Sealing Cement Tile

Traditionally cement tiles were sealed with the application of oil and / or paste wax. Most people recommend that cement tiles be sealed with a Penetrating Stone & Tile Sealer.  Today there are many synthetic tile and stone 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 ? See our test results below.


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

The best synthetic stone and tile sealers are expensive. We had hoped that using ordinary Mineral Oil as a 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.

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 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.

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

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. 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.

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.

Generally speaking, you DO want to use the rather expensive stone and tile sealer products (in 2008, they run around 100 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.

Below is a chart to show our test results.

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