Cleaning Tile Floors

Cleaning tile floors is easy, if you clean them regularly. It's when you don't clean them, they become a challenge to clean.

If you want to learn how to clean tile floors keep reading and we will show you how to keep your tile floors looking great.

There are many types of tile floors and different tile may require different methods.

Also, if you have a calcium based natural stone tile (e.g. marble), you have to avoid any acidic cleaner, as it can etch your tile.

In general, mopping your tile floors regularly with a neutral cleaner and a flat mop, will be the best and easiest way to maintain your tile floors.

If you are cleaning ceramic tile, it will be the same as cleaning porcelain tile. The difference between them is not much and you can treat them the same.

Where challenges may arise in cleaning ceramic tile floor is if the tile has a textured surface. Any texture on the tile, like a low spot or small indentions, can be a place where dirt can accumulate.

Also, because the grout is a low spot and if it's a sanded grout, will have some texture to it, thus a place where dirt will most likely accumulate.

Cleaning textured tile and cleaning grout will pose challenges, and may require more than just using a flat mop to keep them clean.

You may need to use a grout cleaning brush for cleaning grout and and those low spots in your tile.

Along with the many different cleaners available you can easily make your own homemade grout cleaners that will clean ceramic tile and grout just fine.

These are directions for cleaning tile floors that are heavily soiled and that have been neglected.

You will need to make your own tile and grout cleaner or buy a tile and grout cleaner and apply the solution to the tile and grout.

You can also use any household cleaners like simple green or pinesol for cleaning tile floors.

This has always been the hardest part for me, letting the solution dwell for 20-30 minutes.

I always want to start scrubbing the grout right away. Allowing for dwell time makes the scrubbing a little bit easier.

Ready?

Now for the scrubbing. Using your grout brush, scrub all the grout lines, the best you can being careful not to damage the baseboards with too much water or banging them with the brush.

You can also scrub the tiles with a deck or grout brush making sure to clean any low areas where dirt can be trapped.

Now you can do either of two things; you can use a wet/dry vacumm to suck up the dirty solution, or use a mop to mop it up.

After the dirty solution has been either mopped or sucked up, it's now time to rinse the floor with warm water.

After the floor has been thoroughly rinsed, dry the tile and grout with cotton cloths, until they are completely dry.

You should now have a pretty clean floor, with the exception of any stubborn grout stains, that sometimes can't be removed.

You are now ready to seal the grout lines which we recommend to be done once the floor is completely dry.

For more on sealing grout, see our colorsealing grout page with help on putting down a permanent grout sealer that will make future maintanence much easier for you.

When it comes to cleaning tile floors and grout or just maintaining natural stone, we strive to help educate our customers on the best protection they can have, helping them save time and money in costly restoration costs down the road.

We are located in San Jose, CA, but clean tile and grout and natural stone surfaces throughout the south bay, peninsula, and even find ourselves in the San Ramon Valley from time to time.

Want to know more about our services and how we can help you maintain you tile and grout in your home or place of business? Give us a call at:

408-998-8781

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