Any way to remove this haze on new tiles?

[Skoorbmax]

Grouted 24 hours ago with ultracolor FA white. After washing every 30 min or so I'd go back with damp sponges and try to remove haze. This was partially successful but every wipe of the sponge filthied it so much that without dozens of damp sponges I wouldn't have gotten anywhere. Even cleaning them it seemed to be getting me nowhere, so intent was to wait until joints really set and then I could go to town with more sponges or tshirts.

So today I went to remove the haze and it removes from most tiles but a few are looking horrendous, like the one here. I have tried using miracle tile and stone cleaner 16:1 solution but, although it removes most of the other tiles' hazes, some won't remove like this.

I assume that pigment from the grout has made its way into the tile, staining it.

EDIT: I just found a post of somebody online who said white vinegar worked. To my complete shock it indeed does. That stain refused to come up with the tile cleaner despite soaking/rubbing, but with vinegar it has come up quite quickly. I've no idea what vinegar does to new grout so I'm being careful to avoid getting it into the joints. I may try diluting it 2:1 water:vin to see if that works also.

I'm still all ears on what I did wrong exactly--how to avoid dealing with haze. I've never had this problem before, probably because my grout normally matched my tiles. Maybe the lower grade mapei grout is less "sticky" so avoids this issue?

[Tool Guy - Kg]

The vinegar is a mild acid and will eat away at the grout. You are wise for thinking to keep it away from the grout joints. Fresh grout is easily degraded with contact with vinegar. Typically, you want to wait for the grout to cure for 7 days before using vinegar. The safest method of cleaning grout haze is to use the weakest mixture that will still get the job done. I’d dilute some vinegar with water and try it. It may be that you can get away with a 2:1 ratio….or a 1:1…..or it may be that you need the vinegar at full strength. And the use of vinegar is mostly a one-time thing. Vinegar eats….it doesn’t clean. So, use it very sparingly.

Some tile has a micro-fine texture that makes it tough to clean grout from. Using a grout-release (applied to the tile before grouting) might be advisable for the next round of grouting.

[Skoorbmax]

Thanks. I will check into a grout-release before next job to try avoiding this. I did the rest of the room with a 1:1 mix. I didn't try any weaker, but that did the job. I have one or two tiles with a slight haze that doesn't want to come up, but is only noticeable if I'm specifically looking for it.

[Jason@mapei]

Mapei grout haze removal document is attached here, good luck

https://cdnmedia.mapei.com/docs/libr...vrsn=bfea782_0