Saltillo preparation

Hi all, this site is awesome and I appreciate everyone’s input here.

I’m trying to put Saltillo in a hall bathroom because there is Saltillo in the master bath.

i bought tiles from Lowe’s but they are unsealed and there is a whitish haze on the surface. It seems like efflorescence but it’s so even and the same on the whole crate of tiles they had at Lowe’s.

anyway, I want to get them looking natural but without the dusty look. I only want to use a water based penetrating sealer. So is there any way to remove this or darken the tiles without doing something solvent or oil based?


thank you!