cleaning tiles

vietnam5

best solution for cleaning excess grout from glass mosaic tiles in shower.

DaithiDublin

There's no easy solution to this one, I'm afraid, it's going to come down to good old fashioned elbow grease. The amount of work depends on the amount of residue left behind. If it is just a light film of residue them rubbing the surface down with a dry cloth is the best way to start. If you start with a wet cloth you will only spread the residue around and one it dries again you're back to square one.

With mosaic you've really got your work cut out for you, because you'll need to tackle each affected piece, and even if you're only dealing with a shower cubicle that's a lot of work!

If there are sections with a thicker residue that a dry cloth wont budge then you will have to remove these manually with some kind of scraper. Seeing that it is glass mosaic I might suggest using something like a Stanley knife, as you wont scratch the surface. Work carefully and methodically, always scraping away from yourself, and wear safety glasses. This will be time consuming and there are no short cuts (specialist cleaners will be no more effective, trust me).

I've also used other things like pieces of hard plastic, broken pieces of tile (not glass!) or even hardwood. But a good blade is best, when used correctly (about a 45 degree angle to the surface and small movements).


Hope that helps!

Joey the lips

There is an acid you can buy in a tile shop that dissolves tile grout. It wont dissolve lots of in but you can do it in stages.

The problem is you might have to try it on a small area incase it takes the mirror finish from the glass.

slowburner

Apologies for mentioning a brand but will products like Santrax brick cleaner, (which is dilute Hydrochloric acid) clean off grout? It's great for removing splashes of mortar.