Available in a variety of styles and designs Porcelain tiles are harder than normal Ceramic tiles and are known for their durability and water resistance, making them ideal for use in shower cubicles and bathrooms.
However, as I’m sure most people already know, shower tiles are not the easiest to keep clean and fresh. These tiles are exposed daily to a multitude of acidic soaps and shampoo dyes, and if proper precaution is not taken to rinse away the excess after using the shower, mould will grow very quickly on the grout.
This shower cubicle, constructed from Porcelain tiles, is a typical example of this. As you can see from the photo below, the mould problem was very apparent. I was asked by the property owner, who lives in Didcot, a railway town in South Oxfordshire, to refresh it after what must have been years of neglect. Here’s how I did it.
Cleaning a Porcelain Tiled Shower Cubicle
The first process in restoring this shower cubicle was to spray the walls with Tile Doctor Duo Clean, which is both a grout cleaner and a mould remover. I left it to dwell for 45 minutes, before proceeding to scrubbing into the grout with a stiff brush. I worked in sections, spraying more Duo Clean onto the tiles as I moved along the length of the walls.
Following this, I rinsed the entire cubicle with fresh water to remove any traces of chemicals and used my wet-vac machine to dry it quickly. The next process was to remove the old, mouldy silicone and replace it with fresh silicone.
Sealing a Porcelain Tiled Shower Cubicle
With the shower cubicle now fresh and clean, it was now time for me to seal the grout and tiles.
I did this using Tile Doctor Wall Grout Sealer Spray, which is a water-based grout sealer that prevents oil, water and acid-based contaminants – including soaps and shampoos – from spoiling the appearance and colour of grout. It does this while allowing for moisture vapour transmission.
Check out the photo below – you can see that after a short day’s work, the appearance of the cubicle has been completely transformed. The customer was very pleased with the result and the addition of the sealer will ensure it stays this way for some time to come.
Source: Shower Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Oxfordshire
Covering Oxfordshire Barry Woodward is an agent of Tile Doctor, the largest Tile and Stone cleaning network in the UK who have developed the products and techniques to handle a multitude of issues surrounding tile restoration including stone and grout.