Thursday, December 20, 2012

Cleaning and Sealing Black Slate floor tiles in Ilkley

Details below of a slate floor we cleaned and sealed in the kitchen of a house in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. You can see from the photographs that the large Black Slate floor tiles were looking dull and the grout had become soiled with ingrained dirt.

Black Slate floor Ilkley before Black Slate floor Ilkley before

Cleaning Black Slate Tile Flooring

To remove the remaining sealer and dirt from the Slate Floor Tiles I used a solution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go mixed 50/50 with Tile Doctor Nanotech Ultra-Clean agitated with a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The grout was particularly stained and given the scrubbing machine isn’t as effective on the grout lines it was necessary scrub in Tile Doctor Pro-Clean Tile and Grout cleaner into the grout lines by hand using a grout scrubbing brush. The floor was then washed down with water to neutralise it and remove any remaining cleaning solution prior to sealing, it had take all day to clean the floor so we decided to let it dry overnight and come back the next day to seal.

Sealing Slate Tile Flooring

The Slate was sealed with several coats of Tile Doctor High Shine Sealer which provides a good combination of stain protection together with a high-sheen finish. Slate needs four to five coats and it’s necessary to let it dry between coats this step can take some time to complete. You can see the different in the photograph below; also notice how the sealer has given the floor a lift; the sealer will also protect the grout from further staining.

Black Slate floor Ilkley After
 

Source: Black Slate in Ilkley, West Yorkshire cleaned and sealed