Restoring old tiles

[louisandthecat]

Hi all, first time poster!

We have some horrible modern tiles in our kitchen with some original ones underneath. They are from 1939 we think

We would love to restore then

The new tiles come off quite easily and seem to be broadly held down with some kind of sticky brown adhesive.

You can see I’ve got one tile partly back to it’s original state

Some questions
- any better ideas for how to get the sticky stuff off, other than using a plastic scraper?
- if any of the tiles are scratched - can these tiles be restored / polished / buffed? I’m a total novice on these things!
- I’m assuming I shouldn’t use something like a metal scourer to get the last bits off as this may damage the tiles?


Any advice appreciated!

 

[Stevers]

Those look like the through colour matt finish quarry tiles that I laid in our pantry and porch that were by then made by Pilkingtons in Parkstone. There may well damage to them from modern plumbing, electrical and building work, and modern replacements may not be in Imperial sizes for those nice tight joints.
There is a website dedicated to cleaning quarry tiles to inspire you - no connection etc.:
https://quarry.tilecleaning.co.uk/category/quarry-tile-cleaning/
Might be worth trying a multi-tool with a smoothly honed blade on a small test area as physical removal of the adhesive seems to be the way forward. A quick DuckDuckGo suggests that a wallpaper steamer of all things might assist in doing this!

 

[louisandthecat]

This is incredibly helpful - thanks!

That website recommended a floor scraper which seems to be working well now I’ve bought one, plus some cleaning products which may help. For now just a bit more confidence and a bit of elbow grease seem to be doing the trick!

I may try a multi tool for the more difficult bits.

I really hope they continue across the floor - they are really beautiful!

 

[Toby Newell]

Totally do not use a mutitool it will damage your tiles.

You can try a combination of chemicals or gentle heat.

DCM will dissolve most adhesives. Or 3M orange degreaser, I have used hundreds of pounds worth removing adhesives with it.

 

[louisandthecat]

Thanks Toby.

In fact now I’ve gone a bit further it seems like it’s more normal tile adhesive holding down most of the new tiles - which seems to be fairly easy to scrape off.

I will def try those products for the sticky stuff though, sounds great.