new tiles stain easily

[DH05]

Hi,
Just tiled a bathroom floor with matt finish porcelain tiles. Used a dry wipe marker (used for whiteboards) to mark the tiles while working and now it doesn't rub off fully - I am left with a faint mark. The plumber left some iron filings on the floor and they rusted and left stains too (fortunately got this up using lemon juice - it reacts with the rust).

Tiles seem to be absorbent as they change colour slightly when cleaning them.

What's going on?
Are these poor quality tiles?
Is the matt finish the problem?
Are they inappropriate for a bathroom (should I abandon and start over with different tiles?)
There are "sealers" on the market. Do they work? This will be rented eventually, how often do I have to make the tenants reseal the tiles?

 

[Washboy]

You can get a pocelain cleaner made by Lithofin from a good tile shop. Matt tiles can be a bit of a problem , especiallly in kithcen areas. After you've cleaned them(bleach/Ajax is also good) and the floor has dried for a few days you can seal with porcelain sealer, or seal the grout with a grout sealer, all from Lithofin. Need redoing once a year. If it's a light grout(limestone etc) next time use epoxy grout. Will never need maintenace..

 

[DH05]

Thanks, that's helpful. Sounds like I shouldn't have bought matt tiles. I was looking at a bottle of sealant and it says it's a one time application. It doesn't say anything about repeating yearly. Is that wishful thinking on the manufacturer's part?

 

[Washboy]

The only one time sealer i know of that gaurentees for 30 yrs is Drytreat from Australia. it's for natural stone, not sure if it would work on porcelain. I don't use HG, but i do use lithfin - and with their products they do deteriorate over time. That said, it should last a few years. Personally, I fail to se the benefits of sealing porcelain, as it is virtually impervious to water/ and sealer. it does stain, but is easy to clean. Sealing the grout (if it's light in colour) is a good idea. But it will still stain, especially in high traffic areas such as a kitchen. But by sealing it, it makes it easier to clean.

by the way - next time use a carpenters pencil to mark porcelain, you can use marker/chinagraph on Glazed ceramics

Absolutley no reason to abandon what you have and start over - speak to your supplier if there are problems with maintaing them. There is a wide variety of cleaners and sealers for different types of tile. For porcelain9if that's what they are) try the usual household floor cleaners, failing that try Lithofin's Conditioning Cleaner.

MOD

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[DH05]

Washboy, thanks for that. The pencil is obvious, but I jumped at the idea that tiles are impervious and the whiteboard marker which you just wipe off seemed like such a good idea. I have to return to the tile shop for more stuff so I'll challenge them with the task of removing the marker marks! (they are definitely porcelain and the matt finish makes them particularly attractive)