I have a mixture of glass, stone and stainless in my mosaic backsplash. I only have it behind the cooktop but that is where most backslashes get the dirtiest. My backsplash has been installed for almost a year now and I have not had any trouble cleaning splatters off of it. I have cleaned it with glass cleaner, Fantastic or just soap and water. The stainless tiles don't photograph real well but here is my backsplash

I did use dark green grout with my tiles. I was told not to seal the tiles and I since the grout is dark I did not bother to seal it either. This close up shows the grout and Schluter edging that we used.
{{!gwi}}

Thanks, badgergal. I was thinking about doing the area behind the cooktop also. You picked a great grout color. I can't even tell you have grout there with the big picture. I will keep that in mind. What kind of grout did you use?

Also, do you have to seal the stones before applying grout? I got two boxes of stone/glass mixed tiles from Costco to test the color. I found the color will not work for my home. But I am very surprised to find out there is a note in the box saying stones have to be sealed before grouting to prevent color change. That seems to be lots of work and I wonder if it is a common requirement for this kind of tiles.

Thanks,

Jane

jjnv: we did not seal the tiles before applying them to the wall. If I am recalling correctly the salesperson at the tile store said not to seal the tiles. That it might make them cloudy looking. I don't remember what the instructions said that came with the tiles. I had one sheet of tiles left over and just checked to see if the stone tiles changed color. They look the same as the ones on the wall. I don't know what kind of stone is in my mosaic blend but it all appears to be the same type. The individual stone tiles do have some color variation within them. Also the majority of my mosaic blend is different types/colors of glass. If your mix is more stone than glass and the directions say to seal it first then that's probably what you should do.
The sales person also said we needed to use unsanded grout so the glass and stainless tile would not get scratched. We purchased the grout from the tile store it is Polyblend Unsanded. It is also available at some of the big box stores in stock colors or it can be ordered in other colors on line. I just read some things about it on a tile forum and some of the tile experts prefer other brands of unsanded polymer fortified grout. I also just looked at the instructions on my left over grout box and it says to seal the grout with Surface Guard Penetrating Sealer. Oop, I didn't follow directions! Oh well the grout is doing fine without it so I am not going to seal it now. I think if I had a light colored grout I would probably seal the grout lines.
If you are doing your own tiling and grouting yourself you might want to go online to the the John Bridge tile forum. It has lots of great advice and you could join the forum to ask any questions you might have

Wow- I wanted to seal as soon as installed - but maybe I am not as neat of a cook as others.
Badger - still love your backsplash!!!

Thanks a lot for the information. I am heading over to the tile forum :-)