Said It Here

How to add shine to old dull tiles

Applying polish to add gloss to old tiles often results in a cloudy appearance with uneven shiny and dull areas. This raises concerns that the polishing process has damaged the original finish, leaving people stuck since replacing large areas of flooring is extremely disruptive.

Overview
People affected2 accounts across 2 forums
Workarounds found2 items attempted
Community agreement11 total upvotes

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

  1. 1
    Trying to clean the dull spots with warm water
    Did this help you?
  2. 2
    Considering applying a topical coating or sealer to restore the shine
    Did this help you?

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/HomeImprovement1 person · November 2026

“I have these old kitchen tiles that I want to be able to add some shine or gloss to them. Is there any kind of finishing or polish I can put on them?”source ↗

Unlucky_Boss5190 · r/HomeImprovement · 8 upvotes
r/Flooring1 person · November 2026

“After a few days, I started noticing uneven shiny and dull areas,”source ↗

“the floors now look even duller, with a cloudy or hazy appearance.”source ↗

“I’m concerned that the polishing process may have damaged or altered the original tile finish.”source ↗

“This involves a large area of flooring throughout my home, so replacement would be extremely disruptive.”source ↗

JazzlikeTitle8634 · r/Flooring · 3 upvotes

Where this came up

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