I live in a rural area of montana,and have a lot of clay in the dirt that gets tracked in.i have a slate floor(india multi). when it was put in the floor guys' newbie was sent to clean and enhance it. while some tiles look wet (which i love) most have a look like muddy gray dirt is ground in them.(the tile guy says that's normal and his job is done) i've been told the muddy grey film is grout. how do i remove the grout film/remains from the tiles and what do you recommend to enchance the stone to give it a wet look? (i have been told not to seal the tile just enchance it.)I appreciate any help you can give.

 

Dear Katherine:

They tell me that rural Montana is so beautiful! I'd really love to see it some day…

Now down to business:

By saying slate you're saying very little – if anything at all. There are many different (and I do mean different) kinds of slate that span from dense and acceptable rocks, to slate that will actually fall apart foot traffic or under running water or turn into mud, and everything in between.

So which slate do you have? Indian Multicolor, which is a slate that's very inconsistent: a percentage of tiles are good, while another percentage are not so good. You never know.

Now, assuming that it is indeed grout film (somehow I'm not too sure of that… Does the color of the grout match the color of that “ like muddy gray dirt ”?) it is not going to be easy to remove, due to the rippled natural-cleft finish of your stones (I assume that it is natural-cleft finish). You could try to soak it with a solution of hot water and MB-3, let it dwell for 10 minutes or so (feed it some more if it dries) and then scrub with a laundry brush. If not at the first attempt, within two or three tries you should be able to remove it all. But if it is something else (such as the tiles actually getting ground by the foot traffic), then the problem is totally different and could not be certainly be solved by something coming in a bottle.

Hoping that it is indeed grout film, once you remove it the way I told you, you will then proceed to enhance the color of your tiles by using a good-quality stone color enhancer like MB-6. That is indeed a very good idea.

 

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Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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