Quarry tiles dry white - Tile Advice

[Gardengirl]

Help! I have Victorian quarry tiles laid on dirt. I’ve just spent days cleaning them first with HG cement, mortar & efflorescence remover as there were little bits of cement here and there after steam cleaning, then with HG Terracotta Remover. The previous owners I think just put polish over dirty tiles as i used buckets and buckets of water before they were clean. The floor looked brilliant, I waited 24 hrs to make sure the floor was dry before applying HG Terracotta Shine Seal. The first coat looked great, after drying for an hour I applied the second coat in the opposite direction. It was walked on once after an hours drying and then a couple of times 7hours later. After all this work the second coat has dried patchy with white shine seal clearly visible. Can I do anything to rescue it? I really need to get my furniture back in, Xmas tree up and will not have time to remove reapply and wait 3 days again for it to cure b4 Xmas!! Any ideas??

 

[Dave]

Looks like them have bloomed from trapped moisture still in the tiles. They need at least a few days to dry but this also depends on moisture within the base. Cobble wax might have been better imo.

 

[Gardengirl]

Looks like them have bloomed from trapped moisture still in the tiles. They need at least a few days to dry but this also depends on moisture within the base. Cobble wax might have been better imo.

Thanks for your reply. Will I need to remove it all and start again? I will look at cobble wax

 

[Dave]

Thanks for your reply. Will I need to remove it all and start again? I will look at cobble wax

You will yes. Topical sealer won’t allow the floor to breathe