This enquiry came from a customer in the village of Aughton which is located between Maghull and Ormskirk. They had a large walk-in shower cubicle which had ten years of limescale build-up on the shower tiles which were Micro-Porous Porcelain. This type of Porcelain tile is as its name suggests is slightly porous and needs to be sealed to protect it from ingrained dirt. Sealers do wear off over time though and once that happens the appearance of the tile will degrade as dirt becomes trapped there.
Limescale can be removed with acidic cleaning products however you have to be careful as some surfaces such as stone are acid sensitive and can cause etching. In this case I didn’t foresee any problems of that nature and was happy to quote for deep cleaning the tiles and then resealing.
I worked out a quote which was accepted and the work booked in.
Removing Limescale from Micro-Porous Porcelain Shower Tiles
To remove the thick limescale Tile Doctor Acid Gel was applied to the tiles and then covered in cling film. Being a gel the product sticks to the wall tiles easily and the film stops it from evaporating and ensures a long contact time giving the product maximum opportunity to soak in and breakdown the dirt and limescale.
After one hour the film was removed and the limescale was scrubbed with a six-inch 1500-grit Burnishing pad fitted to a handheld buffer. These pads are made from industrial diamonds and was run over each tile four or five times. A similar process was applied to the grout lines and then a wet vacuum was used to remove the resultant slurry from the walls. The tiles were then rinsed with water and speed dried with fans.
Sealing Micro-Porous Porcelain Shower Tiles
Once dry the tiles were sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the Porcelain occupying the pores. This prevents anything else from becoming ingrained there and ensures that water simply falls off the tile.
The last step was to strip out the silicone sealant around the base of the wall tiles and replace with new. This really completed the renovation and left the shower looking fresh and inviting.
For aftercare I recommend they use a neutral shower tile cleaner called Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro and suggested they consider asking us back every 12 months to give the cubicle a quick clean and re-seal. We offer a maintenance program like this to all our customers as it keeps the tiles in their best state and avoids getting a large renovation bill in the future.
Tile Doctor has a comprehensive range of sealers that cover all types of finish and situations; before having your tile or stone sealed its worth contacting Tile Doctor for advice and to ensure your using the right sealer for your requirements.