New York Subway Tiles - Anyone have any FS?
 

As a follow-up to this thread, I just bought a beautiful old home built
in the 30's and the bathroom is tiled with these same 3x6 subway tiles.
After we finally finished stripping the paint off of them (yes, the old
owners painted them baby blue) we were saddened to find them partially
stained. Only a few maintain their original color. Most of them have
what looks like a darker brownish hue beneath the surface. In many
places, it traces the little cracks that have formed on the surface of
the tile. My guess is that it's either mildew from many years of
neglect that seeped into the tile or perhaps the paint chemicals seeped
into the tiles and stained them.

Leads to the question, is it possible to clean these old tiles? Is
there anything on the market that I can apply on the wall and let it
soak for a while? (we're not moving in for a few weeks) I don't know
what else to do. I don't know if these tile resurfacers can maybe help.
I certainly don't want to put up a tub liner to cover them. Any ideas?
Much appreciated,
Manny
West Roxbury, MA

Leads to the question, is it possible to clean these old tiles? Is
there anything on the market that I can apply on the wall and let it
soak for a while? (we're not moving in for a few weeks) I don't know
what else to do. I don't know if these tile resurfacers can maybe help.
I certainly don't want to put up a tub liner to cover them. Any ideas?
Much appreciated,
Manny
West Roxbury, MA
---------
Just a guess. Soak in bleach (maybe diluted)?

"MannyT" wrote in message
ups.com...
As a follow-up to this thread, I just bought a beautiful old home built
in the 30's and the bathroom is tiled with these same 3x6 subway tiles.
After we finally finished stripping the paint off of them (yes, the old
owners painted them baby blue) we were saddened to find them partially
stained. Only a few maintain their original color. Most of them have
what looks like a darker brownish hue beneath the surface. In many
places, it traces the little cracks that have formed on the surface of
the tile. My guess is that it's either mildew from many years of
neglect that seeped into the tile or perhaps the paint chemicals seeped
into the tiles and stained them.

Leads to the question, is it possible to clean these old tiles? Is
there anything on the market that I can apply on the wall and let it
soak for a while? (we're not moving in for a few weeks) I don't know
what else to do. I don't know if these tile resurfacers can maybe help.
I certainly don't want to put up a tub liner to cover them. Any ideas?
Much appreciated,
Manny
West Roxbury, MA

I am reliably informed by an antique dealer friend of mine that he uses
commercial toilet bowl cleaners leaving it to soak on the tiles, then wiping
clean with water after about half an hour.

He said he used Harpic, but reckons any of the commercially available ones
will work.

I would suggest you try a small area first and see what happens.

Hank

Thanks for the suggestions! I see the Harpic toilet bowl cleaner comes
in gel form. That's perfect because other cleaners will run down the
wall and evaporate dry before they can be absorbed. I can't wait to try
it out. Will have to shovel 2ft of snow first though. :)

"MannyT" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks for the suggestions! I see the Harpic toilet bowl cleaner comes
in gel form. That's perfect because other cleaners will run down the
wall and evaporate dry before they can be absorbed.

Yes, thinking about it that's probably why he uses Harpic.

I can't wait to try it out.

Best of luck with it.

Will have to shovel 2ft of snow first though. :)

And with that LOL!