Tile School: How to Avoid Staining Your Tile

A light-colored tile outlined in darker grout creates a striking contrast, but this look isn’t one we generally recommend. Why? The dark grout can sometimes cause staining during installation. If your heart is set on this look, it’s important that you take the necessary steps that will help avoid staining your tile during installation.

The good news is that our tile is typically resistant to staining during the grouting process due to its smooth surface and pre-sealed crackle glazes–however, there is always a chance of staining, especially with a light tile that has crazing. Today we're sharing three tips to avoid staining during the installation process.

1. Careful when Cutting!

If you've chosen a light-colored tile, make sure that your installer is using a clean tile saw when cuts are being made. If you notice your tile has been stained, you can soak it in water to remove any staining. You can also opt to cover your tile in blue painter's tape while making cuts if you want to be extra safe.

2. Consider A Lighter Grout Color

The safest bet to avoid stains is to choose a grout color that isn't heavily pigmented when using a lighter-colored tile, especially if it has crazing. White grout will always be the safest choice to avoid staining, especially with a light-colored tile.

If you’d like the shape of the tile to pop or would prefer your grout color a little darker to hide dirt for an application like a floor, a light grey grout is a great choice. Not only will this color outline your tile nicely, the lighter shade will help prevent staining.

3. Use Grout Release

Grout Release can help keep your tile safe and stain-free. Grout release is a removable, water-soluble surface coating that is used to protect tile from staining when using a colored grout. It also makes grout cleanup a little bit easier, which is a win all around!

Some of our tile colors have crazing (intricate crackled detailing) like Sand Dune shown below. A dark grout will inevitably get into those tiny cracks and stain your tile, so grout release is a necessity if you choose a heavily pigmented grout color.

Click here for a free color sample of Sand Dune

If you’ve fallen in love with one of our artisan Handpainted Tile patterns, make sure you pay attention to the dryline color. If your Handpainted Tile has a light dryline, you’ll absolutely want to use grout release to keep that dryline from staining.

White tile and dark grout will always pose a risk for staining, which is why we do not recommend this combination, but for an install like the one below careful cutting and grout release can help avoid staining.