What is an efficient way of removing thick grout haze?

Question

I have replaced a cracked tile in my kitchen and have set the grout accordingly. I must have missed a step because the haze (which is supposed to come up with a cheese cloth) is more like London fog, and is not coming up without significant effort.

Surely there has to be a better way to get (very thick) haze off the surface of a tile?

I have a Dremel and it was very helpful for removing the old grout- is there a relatively soft polish/brush bit I can use?

(Fortunately the tile appears to be pretty heavy duty, so I am less concerned about scratching the glaze than I am about removing the excess grout.)

Answer 1

A Scotch Brite pad has always worked for me. If you are dealing with a large area, use a random orbital sander with a Scotch Brite attachment and the universal lubricant, water.

Answer 2

You need to keep it wet. I use vinegar water solution and try to let it sit on the tile for a good 10-20 mins. Scoop it up and repeat. If you are polishing it dry you will make it worse (or no better).

Also next time take a heavy dawn/water mix and rub it on your tile before you grout. When it is dry then you grout. And your grout slides off the tile.

Answer 3

An amateur tile installer did not do any haze removal in our new shower. Alas, it was epoxy-based grout.

I tried vinegar, CLR, TSP, alcohol, water, and all kinds of "miracle" cleaning tools. The best was a plain $1.80 razor scraper plus time: approximately 80 hours (a few hours each evening for more than a month). In my case, it worked well because the tile had a mirror smooth finish. And the time spent was quite meditative and therapeutic.

If there had been any surface texture on the tile, I don't know what I would have done. Maybe bust out all the tile and do it again.