colorant for kitchen floor grout

[pjs]

Which grout colorant brand if any would you recommend for our wide grout kitchen floor. Which ones might work best? We have had the floor professionally cleaned several times and cannot get the original grout clean enough and uniformly cleaned. they’ve tried steaming and multiple chemicals.

Kitchen floor, non porous ceramic tile (terracotta color) appears to be glazed as it doesn’t absorb any water.

We want to apply colorant and be able to remove any excess colorant off the tile. Note in the pictures the irregular shape of the grout lines and its thickness. Existing grout appears to be sanded, type unknown other than about 30 years old.

After applying the colorant to a small test area, how can i test how well it will hold up in real life? We will have the floors professionally cleaned and stripped before applying the colorant.

The colorant color we choose will likely be in the grey/brown family or something that will hopefully not look dirty over time.

The grout is slightly recessed below the tile surface.

Removing the grout we have been advised by two experienced tile professionals not practical and beyond extensive time likely to crack the tile. We are really hoping colorant will work as other options are not viable at this time.

 

[Bryce C]

How do I tag someone in a post? MarkieMark would have something good to contribute here... He is the grout colorant/colorseal guy. He sells his own formulation, teaches classes, and happily gives out advice regarding the stuff all the time. Mikey P is a hard surface master as well but I don't know what he thinks about colorsealing. I am surprised him nor anyone else has contributed anything. They are redesigning the entire site to be a platform where questions like these are at the heart of its purpose...

One thing I know from reading so much about it, and speaking with MarkieMark, is that even the best colorseal won't have a long life span if there are any soils left on the grout before application. So one needs to make sure that the grout is pristinely clean right before application. I admit I bought a $600 colorseal kit from MarkieMark and have never used it... Mostly because I was cleaning with a portable until recently and was concerned I couldn't get the grout quite clean enough for colorseal to really stick with that weak machine, despite having a good process. And I didn't want to get call backs on failed colorseal 2 years later.

You mentioned having the floors stripped, have there been any topical coatings like wax applied to it previously?

 

[pjs]

How do I tag someone in a post? MarkieMark would have something good to contribute here... He is the grout colorant/colorseal guy. He sells his own formulation, teaches classes, and happily gives out advice regarding the stuff all the time. Mikey P is a hard surface master as well but I don't know what he thinks about colorsealing. I am surprised him nor anyone else has contributed anything. They are redesigning the entire site to be a platform where questions like these are at the heart of its purpose...

One thing I know from reading so much about it, and speaking with MarkieMark, is that even the best colorseal won't have a long life span if there are any soils left on the grout before application. So one needs to make sure that the grout is pristinely clean right before application. I admit I bought a $600 colorseal kit from MarkieMark and have never used it... Mostly because I was cleaning with a portable until recently and was concerned I couldn't get the grout quite clean enough for colorseal to really stick with that weak machine, despite having a good process. And I didn't want to get call backs on failed colorseal 2 years later.

You mentioned having the floors stripped, have there been any topical coatings like wax applied to it previously?

thank you. No topical coatings applied. I’ll look if i can find information from MarkieMark.

i was also talking with someone today who highly recommends a product sold by a company called turbo-seal in AZ. i’m not sure if that’s MarkieMarks company and product.