How-to: Seal Tiles & Grout
When we laid our new bathroom and laundry floor tiles a few years back, I had no idea how hard they would be to clean. A really porous, natural ceramic tile that just soaked every little bit of dirt and grime up. So, I gave them a deep clean and sealed them, so I never have to scrub them like that again.
Here’s how… or skip to materials and short process here.
This is what we did:
1. Vacuumed and Mopped the floors to see what we were working with.
As you can see. Mopping doesn’t really do anything, they are stained.
2. Sprayed a bleach solution onto the tiles and let sit for 10 mins
3. Steam mopped with the scrubber attachment to get into the dirt
4. Sprayed with Dunlop Tile & Grout Cleaner and let sit for 10 mins
5. Steam mopped again, this time it was MUCH easier. The tiles and grout started looking really good at this point.
See more on my “sealing tiles” highlight on @oakbankreno
6. Sprayed again, this time with Aquamix Heavy Duty Tile & Grout Cleaner, just to ensure I got ALL the dirt. Next time, I’d just use this from the start, it’s a tradie brand.
7. Waited, 24 hours to ensure the tiles and grout were completely dry. Again, the tiles are porous so I knew there’d be some water hiding in them.
8. Sealed both the tiles and grout using Aquamix Sealer’s Choice Gold. This was by far the most common product that came up in online searches for it’s good reviews. It was also recommended by tilers and stonemasons who use this product everyday. This was so easy to apply. I used a sponge, ensuring a thick layer was over the tile. If any areas sunk in quickly, I knew that they were more porous so I kept applying until eventually, the sealer didn’t sink in. This took 3 coats. Tip: don’t spread too thinly or aggravate it, this will create bubbles. Go thick.
This was the first coat, you can see there’s bubbles. I learned that I needed to go thicker after this.
8. Let them cure. This particular product only takes 4 hours to protect your floors. I waited a little longer just to be safe.
9. Tested the protection by using Soy Sauce. Watch this on my Instagram highlights.
Results? It worked! So far. Aquamix is rated for up to 15 years, but I will watch it to see if I need to recoat the sealer at all over the next few years while we live here.
MATERIALS & TOOLS REQUIRED:
Steam Mop with Cleaning Attachments! This is the one I used.
A sponge
Vaccuum
Mop
A towel(s)
METHOD:
Vacuum & Mopped
Sprayed a Bleach Solution
Steam mopped / scrubbed
Sprayed with Dunlop Tile & Grout Cleaner (next time I’d go straight to step 6)
Steam mopped / scrubbed again
Sprayed AGAIN, with Aquamix Tile & Grout Cleaner
Waited till the tiles were completely dry
Coated with Aquamix Sealer’s Choice Gold Sealer
Let cure
Test!
TIME:
48 hours including drying time
COST:
$140 for Sealer & Cleaner
