Hi Buckland, no offence taken there as i have said always happy to share my experience and knowledge, if some maybe benefit from it then that's great. Tadgh
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Tadgh,
I promised I would not reply to you at all in the future but as you seem unable to conceed I will make another exception!
I have deep cleaned, repaired, relaid, restored and sealed literally 1000's of Victorian and Edwardian Floors and Geometric Tiles with no issues or problems that I have not been able to deal with. I have written articles on the subject and I am an advisor to probably one of the largest manufacturers of modern encaustic tiles today! So much so, they asked me to write their care and maintenance instructions.
So in comparison, how much REAL HANDS ON experience Do You Actually Have regarding the cleaning, restoring and sealing of Victorian & Edwardian Encaustic Tiles and Geometrics? I am looking here for Real Experience of Real Floors not the odd metre here or there!
The answer I suspect is "very little" or you would have realised from the onset that the REAL PROBLEM here was lack of experience from Alex in realising where he had gone wrong! He stated that the efflorescence was patchy and anyone who knows their onions regarding efflorescence would realise immediately that due to the FACT that Victorian & Edwardian Tiles have a very low porosity % rate that it was in fact the substrate that had absorbed the water / cleaning solution through the grout joints not the tiles which in turn had allowed the Efflorescence to manifest itself which is why I told him to use a dry brush and just vac it off.
Strangely enough as I have said before I respect the fact that there are SOMETIMES more eco friendly methods of cleaning and they have a place in some situations especially smaller projects and for the likes of softer flooring but in general for Commercial Heavy Duty Cleaning especially of larger areas involving Tile & Natural Stone I believe my methods are more suitable than yours. Therefore I re-iterate that cleaning these type of floors with correctly diluted Alkaline Cleaners coupled with honing powder if required using a Mono Rotary Machine and a wet vacuum in SMALL SECTIONS at a time is the correct way to do it and the way I will continue to teach on our courses.
Just in case you want to continue the conversation insisting you are right, which incidentally I will not reply to. I suggest you read the extract of an article I have pasted below: This was written by Peter Thompson who has been cleaning and restoring Victorian Floors for over 25 Years and oversaw the restoration of the V & A Museum Floors. Or is he wrong as well?
The main clean should use an intensive alkali based cleaner specifically tailored for unglazed tiled floors – there are several different makes on the market. Note that these are normally diluted with water, and start off with the lowest concentration specified. If necessary, the strength of the solution can be increased. Such cleaning agents work better if a low speed scrubbing machine with a plastic scrubbing pad is used, but hand pads work well – it’s just more strenuous. Work with a hand pad will be needed if there are dished tiles that the machine pads cannot get into. Clean relatively small areas at a time and when each area has been well scrubbed, rinse several times with clean water and mop as dry as possible. Once the whole floor has been treated, do it all over again. Throughout this process it is most important to monitor the cleaning solutions and rinsing water. Change them frequently as they as get dirty.
Acid cleaning solutions can be useful, especially where cement based levelling compounds have left residue on the surface of tiles. Only use acids where there is no danger of damage to the fabric or finishes of the building. Again only use small quantities and in the weakest possible solutions. Remove acid solutions as quickly as possible, rinse with water and then clean the area again with an alkali based solution to neutralise the acid.
Once the floor is clean, it must be sealed.