Clay Care: The best tile maintenance products
Keep your installations in great shape with Clay Imports approved maintenance and cleaning products
By Clay Imports
It might come as a surprise, but here at Clay Imports, we are experts in everything clay related. After all, our founders have been tile installers for many years. We work tirelessly to bring excellence in all our products; products that are not only easy to order, but also backed by our tile experts to provide you the best guidance. That’s why we are going beyond inspiration to installation and have developed the best products for the maintenance of your terracotta tiles. Meet Clay Care.
What’s Clay Care?
Finding the right maintenance products for your tiles is determined by different factors such as application, tile type and/or sheen. Fortunately, Clay Care is the go-to lineup of maintenance products dedicated to keeping your handmade tiles looking fantastic, protected, and clean for time to come.
Why should I seal my tiles?
In general, sealants protect tiles from daily wear and tear but different tiles need different sealant to keep them looking good. Terracotta tiles, for example, are inherently porous so sealants for terracottas provide an extra protective layer. Terracotta tiles such as pre-sealed gloss, satin, or matte sealed natural terracottas and organic terracotta need a finishing coat of sealant to protect them from dirt, traffic and general age. Sealant also lessens the rate of natural patina and will keep the original look of your pre-sealed terracotta tiles for longer.
For higher durability tiles such as Cotto, Glazed Terracotta and Glazed Clay, sealants are not always required but it does provide an extra layer of protection when these tiles are installed in exterior installations and/or wet areas to preserve the coloration and protect the surface from water, traffic and UV damage.
Another reason to protect your tiles is to keep their natural characteristics for as long as possible. Handmade tiles exhibit natural variations, which are inherent traits of their natural composition. These variations in color, texture and sheen are not defects but rather a natural part of the product. We highly recommend ordering samples before making a final purchase to confirm and appreciate these natural variations in each tile.
What sealer should I use?
Not all tiles are recommended for all application areas and not all sealers are recommended for all applications. For example, a very porous terracotta tile should not be used as a pool waterline tile! Each of our product pages notate recommended usages and applications for all our products.
Even though all our product’s pages have a guide of what applications we recommend for each of them, this graphic shows a general guide to know which sealant is best for your tiles.
All pre-sealed natural terracotta tiles have an inherent sheen: Matte, Satin or Gloss. To keep the original sheen of your tile, we highly recommend making sure you are choosing the right sealer that matches the sheen of your tile.
Tile sealers
Clay Care offers three types of tile sealer for all your needs. Ultra-low VOC is a water based sealant with a premium crystal clear quality, fast curing paint, designed for surfaces where a durable finish is needed. This sealer is not only designed for indoor and exterior use; is also non-toxic and has an ultra low VOC content, making it a great option for those who are chemically sensitive or want a more environmentally friendly sealant.
Ultra-low VOC Sealers are ideally suited as a top coat for all our natural terracotta tiles that have a satin factory seal: Satin Natural Terracotta, Organic Terracotta, D’hanis and Pressed Terracotta and can be used as a preliminary seal for Organic Terracotta Tiles. Even though we recommend using this sealant for indoor use, this acrylic sealant can also be used for exterior usages such as pavers, walkways, floors and patios, providing a tough, durable surface.
Ultra-Low VOC is available in both Gallon and Quart size
Our Penetrating Sealant comes in a gallon size bottle
Finally, Polish Top Coat is a self-polishing floor finish designed to be used over the gloss natural terracotta factory sealant. By applying a polish top coat, you will prolong the life of your terracotta’s factory sealant and reduce the chance of having to reseal your tiles; think of this as if you went to get your shoes polished.
Polish Top Coat dries to a crystal clear, scuff resistant coating which will protect and prolong the life of the sealer below and offer an unbelievable glossy finish. The Polish Top Coat from our Clay Care collection is for interior use only and is designed to be easily stripped off by our Top Coat Remover after wear for a quick reapplication of Polish Top Coat to revitalize your terracotta for years to come.
Tile Cleaner Concentrate
Of course, the maintenance of your tiles does not end only by applying a finishing coat. That’s why we developed premium tile cleaning products, so you can coat, clean and polish your installations to keep them in the best conditions possible for as long as possible.
Many common household and heavy duty natural cleaners can damage the surface of terracotta tiles. That’s why our Tile Cleaner is a uniquely formulated, heavy duty, neutral pH cleaner designed as a cleaning concentrate for maintaining all types of surfaces. Concentrated cleaners like our Tile Cleaner help us to reduce waste in the whole process of its fabrication: reduces the plastic it produces and consumes less fuel for shipping because it is not premixed with water in large heavy bulk packages. We take our commitment with the environment seriously and you can learn more about our sustainability policies here.
Our cleaners do not contain abrasive ingredients, but they are strong enough to loosen and remove dirt and grime in your installations. This cleaner can be used to clean any type of tile and is available in both Unscented and Palo Santo scented. Concentrated cleaners like this must be mixed with water and the ratio of water to cleaner will determine how strong your cleaner will be. Our preferred ratio is 1 part cleaner to 4-5 parts water.
Both cleaners available in US quart bottles
Polish Remover
As mentioned before, our Polish Remover is the complementary product to the Polish Top Coat. The remover is specifically designed to easily remove worn or dulling floor finish with minimal effort. For indoor use only, this Polish Remover works so efficiently and effortlessly that, in most cases, the use of a floor machine for its application is not necessary.
Our polish removal available in a gallon sized bottle with a black label
The best products for your tiles maintenance
Clay Care is the result of all our years working with tiles and they are designed with the aim of being the best materials for their maintenance. You can find them in their collection page and if you want to delve deeper into each product, where and how to apply them, we invite you to read our Clay Care Ultimate guide. Finally, if you have any questions about these or any other of our products, don't hesitate to reach out to us at contact@clayimports.com.
