Correct and effective protection of your clay tiles will prevent the appearance of stains and facilitate their maintenance, thereby making your life happier. Visit todobarro's official clay tile cleaning and protection guide In a previous post we explained how to professionally clean a mud floor . In that phase it was very important to know if our ceramic flooring was newly laid or, on the contrary, it was already in use and had been previously treated. Well, in this protection phase it is equally important to differentiate between pavements located outdoors and those located indoors. Depending on their location, the products to be applied will have different properties, although all of them must achieve a series of objectives that we list below. 1) Objectives for optimal protection of clay floors Drastically reduce the porosity of the terracotta tile. Moisturize the soil, thereby leaving a soft touch essential to facilitate maintenance on very rough clay pavements. Avoid the appearance of saltpeter (saline efflorescence) and humidity. Reduce the risk of household stains. Allow the tiles to breathe. Maintain or intensify the natural tone of the tile (unless we expressly want to tint it with an aged leather effect). When the floors are very aesthetically damaged, it is suggested to homogenize their surface aesthetics also with a leather effect.
We must point out that protective treatments prevent the appearance of saltpeter and verdigris unless there is permanent and continued humidity over time. These could have originated from: Deficiencies in the evacuation of water that cause continuous flooding. Water infiltration into the ground or into the concrete of the foundation. Pipe breaks and flooding due to weather accidents. In these cases, the protection minimizes the appearance of saltpeter Austria Phone Number List and verdigris stains, although only the eradication of the origin of the humidity can completely guarantee any future problems. For indoor clay floors, the protective treatments are completed with an ennobling or finishing process that provides greater protection against household stains, facilitates cleaning, protects against wear and tear, and further enhances the natural tone of the clay pieces. 2) Indoor protection It consists of two stages necessary to achieve our objective, one for protection and another that we call finishing or ennobling. 2.1) Clay soil protection phase It is essential, before starting this phase, to check that the soil meets the drying conditions to carry out the protective treatment successfully.
Normally, drying indoors takes longer than outdoors, so areas with poor ventilation will spend more time drying. Subsequently, with the floor well swept and dry, we apply the specific indoor products with a wide brush (approximately 20 cm) and evenly. In this way, the product will be equally distributed and without puddles on the clay tiles and joints. The proportion of product applied in each brush stroke will directly affect the intensity of the shine and the wet effect of the terracotta flooring. Finally, it must be allowed to dry completely again between 4 and 24 hours in a room with good ventilation, which can be extended in more humid rooms. A professional can shorten the aforementioned period by testing the pavement and if he considers that the weather conditions are very favorable (very hot summer weather for example). It is essential to use this minimum time (even if the ground seems to be dry beforehand) and not step on it during it. 2.2) Finishing phase The finishing process is only applied to clay floors located indoors. This phase provides greater protection against household stains, a softer feel to the floors and a silky satin finish (or glossy to choose from). In addition, it produces greater resistance to clay tiles and makes cleaning even easier, making it highly advisable for places subjected to intensive use.