This call actually came from a cleaning company where one of their cleaners had been to a customer in the village of West Hanney near Wantage and tried to clean the walls of this Limestone Shower using a supermarket Limescale remover, which as you can see from the photograph below didn’t work out very well.
I should point out that Limescale removers contain some strong acids which should never be used on stone or sealed surfaces as the acid will etch the surface. Even weak acid cleaners used over time will have an effect so do take care and always read the label.
Resurfacing Limestone Shower Tiles
To restore the surface I realised it would need to be treated like a polished stone floor and burnished. So with this in mind I started burning the tiles with a little water and a coarse 6 inch diamond burnishing pad fitted to a hand held rotary machine before moving onto a medium pad. Normally to bring up the polish you would move onto the fine and super-fine pads but it was evident that the other shower walls had a matt finish so there was no need.
Sealing Limestone Shower Tiles
I waited for the Limestone tiles to dry and applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a penetrating sealer that will protect the stone from staining.
I would just like today how brilliant Barry Woodward was in coming to my help. His knowledge and professionalism was second to none. The problem was solved so quickly. Thank you Barry!
This must be the fourth time I’ve heard of this happening in the last year, you would think the manufacturers would put better warnings on their labels but until they do always ready the label or ask your local Tile Doctor for advice.