Terracotta tiles are soft and absorbent tiles that will easily soak up water and oil based stains if they have not been sealed.  Many different impregnating and topical sealers are used on terracotta tiles which complicates the terracotta tile cleaning procedure.

 

 

Often times terracotta tiles are sealed with a topical sealer so when cleaning the terracotta tiles you will be cleaning the top of the topical sealer.  In other cases an impregnating sealer has been applied to the terracotta tiles. It is important to be concerned with breaking down or stripping any sealers that have been applied to the terracotta tiles. In some cases you may want to strip the sealer after it has become dirty, worn or stained and apply a new sealer to the terracotta tiles. Other times when when doing regular cleaning and maintenance of terracotta tiles you will not want to strip the sealer on the terracotta tiles when cleaning them.

Terracotta tiles should always be sealed with some type of sealer. There are many different types of terracotta tiles and they are all very soft and porous and they can be easily stained in their natural state. Any type of dirt or spill will easily penetrate unsealed terracotta tiles and stain them. Even normal clear water drops can cause spots on the terracotta tiles that can alter the look of the terracotta. Terracotta tiles should be immediately sealed after they have been installed. If the terracotta tiles have not been sealed and they have become dirty and stained then you should first clean them and then allow them to completely dry before sealing them.

When cleaning unsealed terracotta tiles you first should wet the floor with clean hot water before you start cleaning them. Often times applying cleaning chemicals to a dry terracotta tile floor can cause shade variations in the terracotta tiles where the cleaning solutions have been initially applied. By wetting the floor down you will help ensure an even coverage of cleaning solution throughout the terracotta tile floor. A diluted alkaline tile and stone cleaning solution should be used on the terracotta tiles to break down and dissolve the dirt, grease and grime stains on the terracotta tiles. You should dilute the alkaline cleaning solution with hot water and apply it to the terracotta tiles with a mop  or a soft scrub pad. Terracotta tiles are soft clay based tiles and many types of terracotta tiles can easily be scratched with aggressive scrub pads. You should always test any type of scrub pad first on the terracotta tiles first to ensure that it will not scratch the surface of the terracotta tiles.

You should allow the alkaline cleaning solution ample dwell time to loosen up the dirt and stains on the terracotta tiles. The amount of dwell time and scrubbing that is necessary to remove the dirt and stains off of the terracotta tiles will depend on how dirty they were initially. In many cases of extremely dirty terracotta tiles aggressive scrubbing will be required to remove the many layers of dirt and grime. Scrubbing terracotta tiles down can be backbreaking work if there is lots of dirt and grime on them. A professional rotating floor machine can often help to scrub large areas of terracotta tiles. When using a floor machine to scrub terracotta tiles you should ensure that you do not use too aggressive of a scrub pad under the floor machine. White or blue pads are generally safe to use on terracotta tiles. More aggressive pads including the most aggressive type of black pads will surely scratch the finish of the terracotta tiles. Often times terracotta tiles have some type of factory finish applied to them and scratching this factory finish will dull and distract from the natural beauty of the terracotta tiles.

After you are done scrubbing away the dirt and stains off of the terracotta tiles then it is important to rinse and extract the dirty cleaning solution off of the terracotta tiles.  A mop and clean hot water can be used to rinse away the dirty cleaning solution from the terracotta tiles. It will usually require a few passes using clean hot mop water to rinse and extract as much of the cleaning solution as possible. Extracting the dirty cleaning solution can also be helped by using a professional shop vac first and then going over the terracotta tiles with a mop and bucket of clean hot water.

Professional tile cleaning and restoration companies will typically have a steam cleaning and extraction machine that works extremely well for cleaning and rinsing terracotta tiles. 

After you have cleaned and rinsed the terracotta tiles then you should allow them to completely dry before sealing them.  It is important to not walk or spill anything on the terracotta tiles while they are drying. Spills and footprint impressions can easily be left on unsealed terracotta tiles that will become evident after the terracotta tiles dry. If it is necessary to walk on the drying terracotta tiles then use soft cotton socks and be careful to not spill or drop anything on them while they are drying. It can often times take the tiles 24-72 hours to totally dry due to the clay based terracotta tiles porous nature.  After they are dry you can seal them with either an impregnating sealer or a topical sealer using normal tile sealing procedures.

Cleaning sealed terracotta tiles involves using a much different procedure than when cleaning unsealed terracotta tiles.  Daily or weekly maintenance cleanings of sealed terracotta tiles should not break down or damage any sealer that has been applied to the terracotta tiles. A pH neutral tile and stone cleaning product will clean the terracotta tiles without damaging or breaking down any of the sealers that have been applied to the terracotta tiles.

PH neutral cleaning solutions come highly concentrated so only about 2-4 ounces of cleaning solution are required per gallon of hot water.  It is not necessary to thoroughly rinse the tiles after cleaning them with a professional pH neutral tile cleaning solution. A soft scrub pad can be used to easily scrub away any dried on dirt or spills from the sealed terracotta tiles when using the pH neutral cleaning solution.  Stonetech's all purpose cleaner is an excellent pH neutral cleaner that will clean terracotta tiles without breaking down the applied sealer.  Only 2-4 ounces of cleaner are required for every gallon of water so a one gallon container of cleaner will last a long time.

In many cases of extremely dirty sealed terracotta tiles the sealer on the top of the terracotta tiles has become old and dirty with embedded stains in the terracotta tile sealer.  In many cases totally stripping the terracotta tiles is not necessary to clean up embedded stains in the terracotta tile sealer.  While a pH neutral cleaning solution will be ineffective in removing embedded stains in the terracotta tile sealer, a diluted alkaline tile and stone cleaning solution will be able to slightly loosen the sealer and allow the dirt and stains to be emulsified from the sealer.

Stonetech Klenzall is an excellent tile, grout and stone cleaning product that can be used to slightly loosen up and clean the sealer on terracotta tiles.  A one gallon container of Stonetech Klenzall can be used to clean approximately 1000 sq/ft of terracotta tiles.  It is usually necessary to also scrub the tiles with a soft scrub pad to remove the embedded dirt and stains in the sealer.  It is important to not mix the alkaline tile and stone cleaning solution too strong and only use the lowest dilution ration recommended on the label. Highly concentrated alkaline cleaning solutions can start to totally dissolve and strip the sealer. You should always first test any alkaline solution on an out of the way tile first and leave it on there for a few minutes to see the effects of the alkaline solution on the terracotta tile sealer.

After you are done cleaning the sealed terracotta tiles then you may want to reseal them with the same type of sealer that they originally had. Often times another coat of a topical sealer can bring back the luster and shine to a cleaned terracotta tile floor. If the terracotta tiles were previously sealed with an impregnating sealer then another coat of the impregnating sealer may or may not be necessary. You should drop some water on the terracotta tiles and see if it beads up on the terracotta tiles or if it is absorbed by the tiles. If the water is absorbed by the terracotta tiles then another coat of the impregnating sealer should definitely be applied to the terracotta tiles to protect them from becoming stained.

It is important to try to only use the same type of sealer on the terracotta tiles that was originally applied to seal the terracotta tiles. Different types of water based or solvent based sealers do not mix well together and this can cause the sealer to not adhere properly to the existing sealer. You should always read and follow the tile sealer instructions extremely closely. In many cases too many multiple layers of some sealers are not recommended and you must strip the existing sealer before applying another coat of some sealers.

On many old and worn out terracotta tile floors the sealer needs to be totally stripped to restore the terracotta floor. Stripping the sealer off of a terracotta tile floor involves using specially designed floor strippers. If you know the type of existing sealer that has been applied you can call the manufacturer for the recommended type of floor stripper necessary to remove the existing sealer. In many cases the existing sealer is not known and then it is important to test the floor with different types of floor strippers to see which type of floor stripper will work to remove the existing sealer. It is always best to start testing with a safer type of water based stripper to see if this will work to soften up and emulsify the existing sealer. If the water based floor stripper does not work then more potent and potentially harmful solvent based floor strippers must be used to dissolve the existing sealer.

Stripping a sealer off of a terracotta tile floor can be hard work requiring the use of potentially harmful floor stripper products.  You should always follow the manufactures instructions on the stripper for the best way to use the product. You will also need to extract the emulsified sealer with a shop vac or similar type of professional extraction machine. It is then necessary to thoroughly rinse the floor and allow it to thoroughly dry before reapplying the sealer to the terracotta tile floor.  In many cases it is best to hire a professional tile cleaning and restoration company to do this type of work for you.

 

You can read some valuable information and tips on how to hire a tile and stone restoration contractor at our contractor information page here . . . . . . . Tile Restoration Contractor.