How to clean ....

We are having the bathroom renovated - pulling up carpet and lino etc we discovered the loveliest floor tiles, grey and red however the dirt seems to be ingrained - they look as if duaty cement is on them even after cleaning and by that i mean cleaning upteen times a day, tried vinegar, cif and a specialist floor cleaner by dettol - what else if anything could we try?

Also where they removed the old water cistern over the toilet it has left rust marks on the tiles , is there any thing will remove the rust off the tiles?

If im not scrubbing at floor tiles, I am scrubbing at wall tiles!

Heres a pic of how its beginning to take shape but you can see the rust marks above the toilet cistern and the poor condition of the floor tiles - we would really like to keep and restore the floor tiles - we are also on a budget

i would think a few goes with borax and lemon juice made to a paste would get rid of the rust stains nicely on the wall tiles you have to paste it on and leave it to dry though then rinse with water. as for the cement you could try a grout haze remover [along with a steel scouring pad and lots of elbow grease, try scraping the worst bits off first though with something like a wallpaper scraper , it won't spoil the finish of the tiles] which can be purchased cheaply from most diy stores.

I will get some borax tomorrow and have a scraper - some of the old lino was stuck like cement round the toilet, ive got rid of most of it round the rest of the tiles but still round the WC to do and I have lemons

Thank you

I used to work in the ceramic tile industry so know a bit.The best cleaner is a product called 'Wexa; made by Lithothin.Gets most deep grained dirt out.

http://www.extensive.co.uk/product.php/21/wexa-1l

Afterwards seal the floor with 'MN Stainstop' to prevent staining.
http://www.extensive.co.uk/product.p...n-stainstop-1l

If the tiles are terracotta then use 'Multi-seal'
http://www.extensive.co.uk/product.php/13/multi-seal-1l

Or use 'slate seal' if you want a high gloss finish.
http://www.extensive.co.uk/product.p...-slate-seal-1l

We have the same as you, quarry tiles, never managed to get them that clean though I'd recommend against just scrubbing them because I tried that and after hours of hard work and a bad back, they didn't really look any cleaner than when I started! Personally I just leave them now, they get mopped down but that's about it, we live in a farm cottage so I just reckon it adds to the character of the place There are some professionals who specialise in restoration/cleaning of quarry tiles if you want them done to a really good standard, or there's websites that sell products especially - e.g. this one http://www.tiledoctor.eu/QuarryTile.html

That looks like it will be a gorgeous floor once it's cleaned.

Friend of mine who used to work for a chemical company said you can mix Cif (or Jif as it was), washing up liquid and windolene...it will clean anything apparently...but not sure I'd recommend it..

Some good tips & links there so thank you!

This is a stone built property - 1800's & the Builder also called the tiles - Quarry tiles. We have discovered they are in the downstairs rooms & hall but thats another adventure for another time! At some stage someone added an upstairs to the property so its no longer a cottage as such but a house

For the life of me, cannot understand why someone wanted to cover the tiles up with ghastly yellow lino!

Very interesting, the only item i dont have is windolene

Thanks again folks

They look like they will be lovely once you get them cleared up

I'd be very careful mixing different cleaning agents, especially in a room like a bathroom that's generally small and a bit lacking in ventilation!