Victorian Tiling Company Were Tiling
qest craft scholar for Victorian Tiling

Victorian Tile Cleaning

Delicate Victorian Tile Cleaning Services across Scotland & North England.

Part of the process involved in the restoration of original Victorian, Edwardian & Georgian Tiling is the cleaning process of the ceramic tiles themselves. While these beautiful decorative wall and floor tiling mosaics have managed to stand the test of time, they have also had to endure decades of sun fade, weathering, foot traffic, over the counter cleaning agents and a steady build up of grime which can all contribute to remove and fade the colouring of these original period tiles.

While refitting and repairing cracked tiles is a big part of our Restoration Tiling Services, all of our restoration work includes thorough cleaning of the tiles to bring them back to the vibrant and colourful appearance that they had when they were freshly fitted well over one hundred years ago.

Minton Tiles

Original Minton Tiles are the most commonly used ceramic tiles for Victorian mosaic floors and while they were built to an incredibly high standard, they still need to be treated with respect and care when it comes to the cleaning of the tiles.

The contrasting colours of Minton Tiles, created by firing clay at differing high temperatures to create a variety of shades and colours, creates an unglazzed yet hard wearing tile which, while porous and susceptible to moisture, has proven tough enough to last this long.

However Minton floor tiles can begin to look worn and dated if they have not been properly maintained, while the use of corrosive and powerful cleaning agents will only accelerate this fading process.

How can we help with Victorian Tile Cleaning?

At Were Tiling, we can restore and seal original Victorian tiled floors and produce excellent tile cleaning results even on Minton tiles that have suffered from colour fade over the years.

We do all our tile cleaning using a combination of delicate machine and hand cleaning processses. We use specialist floor cleaning machines, combined with diamond cleaning pads that only require water. While we always aim to clean tiles without the use of chemical cleaning agents, we do occasionally have to use cleaning products depending on the state of the floor itself. This has to be done on a case by case basis.

Once the floor has been stripped and cleaning and has been allowed time to dry, we carry out a colour intensify process and then seal the floor to protect it from scrapes. This can be burnished with either a Matt finish, which leaves the floor in a more natural state. Or we can seal the floor in a wax coating. This is a more traditional way that Victorian tiled floors were probably originally finished, although this finish does require more maintenance.

Before Tile Cleaning

After Tile Cleaning


If you would like to know more about original Victorian Tile Cleaning services, please call Andrew on 07932 716 716 or email andrew@were.co.uk

What Our Customers Say

Brian from Newcastle

We were replacing a carpet in our hall and discovered the original Victorian tiling was still there. Andrew came to our home, looked at the tiling and gave us a quote with no hassle. His attention to detail and careful and methodical approach are clear in the end results. We are so delighted with the work that he has done. We never thought about having a tiled hallway but we are more than delighted with the results and it has increased the value of our home considerably.

Andy from Glasgow

We were looking for our Storm Door area and hallway to have a matching contemporary geometric tile design to them. We want a modern take that worked with our period Victorian home. Andrew was one of three tilers we call. He was the only one who took any measurements and really looked at the set up that we wanted. We went Were because they seemed to know what they were talking about and we were impressed with their detailed quote breakdown. It meant we knew exactly what to expect. And the end result - we could not be more happy with the end results. Our hallway looks better than ever.