Help- grout nightmare

Regis Quality Tiling · Sep 16, 2019

Grouted 30m bathroom on Friday - very hot! Microban 2- whit on white Topps Nuriko tiles. Sealed tiles first as they textured. Washed off a couple of times. Came back today to find stains around some and loads of residue. No problem- Topps First Wash strong and tile & stone cleaner would sort according to Topps. Didn’t touch it. Topps came out to visit. First said must have been something on float then blamed temperature! Said I would just have to scrub. Been on same tiles for couple of hours with not much joy. Any other suggestions please- Fed up to day the least!!!! I’ve hopefully attached a phot. Thanks,
Nick

Dumbo · Sep 16, 2019

I think you are going to have to use a grout residue remover . This I presume will be a stronger than first wash . Make sure you wet the joints first so as not to scorch the grout and wear proper ppe and good ventilation .
The secret is though don't leave site until tiles are clean . Oh and test on an off cut first just to check you don't wreck the tiles . Also protect areas you are not cleaning like floor, worktop, baths etc

Regis Quality Tiling · Sep 16, 2019

jcrtiling said:
I think you are going to have to use a grout residue remover . This I presume will be a stronger than first wash . Make sure you wet the joints first so as not to scorch the grout and wear proper ppe and good ventilation .
The secret is though don't leave site until tiles are clean . Oh and test on an off cut first just to check you don't wreck the tiles . Also protect areas you are not cleaning like floor, worktop, baths etc

Thanks for this? Any idea of make etc? It’s been on for 72 hours now so not going to make a difference. The customer is going on holiday for two weeks so can’t get back in again til then.

Dan · Sep 16, 2019

Have you rang BAL who make the grout to see what their view is?

Regis Quality Tiling · Sep 16, 2019

Dan said:
Have you rang BAL who make the grout to see what their view is?

No - thanks. I’ll do that.

Dumbo · Sep 16, 2019

Regis Quality Tiling said:
Thanks for this? Any idea of make etc? It’s been on for 72 hours now so not going to make a difference. The customer is going on holiday for two weeks so can’t get back in again til then.

I would go with lithofin

Regis Quality Tiling · Sep 16, 2019

Thanks for the advice. Thing is they were the first tiles I did and the rest of the room is ok. Had washed off twice but maybe not enough in the heat. Will try the grout remover. Thanks

Sean Kelly · Sep 16, 2019

Might be a silly question, but did you dilute the first wash?

Anybody else reading this, you must dilute this product with water. Water activates this product.

I would recommend mixing first wash with water and use a spray bottle to keep the walls damp.

You can get these white pads from B&M £2.99 for 2:

I would also recommend Lithofin Cement Away or Cement Residue Remover available from CTD in store but not online.

Dumbo · Sep 16, 2019

If I remember rightly @Lithofin BOB
Recommended against using cement away indoors once , can't remember why something about fumes I think

Sean Kelly · Sep 16, 2019

jcrtiling said:
If I remember rightly @Lithofin BOB
Recommended against using cement away indoors once , can't remember why something about fumes I think

Cheers JCR you are quite right. Apologies for the incorrect advice.

This is taken from the Lithofin datasheet:

Field of Use
Universally usable after tile laying, during fabrication, for cleaning facades and wherever ceramic tiles and stone must be thoroughly cleaned.
Lithofin CEMENT-AWAY is used outdoors and at the installation site during construction.

For indoor use, we recommend Lithofin KF Cement Residue Remover for ceramics and Lithofin MN Builder’s Clean for natural stones.

Help- grout nightmare

Regis Quality Tiling

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Dumbo

Regis Quality Tiling

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Dan

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Sean Kelly

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Dumbo

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