Best Ways: How to Clean Tile Floors?

Nowadays many people choose tiles as the floor in their rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. Because they are more durable than carpeting and they look classy.

But these floors are more prone to dust and dirt particles. Because tile floors are somehow shiny than others that’s why a layer of dust appears more on this surface.

The one thing that people always want to know that how to clean tile floors. There are different ways to clean tile floors through which your floor looks clean and shiny.

The common cause of the discoloration of the floor is the excessive use of liquid spills. These stains and discoloration distract the beauty of your house and your house looks dirty.

Different types of sponges and mops are used to clean tile floors. Before cleaning you must know what type of floor tiles you have in your home.

So, let us discuss in this article, how to clean the tile floors of your house? We will also discuss different methods to clean the different types of tile floors.

Major Causes of Discoloration and Stains on Tile Floors

The major culprits that discolor and stain your tile floors are as follows:

Tips To Maintain Tile Floors

The daily household cleaning includes vacuuming, mopping, and sweeping. These tasks are not enough to keep your tiles clean and free from dust.

To keep this floor clean, you have to do an extra effort and do follow some methods for this purpose. Here we will discuss some tips to maintain tile floors.

  1. The discoloration of tiles is due to the excessive water on the floor. So, we have to clean the spills to avoid discoloration.
  2. To remove dust and large debris, you should use a vacuum on your floors regularly so that they keep their sparkle.
  3. First, you have to use a mop on tile floors and then you have to rinse it with water so that any kind of detergent will be removed.
  4. As tile floors are delicate and more prone to damage that’s why avoid using the bleach on this floor.
  5. To avoid growing mold on tile floors of the washroom, you should rinse off these tiles after bathing so that the leftover soap will be removed.
  6. Must take guidance from tiles manufacturer about stain cleaning.
  7. To remove the ordinary food spills, must use a sponge and warm water for this purpose. You may use any kind of dish soap to remove the stains.
  8. pH neutral floor cleaner should be used to clean the tile floors. Because some floor cleaner having acidic or alkaline pH is not suitable for many types of tile and in return damage them. Many floor cleaners come as a concentrated solution, you must add a specific quantity in a bucket of water so that a dilute solution will be obtained.

Is Vinegar Good For Cleaning Tile Floors?

It is a non-toxic agent that cleans or disinfects different surfaces but it is not suitable for marble floors. It is useful and effective on porcelain and ceramic tiles.

Related Post: How to Clean Porcelain Tile?

A balanced pH cleaning agent is suitable and best for stone and marble tile floors. A large quantity of vinegar even damages the ceramic tile floor.

Avoid soaking the vinegar in grout to make them clean. Vinegar having pH 2 can create space in your tiles and disturb their integrity. Water may fill in this space and molds will grow easily on this surface.

How Do you Clean Dirty Tile Floors?

Basically, the answer to this query depends on the type of floor tiles that you have in your home. But if we take this query in the general sense, then the first tiles should be maintained with sweeping.

The large debris on the floor should be removed because it causes scratches on the floor. If it is unremoved dirt will move into grout and germs will be produced and molds can grow easily and this causing the discoloration of your floor.

A mild cleaning agent is useful for porcelain and ceramic floor. While a neutral pH cleaning agent is best for stone and marble floors. You must remember that grout is the first thing to become discolored. You must use grout cleaner to clean the grout.

Related Post: Best Vacuum for Tile Floors?

Remove Ingrained Dirt From Tile Floor?

This is basically the grout that accumulates dirt. A Grout cleaning solution and a baking soda should be used to clean the grout. You should use a toothbrush to deep clean the grout. After 5 minutes, you have to remove the cleaning agent from that surface by using water.

Make sure that you did not use any acidic cleaner such as vinegar on the marble floor because after using this, stains will be permanent and looks worse.

Related Post: How to Clean Floor Grout without Scrubbing

What is the Best Homemade Tile Floor Cleaner?

It can also depend upon the type of floor tiles. Because every homemade floor cleaner is not suitable for all surfaces.

Different floor cleaners include baking soda, vinegar, different oils such as lavender and pine. You can use diluted white vinegar for porcelain and ceramic tile floor and you go for baking soda for grout and you can use hydrogen peroxide and baking soda for marble and stone tiles because the ingredients have neutral pH.

How to Clean Grout Lines From Tile Floors?

The grout between the tiles takes most of the dirt and due to this reason, discoloration of the surface takes place. Many people suggest vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and many other things to clean the grout.

Alkaline and acidic cleaners are also not suitable for many types of tiles and they easily destroy them by discoloring. If you don’t clean grout on regular basis, it will discolor and your tiles look dirty and worn.

Here we will discuss the DIY method to clean grout lines;

  1. Take Oxygen Bleach that is color safe and non-toxic and mix in a bucket of water. You can easily buy this bleach from the grocery store. Avoid using chlorine bleach because it contains toxic chemicals that lead to the discoloration of tiles.
  2. Put this solution in a spray bottle or may use a scrub brush to apply the solution on grout lines.
  3. Now you have to wait for 30 minutes so that grout lines easily soak this solution. A better result will be obtained if you wait more than 30 minutes. The oxygen ions present in the bleach solution helps to clean the grout lines.
  4. To scrub the grout lines, you have to use a nylon brush or toothbrush.
  5. Now clean that dirty surface with a small towel.
  6. When you find that all grout lines are clean then wash the tile floor with water and then clean the floor with the mop.
  7. To keep the grout clean you may use grout sealant.

You can also use baking soda and lemon juice for this purpose. But the above-described method is effective because it requires less scrubbing and takes less time.

Many companies make different grout cleaning products that have no chemicals in them. You can easily buy them from the market or online.

Related Post: Does Steam Cleaning Damage Grout?

How to Clean Ceramic Tile Floors?

Ceramic tiles are easy to maintain and clean. They did not lose their shine easily and easily bear most of the cleaning agents.

You can also use any kind of mild cleaner on these tiles so that they look clean and shiny. These tiles hide dirt in them so, it is necessary to clean these tiles.

  1. Before using any kind of cleaner or water on tile floor, you should remove the dirt and dust or large debris from the floor by using either vacuum or dust mop. You should also remove the shoes and rugs or any other things that causes hurdle in your work.
  2. To remove the sticky residues from floor, use a plastic knife or old credit card.
  3. Take a bucket and fill it with hot water and mix half cup of vinegar in it. You can also add half tablespoon dish soap. Avoid using too much soap because it leaves your floor dull.
  4. Clean the mop with hot water and then mop the tile floor with soapy water. After this, mop the floor with warm water.
  5. Now leave the floor for air dry. Avoid using any type of clothes or towel to clean the tile floor because it leaves the water spot on your surface.

You can also use disposable cleaning cloths to pick the dust and debris from tile floors and then use a microfiber mop to deep clean your tiles.

This mop not only moves dirt in your tiles but also they are flexible and they easily get into the corners of the floor. It comes with washable mop pads.

Cleaning Wood Looking Tiles

Tiles that look like wood require regular cleaning. You can use a dust mop on the floor for cleaning purposes. Regular cleaning prevents the dust to move into the grout and in this way, a large amount of dirt will not retain on this surface.

You can use a degreaser having a percentage of buffered acid by using a cloth. After this rinse the floor and dry it with a microfiber cloth.

How to Clean Marble and Stone Tiles?

Marble tiles are difficult to clean and easily get scratched. Avoid using a rough broom to clean these tiles. You can use a vacuum cleaner or a soft bristles brush for cleaning purposes.

Don’t use any kind of old floor cleaner to clean the stone tiles. pH neutral floor cleaner is best for marble and stone tile floors.

How To Clean Vinyl and Linoleum Tiles Floors?

These floors are more cost-friendly and inexpensive than the high-priced ceramic and marble tile floors. The easy way to clean the tile floor is to use a steam mop but these tile floors did not withstand extreme heat and moisture.

Here we will discuss that how to clean the vinyl tile floor;

  1. Remove all kind of dirt and debris from the floor.
  2. Now mix the vinegar in water and use it on the floor for cleaning purpose.

Here we will discuss that how to clean Linoleum tile floor;

  1. Remove dirt and large debris from the floor by using a mop or a vacuum.
  2. Then take a linoleum floor cleaner for cleaning purpose
  3. You may use a mixture of water and borax to clean this surface.
  4. You may apply a coat of wax to maintain the shine of the floor. You may use this after 5-6 months.

Conclusion

To sum up the conclusion, I would like to say that cleaning the tile floor is necessary to keep your home clean and shiny. There are different types of tile floors such as wood tile floors, ceramic tile floors, marble tile floors, and many others.

Before buying any kind of floor cleaner, you must remember this point that different tile floor requires different types of floor cleaner. Ceramic tiles are easy to clean and you can use mild floor cleaner for cleaning purposes while marble tiles are difficult to clean and they require a neutral pH floor cleaner.

Ceramic tile floor does not require sealants and they easily resist moisture. Avoid using chemical bleaches such as chlorine bleach for cleaning purposes. Oxygen Bleach can be used to remove the grout lines and keep them sparkled.

I hope that provided information proves useful to you and helps you to understand how to clean tile floors?

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