Did I ruin my shower tiles? - Tile Advice

[myersgg]

I had a pretty bad case of efflorescence in my shower so I used a cleaner from home depot and a lot of scrubbing to remove it. Well all the thick stuff is gone, but now my tiles look very pale unless wet (see image for wet vs dry). Are they ruined or is there something I can put on them now to bring back the color (or make them always look wet)?

Thanks!

 

[Lou]

Welcome to the forum One of our lovely members should be able to give you advice

 

[J Sid]

If it was acid based cleaner onto stone/marble it would have lightened / etched the surface. Depending on how bad it is you could try a colour intenseifer and reseal them

 

[hmtiling]

looks like you acid etched the stone. however the efflorescence is a problem to do with water underneath the tiles and may come back. wet room floor are a little different over there , mud pans and such and i'm not familiar enough to offer a remedy unfortunately

 

[Unused Account 1]

You took the sealer off ,reseal

 

[myersgg]

OK sounds like I need to try to enhance and seal, is there a product that someone would recommend for that? Here is one I was considering trying: Miracle Sealants Seal and Enhance Miracle Sealants SEENPT6 511 Seal & Enhance Color & Gloss Enhancers, Pint, Clear - Household Wood Stains - Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Sealants-SEENPT6-Enhance-Enhancers/dp/B000VX7HHK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 Would that be good or do you think there's a better option?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[hmtiling]

OK sounds like I need to try to enhance and seal, is there a product that someone would recommend for that? Here is one I was considering trying: Miracle Sealants Seal and Enhance Miracle Sealants SEENPT6 511 Seal & Enhance Color & Gloss Enhancers, Pint, Clear - Household Wood Stains - Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Sealants-SEENPT6-Enhance-Enhancers/dp/B000VX7HHK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 Would that be good or do you think there's a better option?

Thanks for your help!!

Ring their technical department first as some aren't suitable for wet areas

 

[Dan]

Lithofin, HG, a couple of other names to try on Amazon and eBay. But find their technical departments. Or email their UK ones and they should forward you to the supplier over there. And at least give you advice.

They are pretty decent over here. If you mention you've come from the forum they should help you out via email. It's all usual responses they're giving out quickly.

 

[myersgg]

Thanks for your help!!! I ended up with Miracle Sealants Seal & Enhance and it looks great!! Phew, I definitely thought I had ruined the tile. There is a low spot at the back left corner though so I assume I will need to pull it all up at some point to fix that, but for now I'm happy .

 

[Sean Kelly]

Thanks for the update. Looks like a good product. You will probably need to re apply at some time down the line so keep that bottle safe and sound.