post a pic when you can. I have a slate floor in my kitchen. clean it well and apply a stone enhancer/impregnating sealer. it holds in the slate 'dirt'. (slate is actually petrified mud, so if not sealed, it will allow the 'dirt' to come out. if that makes sense)

I need to see the grout to advise further on that one.

Thank beth! Heres the floor!

Ugh i hate it! Im hoping when its cleaned up it will present better!

Haha!!! I appreciate your candor because i think its pretty ugly too! Im glad to hear you agree with me! We have so many other projects that we are planning so i was hoping to maje a quick, cheap fix on this and reno this later. We may eventually take out the front hall closets and open the hall up to the living room on the right. But i hate opening my front door to this, so it might be better to find cheap tile or slate to replace now. Thank you!

An inexpensive way to clean it up is to use a $15 drill brush with a cordless drill to scrub the tile and grout. https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-ACC_201_BRUSH_MD-Medium-Attachment/dp/B003TU662Y  The brushes also useful for cleaning old ceramic tile and grimy bathtubs.

If the grout has deteriorated but is mostly okay, paint it with grout paint from the big box store. This will take you a while, but it will look better. If the grout is crumbly, do what Beth suggests to replace it.

The photos here show an old slate floor transformed by clean new white grout paint: https://www.younghouselove.com/2014/01/how-you-like-me-now-grout/

Similar new floors are shown at http://camaraslate.com/vermont-slate-floor-tile/

It'd be worth getting an estimate from a professional tile cleaner if you run out of energy after an hour or two of hand scrubbing. They can work wonders with their machines and know-how.

Here's a sample batch of before and after photos: http://erokar.com/tile-and-grout-cleaning-services/

Usually grout crumbles because either the underlayment is incorrect, the wrong grout was used or the grout wasn't prepared properly.

When the underlayment is incorrect, that means the structure the tiles rest on is flexing. Sometimes only the grout will crack, and sometimes the tile too. If this is the case, there is no fixing it other than to redo the whole thing.

If its the wrong grout or if the grout wasn't properly prepared....that's an easy fix with the drill brush mentioned 3 posts above. You have to remove a lot of the grout, not just the offending pieces, to get a good bond. The grout should be the 'sanded' type for strength.

As far as cleaning goes, you can do it yourself inexpensively. This is from the 'Bob Vila' website:

For Stain Removal:– Mix equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and spray onto any stains. Let it sit for five or ten minutes, then scrub with a soft scrub pad (not steel wool) or a soft-bristled brush. (Be careful if you have a slate floor with colored grout, as this bleach solution could damage the color of that grout.)
– For tougher stains, mix together peroxide and baking soda into a bubbly paste. After the bubbles die down, apply the paste to the stain and let it set. Then wipe the slate clean with a damp, warm towel.

After cleaning, they recommended polishing with teak oil (for teak furniture)

If it isn't a large space, you could just demo it out and replace it with new large format inexpensive tile. It could be diy if you are at all handy. Even if you mess up a little, it will look better than it does now. At least it would be clean.

That looks more like bluestone tile than slate. You can get a stone cleaner to clean it, but if you keep it, you should also seal it to protect the stone. Also, the grout appears to be in pretty bad shape and probably should be replaced. I would have a professional look at it.

WOW guys! Thank you ao much for the AWESOME suggestions and resources! I think, given the time it would take to clean and regrout ill be better off doing a new floor. Were handy so i think well send the kids to their auntie's and have a go at it. I didnt even know it was bluestone lol!
Thank you sooo much!

Not trying to be rude, but to be quite honest, I would just rip it all out and leave my floors bare concrete until I could afford to replace them. Your raw concrete can't be uglier than that slate!

that's not bluestone. it's Raj Slate. or Indian Sandstone. Bluestone is much nicer looking.

Raj Green has those same tones. here it is in it's raw state. your's has had an enhancing sealer applied (at one time) so the colors darken.

this one is very enhanced, but still blech... these colors belong outside. like this one:

do you have a big area to replace? do some cool cement tiles!

Dee, the raw concrete isnt actually something ive even thiught about. I wonder if that could work! No worries! I dont think its pretty lol!

We have had the same tile in many of the older homes we have remodeled. We did end up removing them and replacing them with hardwood and tile be the doorway in this house.

Sorry but that slate is not ugly. It’s great! It’s a desirable original feature of many MCM homes, and was chosen because it is a natural material with strong character that can stand up to the large amount of wood used in the interiors. It connects the interior to the exterior in a beautiful thoughtful way.

Clean it up with an ammonia mixture and a scrub brush. It will look 1000 times better. If the red slate is your primary trigger in finding it objectionable, then selectively stain it darker and leave the rest alone. It gives the home character and originality and is highly sought after as an original detail.

Came across your old post— did you tear it out? We have the same problem at our MCM home we’ve been renovating. I am in the process of stripping 50+ years of built up sealer and crud and dirt. I personally wanted to keep it for its charming original appeal. But now I’m second guessing myself. The grout on ours is awful awful awful and parts are crumbling.

Hi Sarah! I did clean it, and got down and scrubbed it clean with lots of hot water and a cleaner (red bottle, totally blanking of the name right now and not home!). It did come out sooooo much better after several Scribbi gs, much brighter. I am not in a place, financially, to replace it so I bought a long runner and covered most of it. My house is no where close to being MCM style, but if it was, I might have considered keeping it exposed and redoing the grout. I’ve seen some other homes where this really looks nice and works. I bet your home is awesome! I love MCM homes!

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Melissa- thanks for your reply!! Glad you were able to brighten it up... I really am struggling with this grout. I’m thinking it’s going to have to be chipped away and re-done.

Hi Sarah, I just stumbled upon this! It is hard to tell from the picture what slate cleaner did you use? I too have inherited some really, really dirty slate floors :(

I basically had to strip the entire floor — I used premium stripper from Aldon chemical. Lots of useful information on their site based on what you want your outcome to be. They only chat via emails (no phone calls) so that is a downside, but they get back to you very quickly.

http://aldonchem.com/

Also their grout restore and grout residue remover

to clean slate floors, make sure to use a cleaner meant for natural stone. Nothing acidic.

If there is a top sealer on those floors, then that will have to be stripped off first to get down to actual raw slate. Or, if you like the glossy sealer, then just leave as is. basically the sealer protects the stone and you're only "cleaning the sealer coat".

To see if it's sealed, if you drop some water on the stone, does it sit there for over 5 minutes or does it absorb? If the latter, you don't have a sealer.

This was recommended to me by a pro marble/stone restorer. I use it on all my stone products. Amazon. (it's concentrated so you'll need another container to mix it w/water)

after cleaning, slate must be sealed for protection. (otherwise the natural slate 'dirt' will rub off the stone when you clean it. Try a good penetrating sealer for natural stone (you can get one with no color change, or one that deepens the colors) in a satin finish.

Mine was so crappy and I'm planning to get rid of it, so I didn't take too much care, but used Krud Kutter and bough a 13 foot runner rug to put over it until I can get a new floor in there :)

krud kutter is not meant for natural slate or stone. maybe it was ok for yours, but it could ruin the stone. I wouldn't put that out there for recommendation.

Or just get a piece of indoor outdoor carpet ...cut it to look like a rug...that covers most of it ....until you can get to it

thank you everyone! As of now I know I have some sealer on it, and in high traffic areas, it has worn away. I will have to strip some areas then do a clean for the rest. Sounds like I have my work cut out for me. I appreciate the cleaner references!

Hi everyone. Do you know if you can remove a water stain from a sealed slate entryway? a wet shoe was left on our slate. here is an image? Not sure if this can be fixed without removing sealer. This is not dirt so I am assuming a water stain. Thanks.

Kathy, Looks like the minerals in the water reacted w/the sealer and created some efflorescence.

first try a heavy duty stone cleaner. just on tha tile. see if it works. It may be enough to lift the water imprint from the sealer.

this is concentrated^

Or, try this homemade recipe:

Mix 1/4 cup of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water into a thick paste. Scrub the paste into the slate using the nylon bristle brush. Rinse with distilled water and dry immediately. Allow the tiles to dry out for 48 hours.

don't know if something like CLR could work. looks like hard water residue dried on the sealer

might be a good idea to have those tiles stripped and a good pH neutral , water resistant sealer applied.

lastly, 50/50 vinegar/distilled water may work, but it may damage the sealer, so don't let it get on the others. YOu could recoat with a similar sealer on that one tile if it does strip it.