Terra Cotta Tile Flooring Maintenance

Here at Rustico Tile and Stone, we receive multiple phone calls everyday with the question: How do I clean my saltillo terra cotta tile?  Most of our clients are quite surprised that the answer is fairly simply and involves just a few steps.

The first step is to sweep or vacuum these terra cotta tiles.  Start the washing process free of dirt and debris!

Next, use a basic floor cleaner like our Stoneclean 104 tile cleaner.  It a cleaner that can easily be diluted with water in order to customize it's cleaning power for the needs of your floor.  On floors that need stain removal, Stoneclean 104 can be used at it's concentrated level for an aggressive cleaning on saltillo tile. 

That's the extent of basic cleaning.  We can offer a very sound piece of advice which is:  Limit the amount of water that you subject these clay tiles to.  If your floor is not well sealed and large amounts of water penetrate into the clay, it can cause tile efflorescence issues down the road.  This is an effect of salts and minerals that evaporate up through saltillo floor tiles as the water dries out.  If the terracotta flooring is well sealed, then efflorescence is far less of an issue. 

If you have efflorescence, check our our acid cleaner, V-Scrub!  It works miracles!

That usually brings about the next question - what sealer is recommended for saltillo tile?  Check our website for a listing of terra cotta tile sealer.  The best thing you can do for your floor is to put a very high quality sealer across the floor and grout.  A good sealer should easily last 5 years or more.  Our best saltillo sealer is TerraNano and it has a lifespan of 10-15 years.