Phosphoric or Sulfamic. You would use the TYW Stain after these steps.

TYW Stone Beauty (enhancer), which you probably don’t need, is the only product that can’t ship air. Our birds carry all the other products.

[flatfloor]

Tim, can we ship stuff to Haiti via air freight? Dangerous cargo limitations don't apply right?

[John Bridge]

Hi Richard,

That sounds like a plan to me. Not that we need the sale, mind you. It's just a better approach than all the others you've mentioned.

All our products except Stone Beauty are water-base. Not dangerous at all as far as air freight is concerned. God only knows what the rates are to Haiti, though.