How to restore kitchen tiles?

[Mudbuddha]

Hey All,

so been looking at the tiles in my kitchen for the last few months and the tile 'colour' fade seems to be getting larger/worse, 

just wanted to know would this be a matter of 'polishing' to bring back the colour or would it require painting? 

anyone know how to get started? no damage or chips just colour seems to be off. probably doesnt help when the kids do body slides on it after its been mopped i guess...

i took a photo of just 1 tile in the kitchen there are other faded tiles around the kitchen and keen to get this back to its former glory. any help appreciated!

[Jason]

Hi @Mudbuddha,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We trust you'll get loads of help and inspiration for all your projects from our wonderful community members. 

Can you please confirm these are floor tiles? Do you know how old they are and/or what type of tile they are?  

Thanks,

Jason

[EricL]

Hi @Mudbuddha 

My apologies for the late reply. Looking at your photos it seems like the ceramic coating above the tile is being worn away. Have you been using an abrasive cleaner or strong chemicals to scrub the top of the tiled floor? Can you please tell us what you've used in the past? 

I suggest doing a rubber eraser test on the tile to see if it is an imbedded stain. Place the eraser on top of tile and run it in a left to right motion staying in one spot only. If after 30 seconds of rubbing and there is no change, the tile surface has either been deeply stained or damaged. If the stain goes away, it's likely that there is something causing the tile to stain in that manner.

It is possible to paint the tiles using the Dulux Renovation range. However, you'll need to do the entire area as it will be extremely difficult to colour match your tile. There is also the option of testing various cleaning products on the tile to see if it will remove this blemish. 

Please make sure to wear personal protection such as gloves, goggles and a mask when testing the cleaning compounds on your floor tile.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric