How To Paint Unglazed Ceramic Tile

Preparation is the most important step in repainting ceramic tile.

How to paint unglazed ceramic tile.

The goal is to get rid of soap scum and hard build up on the tile surface as well as to slightly scuff the tile surface 1 x research source you are not trying to remove the glaze of the original tiles step 2 clean the tiles with a heavy duty multi purpose cleaner. Finally wait 24 hours for the paint to dry before coating the tiles with clear urethane to seal the paint. If you are going to paint with acrylics on unglazed ceramic and you don t plan to fire the ceramic in a kiln then after the acrylics have dried you can seal it with a water based polyurethane such as jo sonja s water based polyurethane varnish this links to blick art materials and if you make a purchase i get a small commission that helps support this site. Apply masonry primer to the terracotta tiles.

Rinse the tile with clean water to remove the cleaning solution. I get a lot of questions about how well paint sticks to ceramic tiles and shouldn t i at least gesso the tile before pouring. Next apply 2 3 coats of paint in thin layers across the tiles and grout. Use a small stiff brush to remove any mold.

This will remove any mold. Apply an alcohol or shellac based primer to the unglazed tile with a paint brush or paint roller. General purpose primer will also work on terracotta but a general purpose primer may take two coats instead of one. You can use a towel or dry mop to clean up some of the water to shorten drying time.

Wait for the primer to dry completely. You would think that was a good thing to do usually but i ve found adding gesso or any other surface prep to non porous surfaces has caused me problems in the past. Step 5 look at the unglazed tile once the primer is dry. Wait for the primer to dry before continuing.

Use 100 grit sandpaper rotating the paper in a circular motion to fully sand the tile down giving you an unblemished surface on which to paint. You should use several coats. Then clean the tiles you plan to paint with tile cleaner and sand them down if they re already glazed so the paint has a rough surface to adhere to. Allow it to dry completely.

Use a mildly abrasive bathroom cleaner to remove all wax oil dirt and grease from tile.