How to remove discoloured marks on outdoor tiles?

[someguy2k]

I had a rust marks previously on outdoor tiles shaped of a round circle ( probably caused by a pot plant from previous owner). I scrubbed with some bar keepers friend and a toothbrush to remove the rust marking ( in hindsight should use other methods instead of barkeepers friend). Now I see this ghosting mark where the cleaning and scrubbing occurred.  Any possibility this can be reverted/fixable ?

Thanks

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @someguy2k 

If you  feel there is a remaining rust mark  try using CLR  ( Calcuim lime and rust remover)

But to my eyes you now have a reverse of a dirty spot you have  bright clean spot. You may have to ultra clean it some  more to disipate the pot outline (blur the outline to be less obvious,  more of a cloud shape) 

Basically you can  go to a lot of trouble and scrub that floor so the whole floor is ultra clean to match that clean spot  Which will get  dirty again with time any how.

Or you can use some regular floor cleaner a couple of times mopping over whole floor and it wont do a perfect job in fact some of the cleaning water will re stain the ultra clean spot and moderate its appearance all gong well.

The trick I think is to polish out the remaining circular shape and make it less  distinctive feathering out the ultra clean.  Try  using a  polishing disk on a drill,  Angle grinder specialized polisher,  car polisher to make your life a little easy.   If you use some thing like gumption it has a little powder in it to help polish things  clean and simply use less cleaning pressure further out  from the clean spot.

Its really annoying getting  clean spots.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @someguy2k. It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about removing stains from tiles.

I think @Jewelleryrescue is correct here, that you've now created an ultra-clean area that is easily distinguishable from the surrounding aged tiles. You might like to try and clean all the tiles with Davco 1L Tile And Grout Cleaner. Please do a test section in an inconspicuous location to ensure the product does not damage your tiles.
 

The better you can clean the surrounding tiles, the less noticeable the area you previously cleaned will be. The tiles do look rather soiled, so by cleaning them, you could have a decent result.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[someguy2k]

Thanks @Jewelleryrescue  & @MitchellMc for the detailed suggestions. I yet to give the whole balcony the elbow grease of full cleaning. Any thoughts whether by using Bar Keepers Friend previously, may/possibly have damaged the surface  i.e. causing the marking.

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi 

@someguy2k  Bar keepers friend of which there are several versions clearly worked too well making the white spot /Clean spot. Rhubarb based and  some with abrasive powder in it for extra deep cleaning.

There is a gamble to clean the whole floor with the same stuff. Is It  hard to  use is  the floor too big?

The risk is more extra  clean spots if you dont scrub hard  enough evenly

[someguy2k]

Hi @Jewelleryrescue ,

I see you what you mean, I used the powdered version of Bar keepers friend. I suppose something to think about when I attempt clean whole balcony. The floor is rather big ( imho) approx. 60m2.

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @someguy2k 

In reality that floor will redirty over time  so just clean it as per regular the floor will slowly reblend.

60m2  sounds  too hard lol

[EricL]

Hi @someguy2k 

Just to add to the suggestions made, please make sure to test your cleaning product first in a small corner of your tiled floor before committing the entire area. This will give you a chance to see how it will affect your tiled floor.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[someguy2k]

Thank you @EricL