The length of time tiles on your floor retains their polished look depends on how well you take care of them. Compared to some other types of flooring, tiles can be rather low-maintenance. So long as you mop your floors every so often, the floors should remain clean and shiny. You can use warm water, a bit of soap or cleaning products and a mop for this. However, what are the best things to clean tiled floor with?
However, is using cleaning products better than using natural means to clean your floors such as vinegar? We will discuss in greater length the various techniques that you can use to clean your tiled floors. We’ll look at both traditional cleaning using cleaning products and also look at cleaning the floors with vinegar and baking soda. You may also be asking yourself the question, whether you can use bleach on tiles. We will look to answer all these questions and more, hence keep reading this word to word.
So how do you go about cleaning a tiled floor? What do you need?
How to Clean Tiled Floor
In order to clean a tiled floor, you would require a broom, a mop, a bucket and a dry cloth. You would also need an all-purpose cleaner or dish soap and some warm water.
The first thing that you would have to do when cleaning the tiled floor is, sweep it. You can’t expect to mop the floor unless you sweep away the dust and dirt off it. You can also use a vacuum cleaner for this and vacuum the floors. Work the corners where dirt usually piles up and use a duster to pick up the dust and hair easily.
Once you have swept the floors, it is time to mop it. Combine some cleaning agent with warm water. You can use traditional cleaning products or opt for natural products such as vinegar or baking soda. Dip the mop into your combined solution and squeeze out the excess water so that it’s not soaking. Then run the mop over the floors in a gentle motion. You should follow a pattern so as to ensure that you cover the whole room.
When mopping, you should ensure to change the water regularly. The water can become dirty quite easily and you should ensure that you aren’t cleaning your floors with dirty water. Refill the water regularly to avoid a hazy film of grime on the tile.
If you finish mopping and note that there is that haze on the floor, you can use a combination of white vinegar and hot water to run to a damp rag over the film. This will work to get rid of the haze.
The grout of the tiles can become harder to clean with traditional cleaning products. You would need a specific grout cleaner in order to clean the grouts. You can spray this grout cleaner or use a mixture of bleach solutions. Either way, you should ensure that you use gloves to protect your hands.
Once you have done all this, it is time to dry the floors. You can do this with a clean cloth. If you don’t dry the floors after mopping, the tile may form water spots when it dries. Hence, be sure to dry your floors as soon as you finish mopping it. You may not want to wait until you mop the entire floor for you to dry the floor. Point is, you want to dry the floors before they naturally dry and leave behind water spots.
How to Clean Ceramic Tile Floors Naturally
When you are cleaning ceramic tile, it is good to use hot water. It will remove any stains and grease on the tile. Mix a bucket of hot water with about half a cup of vinegar and use about a tablespoon of dish soap.
You don’t want to use too much soap because it will leave a soapy residue when the water dries. This will make the floors look dull. Make sure to rinse the mop once you use it because if you don’t properly rinse the mop, it will leave behind debris from the last time you used the mop. Make sure to change the water regularly when you are mopping a large space.
Vinegar is safe to use on ceramic, porcelain, vinyl, laminate tiles and other products. Vinegar will not damage your ceramic tiles. It is perfectly safe and works as a perfect floor cleaner. It will properly clean your floor tiles and leave a nice shine.
You can also use traditional cleaning products instead of dish soap. However, once again, you have to ensure that you don’t use too much of the cleaning product. It could leave behind soapy stains when the floor dries out.
Clean Floor Tiles with Vinegar
Vinegar is a great natural solution that works well in cleaning your floors. The components of vinegar make it a natural bleach that leaves behind a clean and polished tiled floor. You should combine 1/2 cup of vinegar with a gallon of warm water in a bucket. Once you have swept the floors for dust and dirt, you can use the vinegar water to mop the tiled floors.
Vinegar is a natural and non-toxic product that works to safely deodorise and disinfect tiled surfaces. It doesn’t create harsh fumes that are bad for you and the mild acid in vinegar works to dissolve grease and hard water stains.
Vinegar is not strong enough to damage the tile in any way. However, you shouldn’t over concentrate the mixture.
Vinegar can be a great vegan alternative to traditional cleaning products. It is definitely one of the more popular means to clean your tiled floors.
Clean Floor Tiles with Baking Soda
Baking soda is another agent that works well in cleaning your tiled floors. It works to gently clean the surface of tiles without damaging them. It is best used in combination with vinegar. You should mix about 2 cups of baking soda with 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar.
This combination works really well to remove stains and hard spots on the tiled floor. However, does baking soda alone clean tiled floors? You can use water and baking soda to clean the floors, but adding vinegar makes it more effective in removing grime and stains.
The mixture of vinegar and baking soda also works well to clean grout. It works well as a grout cleaner thereby enabling you to clean the whole floor, not just the tile.
Clean Floor Tiles with Bleach
If you have mould and mildew on your tiles, bleach will work to properly clean your tiles, leaving behind a new and polished look. You can mix about 3/4 cup of bleach with about a gallon of water and use the concoction to mop the tiled floor.
When it comes to porcelain tile floors, you should avoid using bleach because it could damage the tile.
Bleach also works well as a grout cleaner and can clean the entire surface of the tiled floor. It covers all grounds. Bleach also works are a good disinfectant that will leave behind a clean floor.
The Best Thing to Use to Clean Tile Floors
The best thing to use when you are cleaning tiled floors is a soft bristle brush. You can scrub the floor with a mixture of vinegar and warm water. You can also add some baking soda to the mix to enable a deeper clean.
Do not use vinegar or chemicals on granite or marble tile floors. It is best cleaned with hot water. Unpolished porcelain can be cleaned with a mixture of vinegar and warm water. However, using vinegar in polished porcelain tiles can damage the tile. Hence you should avoid it.
If you are looking to make your floors shine, add some baking soda into the mixture that you are using. The combination of both vinegar and baking soda leaves behind a shiny look, which looks like a waxed surface.
If you are looking to restore dull tiles, use a mixture of vinegar, borax and ammonia. Use about 1/2 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of ammonia and 1/4 cup of borax. Add this to about a gallon of warm water and stir the ingredients well.
How to Clean Tile Grout
Depending on how dirty the grout is, simply using water could be sufficient to clean tile grout properly. However, if your tile grout is especially dirty, you can use a combination of 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide and a tablespoon of dish wash. You should apply the concoction on the grout and allow a few minutes for it to work its action before scrubbing and rinsing.
The baking soda and hydrogen peroxide paste works to safely bleach the grout without damaging it. You can also use lemon juice or white vinegar to make the grout on your tiles white again.
The mixture of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and dish soap is the best combination to clean grout. It is the best homemade tile grout cleaner for the purposes of cleaning tile grout.
How Often Should I Clean Tiled Floors?
Ideally, you should sweep the floors at least twice a week. This will prevent the collection of dirt and debris on the tiled floors and in corners. When it comes to mopping, you should mop the floors at least once a week. This will enable you to maintain a shiny and new look while ensuring that you aren’t damaging the tile.
You can mop the floors more often, it won’t damage the tile. In fact, when it comes to cleaning tile grout, it is recommended that you clean the grout once a day.
Frequently cleaning your floors will prevent the collection of dirt and debris. The more you clean, the better it will look. Don’t worry too much about damaging the tile. Most of the recommendations we have made won’t work to damage your tiles. However, you shouldn’t bleach your floors too often and should be careful of any bleaching agents in traditional cleaning products.
For the best finish, you should use a combination of baking soda, vinegar and warm water to clean your tiled floors. It will leave behind the best look and is both natural and eco-friendly. The combination is also great for vegans who prefer to steer clear of animal-tested products.
To Conclude
Cleaning a tiled floor isn’t complicated. There are a host of options that you can choose from. The natural vinegar, baking soda and water combination works really well in cleaning stains and grease on tiled floors.
Cleaning tiled floors can be a hassle for many people and you would like to use the best solution to make the task of cleaning them easier. If you are faced with deep stains and would require a deeper clean, try using bleach. Otherwise, a combination of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and water also works really well to provide a deeper clean.
We aimed to provide you with the necessary information on cleaning tiles and hoped to help you understand what the best things is to use when cleaning tiled floors. We hope you found this article useful and it helps you get your tiled floors cleaner.
Happy Cleaning!
