Miss Florine’s Tips for Cleaning Tile & Grout

Cleaning is a necessary task in any home and tile me happy, because keepin’ it clean is not hard at all. Ceramic and porcelain tile are some of the most durable types of flooring. They have a high scratch, water, and chemical resistance. Routine care for this type of tile is easy as buying the right cleaner. Not as easy to maintain would be natural stone tile and the oh-so-necessary grout.

Grout and natural stone are more susceptible to wear and tear damage from the lack of routine sealing and incorrect cleaners. Self-care products with a high PH, like toothpaste or lightening shampoos, are known to eat away at your beautiful nature made tile. Using a sealer designed for your stone and/or grout will give it a protective layer. I recommend using a penetrating sealer at the time of installation and then resealing once a year to five years, as needed. How do you know when to reseal? Drip water on the surface, watch to see if the stone or grout deepens in color or water is absorbed. If the water beads on the surface, your stone/grout is sealed. If water is absorbed or the stone/grout darkens, it needs to be resealed. The process of sealing is not complicated, just time consuming and usually stinky. A tile setter can do this for you or for those go-getters out there, you can do it yourself.

For an everyday cleaner on any tile or grout, I recommend Aqua Mix Concentrated Stone and Tile Cleaner. It is PH neutral, making it ideal for your natural stone’s safety. Use this every time you clean to keep soap scum and hard water spots from appearing on your grout or tile.

Aqua Mix Heavy Duty Tile and Grout Deep Cleaner removes soap scum build up, ground in yuck, and anything lurking on your tile and grout. This has a high PH, so it should not be used on natural stone as an everyday cleaner. Think of this product as the cleaner your dentist uses at your yearly cleaning. It is heavy duty enough to do some serious damage if not used correctly, while the concentrated cleaner is like toothpaste: daily use makes it more effective.

Remember to read all directions before use. These products are only safe when used correctly on your tile and grout. That’s my floor-1-1 on Keepin’ it clean!