I've got white ceramic tile in my kitchen, and recently
some relatives with young children came to stay for a short visit.
I tried to "child proof" and put any potential dangers out of reach,
but being a non-parent and not good around kids I didn't foresee all
risks. The kids (age six and eight) found my snow cleats (pointed
steel cleats I strap on my shoes for working in snow and ice) and
decided that ceramic tile made a fun substitute for ice. Result? a few
chipped tiles and a whole bunch of long shiney metal marks all over
the tiles.

Replacing them was not an option; they match other tiled areas
throughout the house (bathrooms, utility room, laundry room) and I
can't find replacements (they are no longer made). The chips aren't
bad (I found the pieces and superglued them back) but the metal marks
were unsightly and wouldn't come off with normal cleaners or
lime-away, or even muriatic acid. I even tried pencil erasers, no
luck, and google searches turned up nothing that worked.

But, I recently tried a product for removing toilet bowl rings, a type
of abrasive cloth called "miracle cloth". It worked great, and on a
whim I tried it on the metal marks. It took one heck of a lot of elbow
grease, and resulted in a slight dimming of the glaze, but it worked.
So, I thought I'd post this here for anyone else who has this problem.

It also worked well for removing silicone "aquarium" sealant that
those kids also tracked over my tile and I didn't discover until it
had set. A razor blade left a bit behind, but the cloth plus elbow
grease cleaned it off. Now, if only I could figure out how to get that
stuff out of carpet...

Chris.

I used Mothers chrome polish (pep boys) for a similar situation, it works
but takes a bit of work.
"Chris J..." wrote in message
...

I've got white ceramic tile in my kitchen, and recently
some relatives with young children came to stay for a short visit.
I tried to "child proof" and put any potential dangers out of reach,
but being a non-parent and not good around kids I didn't foresee all
risks. The kids (age six and eight) found my snow cleats (pointed
steel cleats I strap on my shoes for working in snow and ice) and
decided that ceramic tile made a fun substitute for ice. Result? a few
chipped tiles and a whole bunch of long shiney metal marks all over
the tiles.

Replacing them was not an option; they match other tiled areas
throughout the house (bathrooms, utility room, laundry room) and I
can't find replacements (they are no longer made). The chips aren't
bad (I found the pieces and superglued them back) but the metal marks
were unsightly and wouldn't come off with normal cleaners or
lime-away, or even muriatic acid. I even tried pencil erasers, no
luck, and google searches turned up nothing that worked.

But, I recently tried a product for removing toilet bowl rings, a type
of abrasive cloth called "miracle cloth". It worked great, and on a
whim I tried it on the metal marks. It took one heck of a lot of elbow
grease, and resulted in a slight dimming of the glaze, but it worked.
So, I thought I'd post this here for anyone else who has this problem.

It also worked well for removing silicone "aquarium" sealant that
those kids also tracked over my tile and I didn't discover until it
had set. A razor blade left a bit behind, but the cloth plus elbow
grease cleaned it off. Now, if only I could figure out how to get that
stuff out of carpet...

Chris.

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 03:25:08 -0800, "Martin Hirsch"
wrote:

I used Mothers chrome polish (pep boys) for a similar situation, it works
but takes a bit of work.

The problem was that the metal marks penetrated the glaze in places.
The kids didn't just walk on the tile with them, they were taking
running starts and "skating" across the tile with the steel cleats,
including some jumping.

For the future, I'm definitely concentrating on prevention. The first
part of which is denying any further visits by those kids and their
parents until the parents (the father is my cousin) cough up the $$
for the damage the kids did.

Chris J... wrote:
I've got white ceramic tile in my kitchen, and recently
some relatives with young children came to stay for a short visit.
I tried to "child proof" and put any potential dangers out of reach,
but being a non-parent and not good around kids I didn't foresee all
risks. The kids (age six and eight) found my snow cleats (pointed
steel cleats I strap on my shoes for working in snow and ice) and
decided that ceramic tile made a fun substitute for ice. Result? a few
chipped tiles and a whole bunch of long shiney metal marks all over
the tiles.

Are you sure the cleats were steel? Could they be aluminum? I'd be
inclined to try a cleaner specific for the type of metal. Leave the
muriatic acid alone ) Lots of glazes have metal in them, so mebbe the
metal bonded with that. Try toothpaste? Straight Dawn dish detergent
and a 3M scrubber? They used to use 3M for polishing stainless, so it
may take off the metal residue. Pumice or rouge? What was yer cousin
doing while his kids trashed your house?

We removed metal marks off our walls really easily with the Mr. Clean
magic eraser. I was really surprised how well it worked.

Chris J... wrote:

I've got white ceramic tile in my kitchen, and recently
some relatives with young children came to stay for a short visit.
I tried to "child proof" and put any potential dangers out of reach,
but being a non-parent and not good around kids I didn't foresee all
risks. The kids (age six and eight) found my snow cleats (pointed
steel cleats I strap on my shoes for working in snow and ice) and
decided that ceramic tile made a fun substitute for ice. Result? a few
chipped tiles and a whole bunch of long shiney metal marks all over
the tiles.

Replacing them was not an option; they match other tiled areas
throughout the house (bathrooms, utility room, laundry room) and I
can't find replacements (they are no longer made). The chips aren't
bad (I found the pieces and superglued them back) but the metal marks
were unsightly and wouldn't come off with normal cleaners or
lime-away, or even muriatic acid. I even tried pencil erasers, no
luck, and google searches turned up nothing that worked.

But, I recently tried a product for removing toilet bowl rings, a type
of abrasive cloth called "miracle cloth". It worked great, and on a
whim I tried it on the metal marks. It took one heck of a lot of elbow
grease, and resulted in a slight dimming of the glaze, but it worked.
So, I thought I'd post this here for anyone else who has this problem.

It also worked well for removing silicone "aquarium" sealant that
those kids also tracked over my tile and I didn't discover until it
had set. A razor blade left a bit behind, but the cloth plus elbow
grease cleaned it off. Now, if only I could figure out how to get that
stuff out of carpet...

Chris.

Chris J... writes:

Result? a few
chipped tiles and a whole bunch of long shiney metal marks all over
the tiles.

Oxalic acid, an ingredient in: Barkeeper's Friend scouring powder, and
Rust-Aid rust remover. This will dissolve iron out of ceramics.