This is an interesting Terracotta brick tiled floor installed in a house in the village of Alderly Edge. The Terracotta tiles were made in a brick shape which was a popular design found in rural buildings in the 19th century. Although the floor was in good condition the sealer was starting to wear off and being clay Terracotta are porous and trap dirt if not sealed. You can see this in the before photograph below where you can see how the grout and Terracotta has darkened with ingrained dirt.

Cleaning Terracotta Brick Tiles

To get the Terracotta tiles clean and free of any remaining sealer I soaked tiles in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to dwell for twenty minutes, Pro-Clean is an alkaline product and so safe to use on tiled floors. Then using a large 17inch black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and a stiff grout brush proceeded to work the cleaning solution into the tile and grout. The now dirty cleaning solution was removed using a wet vacuum and the floor rinsed down with hot water. Some stubborn areas were spot treated using the same process and once happy with the overall condition of the floor the tiles were thoroughly rinsed three times using hot water to remove any trace of cleaning product prior to sealing and then left to dry overnight.

Sealing Terracotta Brick Tiles

I returned the next day to seal the floor testing it first with a damp meter to make sure it had dried. I then started to seal the tiles and with Terracotta being a very porous material it took eight coats of sealer to do the job. I used Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a topical sealer that gives Terracotta a subtle gloss finish, it’s also water based so it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

Terracotta Tile Cleaning in Cheshire