Before you try anything: always speak to a professional before cleaning, treating or applying any product to your stone. Every slab is different, and the wrong product can cause permanent damage. Contact us or a qualified stone restorer first.
Quick answer
Dull porcelain is almost always residue: a film of cooking oil, cleaner and hard water. Degrease with hot water and dish liquid, rinse, and dry with microfibre, and the sheen usually returns. If a polished porcelain surface stays dull, the glaze may be worn, which cannot be re-polished at home.
First, check what you are dealing with
- Overall flat or streaky look: residue.
- Specific cloudy patch after a chemical spill or hot pan: surface damage.
What you need
- Hot water and dish liquid
- Microfibre cloths
- Non-abrasive cream cleaner
Step by step
Degrease first
Wash with hot water and a good squeeze of dish liquid, rinse with clean water and dry with microfibre. Residue from oils and cleaners is the most common cause of a flat-looking surface.
Remove stubborn film
Work a little non-abrasive cream cleaner over the area, then rinse.
Dry and buff
Dry and buff with a clean, dry microfibre cloth.
What not to use on porcelain
- Scourers, steel wool and abrasive creams on a polished surface.
- Mixing cleaning chemicals, especially bleach with anything else.
- Furniture polish, waxes and "shine" sprays, which build up and dull the surface further.
When to call a professional
A porcelain repairer can fill chips with colour-matched resin; scratches through the printed layer cannot be polished back.
Understanding dull surfaces and lost shine on porcelain
Porcelain problems are usually residue, metal marks, chips on edges, or scratches through a polished glaze.
A porcelain repairer can fill chips with colour-matched resin; scratches through the printed layer cannot be polished back.
Good to know
Dull porcelain is nearly always cleaner residue. Rinsing after cleaning and drying with microfibre keeps the shine.
Stop it happening again
Whether yours is large-format marble-look and concrete-look porcelain slabs, repairing it fixes today's mark; protecting it stops the next one. Our clear Stone Protection Film sits over the surface, so marks stay on the film, not the surface, and its self-healing top layer shrugs off fine everyday marks. Choose Gloss for polished porcelain or Matte/Satin for honed and matte finishes. The protection is identical. It is installed across Sydney with a 10-year written warranty.
How we protect porcelain · Fixing etch marks · Dull surfaces & lost shine on every surface