Villa Lagoon Tile | Mosaic Cement Tile

Sealing Cement Tile

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Want to read about our testing ? Continue on....

We have tried so many combinations of impregnators and waxes that it isn't funny. Some are shown below and we have done bunches of tests that are not even shown here...and after 3 years of testing, a product has come on the market that we believe will replace all the sealants, grout releases and waxes...TK6 Nanocoat from Richard James Specialty Chem Co. We now will begin to recommend that our residential and commercial clients use one coat of this product for a grout release and a second or third coat over the grouted tile as a final finish. It is renewable, so if you ever have any high traffic area of wear-thru , it can be touched up. It comes in gloss and extra low gloss (our pick) . It is non-yellowing and seems to be pretty much stain proof.

Now, info on old ways of sealing:

Traditionally cement tiles were "sealed" with an application of oil or even kerosene and /or paste wax . Times have changed. Most people recommend that cement tiles be sealed with a modern penetrating stone & tile sealer.  These are called "impregnators" . This used to be our recommendation for residential jobs. We have tested many brands (see below). A light coat of paste wax is recommended as a final finish. We have tested many brands of paste wax too (see below).

Another option is a top-coat type sealer. This is good for commercial locations and home kitchens.

Today there are many brands of synthetic tile and stone impregnator sealers on the market, so in addition to the usual top coat of paste wax, there are a lot of choices. Are you wondering, as we were, if you can skip the step of applying a synthetic sealer and just use wax and protect your tiles ? See our test results below. (the answer is NO). And solvent based sealants work better than the water-based kinds.

The best synthetic stone and tile sealers are fairly expensive, so we had hoped that using ordinary Mineral Oil as an old style sealer would be effective. We figured that since many of the sealers have problems resisting oil based spills  that we might just go ahead and oil the tiles to start with. We knew that using a vegetable based oils was not a good idea since all vegetable oils will turn rancid over time.

We did some preliminary 'whole tile' tests with our penetrating sealer products.

In an attempt to determine which readily available commercial products would best protect our own tiles, we made test tiles that were treated in various ways and exposed them to common household spills and smudges. Our penetrating sealer products came from local 'big box' home improvement stores. Since cement tiles are not in common usage in the USA, these product's labels spoke of stone, wood and/ or terra cotta tiles but not cement tiles specifically. We made sure that each product that we tested listed or mentioned that it was recommended for concrete on the label.

We used thin tape to make a grid on two tiles so that I could test various spills on two different tiles.

In each case, we left the spills on the tile for 30 minutes. We waxed half of each sealed tile and tested in both the sealed and waxed areas as well as in the sealed-only areas. Our thinking in doing this is that the wax layer is likely to wear thin or off in high traffic areas and it would be interesting to see how well the penetrating sealers would protect until the floor was eventually re-wax.

We eliminated one of the products, Quikcrete Stone & Tile Sealer. In our preliminary tile tests, it was easy to see that this product did not do a good job of protecting our cement tile from any spills that we didn't bother testing it further. .

You can see our results using the sealers we tested below.

Since we did these tests, we have tried the higher-end Miracle Porus Plus. It is solvent based and contains sealants that make the tile resistant to both water and oil based stains.

The bottom line: in order to get protection from both water based stains and oily stains (choosing between the products we tested), we recommend applying Miracle 511 Penetrating Sealer and then use Solid Paste Wax as a topcoat. Dupont brand would be a close second choice.

Products I tested :

Water based ArmorAll
Dupont S & T Sealer
TileLab Surfacegard
Miracle 511 Original
ArmorAll (Metal Can)
Mineral Oil
Nothing (control)

Due to state laws, the ArmorAll brand stone and tile sealer is available in different formulations in different states. In some states it comes in a metal can and is a oil based product. In other states, it comes in a white plastic container and is a water-based solution. We tested both.

We used only products that were available locally. There are superior products to seal stone and tile available from the Fila Company of Italy but they are difficult to find in retail shops here. Fortunately Amazon has some online now !! MB Stone Care MB-4 Stone and More Impregnator/Sealer is another good one that would probably have to be ordered online. Also see Aldon products which are available online. If they wouldn't send us a sample to test, we didn't try them.

After using each sealer following the manufacturer's instruction, we waxed half of each tile and left one half of each cement tile unwaxed. Each test fluid was tested on both waxed and unwaxed areas.

This photo shows red wine in sections of the tiles treated and both waxed and unwaxed.

This is a photo of oil and vinegar based salad dressing, on the cement tile for 30 min.

Mud from our own back yard.

Strong coffee spooned onto the tile on the waxed areas.

After all the tape was removed, it is easy to compare the different areas.

The second row from the bottom of this tile is noticeably a tad darker than the others and that was expected. When applying mineral oil directly to an untreated tile, it does make the colors look more intense. The other products are matte finish products that we chose because they stated that they left a natural finish and did not 'enhance' the tile or leave a glossy or wet look finish.

Old notes: Generally speaking, you DO want to use the rather expensive stone and tile sealer products (in 2011, they run around 125 U.S. dollars per gallon) and then you DO want to use paste wax on top after the sealer is properly cured. This will give you protection from both water based ,and oil based stains on cement tiles. Avoid the so called sealer "Enhancers"... you may get slimey, uneven results.

Bottom of the page are charts to show our tile sealing test result details.

Waxing Cement Tile

Now what wax is best ?

Jan. 2011 we did some testing of various brands of clear, or nearly clear paste wax. There are some brands that are very expensive made for exclusive woodworkers. We didn't invest in those. Not only are they hard to find, but they are crazy expensive. So shown below are the brands we trued. Note: We also ordered Johnson's One-Step Wax to test...but after receiving it, we found it is not a wax at all, but a synthetic coating like Mop-and-Glow and is to be avoided. Do not use any no-wax, instant-shine, one-step, dries to a glossy shine, etc..products. They may be labeled "wax", but they are NOT.

We tried Trewax Clear Paste Wax, Johnson Paste Wax, Lundmark Clear Paste Wax, Minwax Paste Finishing Wax, Lundmark Liquid Paste Wax and for the heck of it, we tried Mother's Carnauba Cleaner Wax since auto enthusiasts love their products.

We divided a colorful cement tile (Toledo pattern) into six sections and used a soft cloth to apply a small amount of wax directly to the tile using light finger pressure. We let it dry very well and used a clean flannel cloth under our B&D Mouse vibrating sander to buff it up. We were looking for level of shine as well as even tone (no streaks) finish.

Waxed tile (left) next to a raw, unwaxed tile (right).

It is easy to see how all the waxes made the colors 'come alive' with a deeper and richer look.

It was very difficult to get the light to strike to waxed areas in a way that a photo could show the various textures. But we tried.

What we found:

Top Choice =Lundmark Clear Paste Wax, Lundmark Liquid Paste Wax, & Minwax Finishing Wax were all great. The Mother's auto wax gave a nice finish but we found it to be very slick on the floor...maybe too slipery for safety.

So considering how much easier it is to apply the liquid paste wax we recommend an initial coat of real paste wax and subsequent refresher touch-ups with Lundmark Liquid Paste Wax. You can hand buff your floor with a soft rag but a home-sized floor buffer is the way to go.  So here are some easy links to our favorite waxes and an applicator.

      More Buffers

Pints	Quarts	Gallons

Follow the impregnator sealant with several light coats of clear Lundmark Clear Paste Wax. Buff your wax between coats for the best shine. After several coats initially, you will only need to occasionally re-apply a light coat of paste wax and re-buff. You can re-wax with Lundmark Liquid Paste Wax.

Lundmark Clear Paste Wax	Lundmark Liquid Paste Wax.	Minwax Floor Wax (slightly golden)

Stain Resistance Test Results on Sealed Cement Tile


Bottom line here is to not let food or liquid spills sit on your floor for a long time. Acidic stuff is the worst at eating thru any type of sealant or waxes. This includes red wine, mustard, salad dressing, worcestershire sauce, etc...now for you Science Majors, here are our charts:

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In Summary....use Miracle Sealants impregnator type sealant w/ a top coat of wax OR use a specialty "top-coat sealant" (call us) for commercial locations like restaurants, bars, coffee shops, or home kitchens.

2011 Update: We have tried the top level Miracle products like Miracle Porus Plus but do not see much difference between them and Miracle 511. We have also tried more brands since these photos were made, a specialty cream and really, any brands that we can get our hands on. Our opinion: Just stick with the Miracle 511 and a light coat of wax.