Terracotta Tile Maintenance

The one big downside to Terracotta is the fact that it has no glaze on the surface and can pick up and store muck and dirt very quickly. If you have ever owned a Terracotta floor before you will be able to relate to this problem. The answer of course is to seal them, but which sealants do you use as there are so many of them on the market, the best answer is to get some advice and as any tiler worth his salt will tell you Terracotta tiles are the most problematic to seal . Wax sealants tend not to soak all the way into the tile and some residue is left on the surface which overtime with traffic wear, tends to discolour to a darker shade whilst leaving the outside edges clean where they are not walked on that much. The best sealant I have found to overcome this problem are water-based sealers. Water based sealers are much thinner than solvent or acrylic sealers and therefore soak much deeper into the tile. The only drawback if there is one is the fact that you require many coats of sealant before saturation is achieved, Whilst doing a clean and reseal on a Mexican Terracotta floor, which tends to be the most porous of all terra-cottas, on one installation we had to use 9 coats of Seal & Go sealer before it was fully sealed. Use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean Tile & Grout cleaner to effectively clean tiles, highly effective against Wax Sealers, Grease, Grime and general dirt build up (Mix with 3 parts warm water). This product is especially formulated to strip off synthetic and acrylic waxes and floor finishes. PLEASE NOTE: It's important to remove any cleaning solution effectively using a wet-dry Vac machine before sealing; any cleaning solution left on the surface may impact the performance of the sealer.

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