Tile Cleaning – Proper Techniques To Avoid A Real Pain In The Back
Tile cleaning can be a hard, difficult, labor intensive and time-consuming job so please get the best products and put at least one day aside for this activity.
Grout cleaning is a major concern for most people. Grout is a porous, cement based material that will harbor dirt, grease, grime as well as mold and bacteria. Therefore cleaning, sanitizing and maintaining grout in a clean condition can be a major challenge for most homeowners.
Most times the dirt on the grout is made up of grease and grime. Using an alkaline cleaning product is necessary to react with the grime on the grout in order to dissolve it and make it easier to clean. A specifically made alkaline grout cleaning product should be used for your grout cleaning activities.
Directions
Mix the alkaline grout cleaning solution with warm tap water-keeping to the ratio specified in the cleaning instructions. Thoroughly drench the surfaces of grout and tile to be cleaned and let it sit there for about half an hour. Now apply some force with a stiff brush or scrub pad but be sure not use a wire or steel wool pad as these could damage the finish on the tiles.
The tile and grout must be scrubbed until you are sure that all the dirt has been loosened or dissolved from the grout. You can now mop the floor and clean up the loose grime and excess cleaner from the tile surface. You may now notice that the grout is not as clean as you may like it to be and naturally you may need to do some more cleaning and scrubbing. However there may be some stubborn types of stains like wine or urine. If this is the case you may want to use an acidic cleaner to rid yourself of these as well. You will see a fizz as the grout cleaning products goes to work on the grout and will not need to do any scrubbing, rubbing or physical cleaning. You will just rinse thoroughly, and away you are-you got cleaner grout.
Using the right acidic grout cleaner, the tile and grout will not be damaged. An acidic tile cleaning product will be great on ceramic and porcelain tiles but a test should be done on stone. Acidic grout cleaners should never be used on any type of marble tiles. The tiles and grout should be rinsed with an alkaline cleaner to avoid any long-term damage from acid being left on the tile or in the grout.
Now the grout should be resealed with a high quality grout sealer or grout colorant, as these aggressive cleaning methods and materials will break down the sealers in the grout.
Grout cleaning is generally a difficult, time-consuming and laborious task. The larger the area the more difficult it becomes. Even using the best and necessary techniques, it can still take longer and not look as good as you imagined. A good idea would be to hire a professional tile and grout cleaning and restoration contractor to do the job for you. The contractor will come with machines and staff and get it done in the shortest time possible. If you are the type of person that loves the do-it-yourself approach, you’ll find a simple tile and grout restoration process and products from places like This Old Grout where they make it easy for the average person to achieve professional tile and grout cleaning results.