Tile floors are beautiful, durable, and can add to the value of your home.
With just a little day-to-day maintenance and gentle cleaning, your tile floor should stay clean and shiny. To make the job easier, keep in mind these five tips for tile floor cleaning.
1. Know Your Type of Flooring
The type of tile you have will determine the best cleaning practices. Knowing the particular needs of the material your tile is made from will make cleaning a lot easier.
For sealed ceramic or porcelain tile floors, sweep or vacuum the floor regularly and mop with a mild detergent weekly or as needed when spills occur. Use a soft rag or chamois-type mop.
Natural stone tile floors require a bit more care. Because chemicals in many household cleaners can damage their natural surface, clean them with cleaners made especially for natural stone.
Floors known as resilient tile floors are perhaps the easiest to keep sparkling. These floors include vinyl, linoleum, and sealed cork tile.
Vinyl and sealed cork can be cleaned with a mild detergent or solution of water and vinegar. Linoleum tile should be cleaned with a borax detergent and water.
2. Daily Care and Deep Cleaning
One of the best things to maintain any type of tile floor is to sweep or vacuum it daily. This helps prevent dust and dirt build-up and makes regular cleanings easier.
On the flip side, you should also consider an occasional deep clean of your tile floor. When your tile floor looks dirty even after a regular mopping, consider cleaning with a stronger solution.
Again, the type of tile you have will determine how you want to approach the cleaning process.
A good DIY deep cleaner is a mixture of 1 ½ cups warm water, ¼ cup vinegar, and 1 tablespoon baking soda. This can be safely mopped onto sealed ceramic, porcelain, and resilient floors, but natural stone or unsealed surfaces should be cleaned with a specialty cleaner.
3. Don’t Forget the Grout
Discolored grout can ruin the look of your tile floors. Scrubbing with a toothbrush and a mixture of baking soda and vinegar can get those lines looking new if the acid in the vinegar will not damage the tile.
Another homemade solution is a mixture of ½ cup baking soda, ¼ cup hydrogen peroxide, and a teaspoon of dish soap.
For natural stone tile, try a solution of just three parts baking soda to one part water, or buy a commercial grout cleaner made for stone.
Because grout cleaning can be one of the hardest parts of keeping your tile floor clean, consider using our professional service to help. We use state-of-the-art tools to clean your grout.
4. To Steam or Not To Steam For Tile Floor Cleaning
Steaming the floors is a great way to get a natural deep clean. It can remove stains, clean grout, and strip the sticky residue left behind from traditional floor cleaners. And it can do all this without harsh chemicals.
But steam isn’t always a good option when cleaning tile floors. Sealed ceramic and porcelain tiles can safely be steam cleaned. Natural stone and resilient tile floors should not be exposed to steam.
5. Adding Shine to Your Tile Floor
Once your floor is squeaky clean, you might consider polishing or waxing it to maintain a shiny finish.
Ceramic tiles benefit from an occasional waxing. It can make them shiny as well as waterproof, stain-resistant, and create a non-slip surface.
You should polish, rather than waxing floors, for shine if your tiles are natural stone, vinyl, or linoleum. Commercial polishes can be found specifically for each surface.
Clean Floors, Clean Home
Proper tile floor cleaning is at the foundation of a clean home. With just a little TLC and knowledge about the specific needs of your floor, you can keep them sparkling and like-new for years to come.
If you would prefer to leave your tile and grout cleaning to the professionals, contact us today. We provide outstanding service for both commercial and residential floors.
