Bumping this for you. Have you contacted the place where you bought them? Usually tile places sell cleaners as well. Also, the tile manufacturer should have advice. Good luck!

Try a steam mop.

Did you seal your tiles after installation? I'm going to guess no because of how dirty they are only after a few months. All concrete tiles should be sealed.

I confronted the contractor because the tiles looked terrible from the get go. He claimed they were sealed twice (which I suspect was not the case).

Today I tried cleaning with a scrub brush that attaches to a drill, but it didn't really change anything. Will try the steam mop, thanks for the tip...

OMG I am experiencing the same thing. UGH! My painter left some drops of paint on my newly installed flooring and i am unable to remove the paint splatter. This is in one of our bathrooms, but still. I am freaking out over this! The person who installed the flooring told me the tiles were sealed but they already look dirty, similar to your pic. How can you tell if they have been sealed. There is absolutely NO shine to them.

I think I'm going to have to find someone to redo the finish for these floors...

To find out if cement tiles/marble/travertine has been sealed sufficiently you can do a little test:

Sprinkle some water on the tiles. If the water "beads" (like on a freshly waxed car) then your tiles have been properly sealed. If the water slowly (or quickly) absorbs or disappears into the tile then they didn't do the THREE treatments needed before the tiles were installed.

reviving this thread. Thanks for suggesting the water test - no beading whatsoever... what does it entail to (1) properly clean them and (2) seal them?

Poultice with hydrogen peroxide (To make this thick, stain-removing paste, mix unscented baby powder or talcum powder and 40% hydrogen peroxide. Soak an absorbent material like paper or cotton in your special poultice and let it sit on the stained spot to absorb the stain and pull it out.)

Fine (600 grit) wet-dry sandpaper used with plenty of water, and clean cloths to mop up the water as you go

Oh no!!! I’m installing cement tiles right now! Ahh
So worried now. Hope you can get this fixed :(

Shany, I have these exact tiles and this exact problem in my guest bath! Was also told they were sealed twice (doubt it). Going to do the water test and then clean/seal as instructed over the weekend. I'll report back!

Alexandra, I would just show your contractor this pic and tell him multiple people have had this issue, and it's because the tile installers aren't being careful/clean enough when installing/grouting. Tell him you're aware this can happen and that the subs need to take special care when installing to make sure this doesn't happen—and that if they don't, you'll require that they come back and fix it! This is easy to avoid if the installer is being careful and paying attention! The tiles are wonderful and will look fantastic installed properly. Send a pic of the tile you're using—I love seeing what others are doing!

@maggie thanks so much! My installer is a pro cement tile guy and I have already been totally neurotic with him! No subs just him doing it! Here is where we are with it now. All laid out! :)

@Maggie please do report back (with before and after pics if possible lol). Thanks!

Those are gorgeous! Here’s a ‘before’ pic. It will be a couple of weeks before I get an ‘after’!

Here is the floor finished! He did 2 layers of 5-1 porous sealer plus and then I did 1 coat of 512 seal and enhance over the weekend. At first I saw smudges but now that it’s all together I don’t see anything! Hope you were able to get the stain out!!

Also both sealers are 511 - not sure of my typos!

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Thanks everyone for your wonderful advice! I ended up renting a polisher from home depot, cleaned the floor and sealed it with 511 porous sealer. I'm adding a close up of water beeding after the first layer of the seasler. Let's see how long it lasts

Still haven’t managed to get mine cleaned, but you guys’ pics are giving me hope!