Help - dettol bathroom cleaner left staines on black polished porcelain

[Cdh299]

Hi, hope someone can help!

I used Dettol bathroom cleaner on my black polished porcelain tiles and it has left awful stains where the cleaner was sprayed on the tiles. No matter how much I scrub they wont come off.

What can I do to get rid of them?

Thanks

 

[DHTiling]

Can you give us some more info on the cleaner...? perhaps a link to said product

 

[jay]

:welcome: were the tiles sealed and do you know the products name would help :8:

 

[Cdh299]

Ocado: Dettol Multi Action Bathroom Spray 4 In 1 (Product Information)

Thanks!

 

[Cdh299]

tiles were sealed with LTP sealer for polished porcelain

The tiler had also used some sort of deep impregnator that had like a black dye in it? Does that make sense?

 

[Ajax123]

Dettol Bathroom Cleaner contains the following amongst other ingredients: Nonionic Surfactant, Disinfectant, Perfume. Also contains Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal and Limonene.

Not sure it is sutaible for waxed or polish treated surfaces but other hard washables should be ok.

Is porcelaine coated like travertine?

 

[DHTiling]

So i presume he used the MPG sealer from LTP....could do with knowing what this other stuff was...?

 

[Cdh299]

thats it, the MPG stuff

Not sure what the other stuff was.

Am panicking a little, is there anything i could try today?

 

[DHTiling]

It sounds like the cleaner has maybe removed what he applied to the surface...this black stuff....can you not phone him and ask what it was...don't really want to advise anything till we know what he applied..?

 

[Ajax123]

Long time since I did my Chemistry but can't see anything in the cleaner which will dissolve anything in the MPG sealer in its dry state - perhaps it is some sort of bleaching effect. It would probably disperse the Naptha compounds if scrubbed but these appear to be the evaporant solvent carriers in the product (hence the need for ventillation or you get a headache).

 

[Cdh299]

ok will find out. we are already in dispute with them about it as it stained the grey grouting black! I was trying to get off the awful smears that they had left on the tiles. (The job has only been finished a week)

i asked him what the black stuff was so i could get some in case we needed to do more tiling in the future with the porcelain and he was a bit cagey. Said he got it off a mate and it was a deep impregnator but didnt know what it was called.



If i bough a colour enhancer perhaps that would work?

 

[Cdh299]

If it is a bleaching effect - any suggestions to restore the colour?

 

[jay]

hi any chance of photos ( ajax123 i think your closing in on the prob/ deep imp with black dye in it what is it ):8:

 

[DHTiling]

If he has left smears on , then he has not buffed off any excess sealer.....i am really unsure about this black stuff...i have never heard of such a product and why use 2 sealers if thats the case.? they will react..

I think you should really clean those tiles back to original and seal again...

 

[DHTiling]

where abouts are you...we could arrange one of our top tilers on here to come have a look.?

 

[Cdh299]

yes it has puzzled me to. The reason he used it as we were already in dispute with them about the fact they left the tiles unsealed for over a week and the tiles had started to get stains in them.

Then one weekend we got home and they had put this stuff on them and the grey grout had gone black!

So you dont think Im in the wrong for using that type of bathroom cleaner on them then?

 

[Cdh299]

Thanks Dave - however I am going to take it up with B&Q first. (They provided the tiles and tilers...)

 

[jay]

let us know how it goes :8:

 

[Ajax123]

If he has left smears on , then he has not buffed off any excess sealer.....i am really unsure about this black stuff...i have never heard of such a product and why use 2 sealers if thats the case.? they will react..

I think you should really clean those tiles back to original and seal again...

I agree with Dave on this one - I think it may be a case of stripping back and re sealing.

Had a look at the data sheets for the MPG again and also the instructions - there is nothing there that I can put my finger on as being a potential issue. I too am unsure of the "black stuff" though. If it is a bleaching effect I cannot see how you will get away with anything other than stripping of the existing sealer and replacing it because as soon as you spray another area of tiles the same thing will happen. I suppose there is an outside possibility that the sealer is not yet fully dried. It does say 3 days before cleaning on the instrctions and this is only a week old. As I said outside chance and possibly complete red herring.

Most general purpose domestic household cleaners tend to be based on similar formulations although they do contain different specific ingredients. I know My wife uses a Dettol one in our bathrooms and I am unaware of any issues other than it takes the gold plating off the taps. (the one she bought said don't use it on gold plate - my fault - did not read the instructions - typical bloke)

 

[Cdh299]

so just to clarify, you guys have never heard of such a product for tiles that would stain grey grout black?

Am wondering if they have created their own concoction to make the tiles look good enough to say the job is done but not last...

 

[DHTiling]

yes it has puzzled me to. The reason he used it as we were already in dispute with them about the fact they left the tiles unsealed for over a week and the tiles had started to get stains in them.

Then one weekend we got home and they had put this stuff on them and the grey grout had gone black!

So you dont think Im in the wrong for using that type of bathroom cleaner on them then?

Mmmmmm .. i am inclined to think maybe they have used shoe polish to hide the marks on the tiles before they were sealed....

I think you need to get onto B&Q then...

will you keep us informed please as to how this goes..?

 

[Cdh299]

Thanks Ajax. The Dettol sais not for use on stone surfaces or marble but nothing about porcelain

However I still cant see why it would strip off the colour on the tiles if the tiles had been treated properly

 

[Ajax123]

If Dave is right and they have used shoe polish the dettol would take that off quite easily. Without knowing what the black stuff is though it is impossible to say for sure. I think B&Q is possibly your first port of call as you say.

 

[Cdh299]

Will definetly keep you informed Dave!

Do you know if they will easily be able to scrape out the grey grout that had stained black and re grout it?

I cant see how they will be able to do that without damaging the edges of the porcelain tiles?

Sounds like they might have to rip the whole lot out and start again anyway?

 

[Cdh299]

if this wasnt so worrying i would laugh right now @ Shoe polish! LOL is that a well known 'cowboy tiler' trick?

 

[DHTiling]

I have seen alsorts used to hide scratches...stains etc...it was just a thought i had that maybe shoe polish might have been used to hide the stains...seen as the joints had gone black as well...and then they buffed it off and applied the sealer and then it smeared...??????


All just summising really because we don't know what he used..but deffo needs looking at.

 

[Cdh299]

Can i just say that you guys rock! So helpful. There are good people in this world! :hurray:

 

[Cdh299]

out of interest Dave, if we decide to get our money back and get our own tiler in, can you recommend anyone in the St Albans area?

 

[DHTiling]

I will able to sort that for you....let us know how it goes first and then we will sort a tiler if needed.

 

[Terry Cottar]

From your description it sounds to me as though there was either a grout haze or wax left on the tiles and they have tried to cover it

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