Why does tile look dirty after cleaning?
Strong bathroom cleaners can damage unsealed tile, leaving permanent-looking stains that disappear when wet but reappear every time the surface dries. This damage leaves the tile looking unclean no matter what, making people self-conscious when guests come over.
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.
- 1scrubbing the surface thinking it was leftover residueDid this help you?
- 2Using an electric scrub brush with soft scrub liquid and hot waterDid this help you?
- 3Applying abrasive grit cleaner and scrubbingDid this help you?
- 4Renting a steam cleaning machine or asking the landlord to cover steam cleaningDid this help you?
- 5Considering peel and stick wallpaper to cover it completelyDid this help you?
- 6Painting over the tilesDid this help you?
- 7Realizing why the previous owner painted themDid 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.
“After stripping the paint off my bathroom/shower tiles, I have found that 70% of them are covered in some amount in these weird grey scribbles.”source ↗
“They don’t look like some unfortunate-yet-intentional design choice, but they also lack any texture for me to believe they are scratches.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Water stains on marble floor spreading after leak
- 22How to clean dirty stone tiles without ruining them
- 13Why do my floors look dusty right after mopping?
- 17How to fix white spots on a shower floor finish
- 6How to tell if floor marks are a manufacturing defect or installer error
- 29Unexplained dry streaks on new quartz countertops