Weird tile problem

[wandwizard]

I cleaned a kitchen and dining room in a basement last July. It looked good and the customer was well pleased. The tile appeared to be in good shape and was installed in the 90's. Grout was cleaned with Grout master and sealed with Gundlach. It looked very good when done. Now there appears to be some kind of hard residue around almost all of the grout lines that WAS NOT there when I left. I am having trouble posting on the forum and this is more difficult on my cell phone. I will try to at least get the picture showing the issue. I have not seen it in person yet. Have to wait until Thursday to see it.

 

[wandwizard]

None of that was there when I left. The person who works for the actual customer who is still in Greece thinks it is the sealer. I'm stumped. Any ideas?

 

[wandwizard]

I am wondering if someone might have used Mop & Glo on it in the past? I didn't notice any residue before, during, or after cleaning.

 

[rob allen]

There has been an issue with factory glaze failure on cheap tile. Do a micro test with some OMS and a micro fiber cloth. If it disappears it may have been bad can sealer.

 

[wandwizard]

There has been an issue with factory glaze failure on cheap tile. Do a micro test with some OMS and a micro fiber cloth. If it disappears it may have been bad can sealer.

I used acetone and it came off easily. Just bad customer PR. It definitely was the sealer. This is the first time I know of that this has happened. I actually think that speed drying the sealer with fans may have at least contributed to the problem. It dried the sealer on top of the tiles too quick. Anyway, I'll have to be more careful or switch sealers.