How can I clean dark brown grout stains from a light beige porcelain tiles?

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How can I clean dark brown grout stains from a light beige porcelain tiles?

Discuss How can I clean dark brown grout stains from a light beige porcelain tiles? in the UK Tiling Forum area at TilersForums.com.

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Soyabean

Hi there, I have just had beige porcelain tiles fitted to a bathroom and left a section of around 15cm for some brown mosaics tiles to go.

They grouted the mosaic tiles today using Mapie 144 (chocolate brown) which I got and it appears to have stained the tiles a little.

He says that he has tried to clean it with water over and over again but it doesn’t work.

I was thinking of trying white spirit. Is that a no no?

Any idea's welcome.

Many thanks,
Sel
 
S

Soyabean

No they are not polished. They are are matt finish.

I just tried warm soapy water with a sponge which has an abrasive side to it and that didn't do a thing.

I also tried rubbing unused white grout on them as someone said to me that is a good way to remove stains from porcelain tiles but to be honest I think you would be there for ever and it didn't exactly remove it all either. It helped in few places though.

Right I better start Googling the grout residue remover products. Has anyone had success using these. Not sure how effective it's going to be in my situation but of course I will try anything as long as it doesntt cause more damage than good!
 
S

Soyabean

Thanks for the advise brinkley. My builders tiler did the tiling (great job) and another of his general builders did the grouting. While the main grouting was fine as it was limestone in colour, we wanted a dark brown around the mozaic tiles which are also dark brown. I coudn't get that until yesterday and it was done today.

I will be speaking with my builder in the morning but wanted to know if there was much chance of getting it off. To be honest it looks to me like the grout which is really dark in colour has stained the tiles but I hope there is a way to improve it. The grout used is dark chocolate like in colour. Oh boy, why can't anything be easy?!
 
S

Soyabean

Right I couldn't find the nail vanish remover but did find some surgical spirit which I am sorry to report didn't help. I have an offcut with the same thing done to it. The grout was only put on it to show me the effect so it's not as stained as my real tiles but at least I have something which I can try the surgical sprit onto as soon as I leave the shop. Will update with my results. Thanks
 
T

TheTiler

I will back up Soyabean. Acetone often works, although sometimes a toothbrush is needed and a LOT of time. I've had a couple of miserable experiences with riven porcelain and polished porcelain even after I'd asked advice from the suppliers PRIOR to fitting. I had one job where the manufacturers of some polished white porcelain explicitly explained that the tiles required stripping off a manufactured wax coat with a Fila stripper prior to fixing and then sealing (with Fila). Then fix and grout and seal again (with Fila). Understood, I thought, however, once the factory wax is removed, it's all up to the sealant, and although you may follow it to the book, I managed to stain a couple by rubbing a knee pad on them during fixing. Took me forever to get it out, and I still had to warn the customer to never walk on the tiles in shoes. Some tiles aren't fit for purpose methinks...
 
S

Soyabean

Hi all I just wanted to say thanks for all your tips and advice last night. It gave me hope. Tonight I am much happier as my builders team managed to get the stains off of the tiles.

I just wanted to share the name of the cleaner. It is called MGP 30 is acid based and here is what I found out about it from the web "MGP 30 Cleaner for removing sealing residues from porcelain grès and natural stones, and concrete residues from slate; especially recommended for cleaning cobblestones, rosettes and ancient-finished marbles."

It has discoloured the brown grout in places next to the tiles but I can live with that. Last night was a nightmare; by comparison this is just an shame.

There must be things I can paint onto the grout to make it look brown again right? And if not, never mind. At least my lovely new tiles have not been ruined :)

Any of you heard of the MGP 30? And if not it may be worth looking up just in case… Cheers all!

 
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ivanhoe

hi, i had exactly same problem after tiling my bathroom, light plain porcelin wall tiles from b&q (i know i know) were covered in a ingrained stain from the dark charcoal grout. tried the nail varnish remover to no avail.
after searching on here i evetually bought something from Topps by fila called-grout residue remover and it did exactly what it said on the tin!
takes a while to work mind, dont know if its a bleaching process or not but after initial application and scrubbing nothing happened. much disgruntled i left it for while went to work and came back to find it had completely removed a said staining.
it does as some have mentioned tend to bleach the grouting and its pretty impossible to apply without touching the grout but small price to pay and that can be relatively easily resolved.
 

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