Taking care of your tile floor is crucial as it helps to preserve them while preventing the harboring of dirt and contaminants. The tiles’ grouts tend to harbor a lot of dust, and if not taken care of as required, it may even lead to wear and tear of the tiles.
Although tiles are crafted in different styles and materials, they are easy to maintain as long you use the right cleaning products recommended for your type of floorings. If you don’t know where to start, here is an article to help you learn the best ways and methods to use to care for your tiles.
How to Care for Tile Floors?
Apart from choosing the tiles that match your house finishing, you must select the tiles models that are easy to maintain in terms of cleaning. Here are a few ways on how you can care and maintain your tile floors.
1. Use a dust mop to sweep the floor
Dust mops are perfect for sweeping tiles because they eliminate the debris and dust on the floor by trapping it on the dusting pad, unlike the brooms that spread the dirt around the house by blowing it.
Also, the dust mops can pass through the tiles grout to remove the trapped dust on the grouts for a better and clean floor.
2. Mop your tile floors regularly
If you are unable to mop your floor daily, make an effort of cleaning it at least thrice or four times a week. Leaving the dirt to settle on the tiles for too long damages them by discoloring the tiles, and it may be a bit challenging to get rid of the dirty when cleaning.
Remember, every tile model has its recommendable cleaning solutions, as advised by the manufacturers.
So, check with the manufactures regarding the right cleaning solution to use on your tile floor. For commercial areas, you should clean the tile floors daily as these areas are frequented often by multiple people.
3. Always dry the tiles floors after cleaning
Always make sure to completely dry up the tile floor after cleaning to prevent accidents and prevent more dirt-trapping on the floor. The tiled floors are quite sensitive and trap dirt quite quickly, especially if stepped on when wet. So, use a good mop with a high absorbency level to dry up the floor immediately.
4. Wipe off spillages immediately
Spillages from colored liquids like tea, juice, or even foods can stain the tiles if it stays long before cleaning. So, always make sure to clean off any spillage on the tile floor to prevent staining the floors. You can use a wet dust mop to eliminate the spillage.
5. Concentrate on grouts when cleaning
These are the parts where the dirt tends to build up quickly and, if not cleaned regularly, may get stuck. So, using unique cleaning solutions, scrub the grouts to remove the dust and dirt piled up. You can clean the grouts at least three times a week.
- Check the video from the professionals
Dos and Don’ts for Tile Floors
The floor tiles come in different designs and colors to fit in different home designs. However, whether you choose plain white or printed floor tiles, there are things to do and not to preserve the texture and even the quality of the tiles. Here are a few dos and don’ts for tile floors
The Dos
1. Always sweep the floor first before cleaning
Not only does sweeping your tile floor lessens your cleaning work and time, but it also helps to prevent the dirt from sticking on the tiles and grouts. So, use a microfibre mop to sweep off the loose dirt and debris before the actual cleaning.
2. Mop the tile floor regularly
Unlike other floor materials like hardwoods that require less cleaning, tile floors are safe for regular cleaning. The number of times to clean the tile floors depends on the traffic in the area.
For example, in commercial places, you may need to mop the floor daily as the constant passing of people leaves a lot of dirt on the floor. For home tile floors, cleaning at least twice or thrice times a week would work.
3. Use microfiber cleaning pads to clean tile floors
The mops made with microfiber cleaning pads do a great job of quickly eliminating the dirt piled up on the floor. They also absorb high levels of water for quick drying of the tiles floor.
4. Seal the floors
The tile floors require resealing after a while, which should be done according to the manufacturer’s advice. So, hire a professional technician to reseal the tile floors in your home or commercial place.
The Don’ts
1. Avoid a reliable cleaning solution
Any cleaning solution made of acids, high alkaline, ammonia, and even chlorine should not clean the tile floors since they damage tile floors by taking away the natural and shiny look of the tiles.
2. Don’t use bleaches
The bleaches may remove the color or patterns on the tiles within the first days of using them.
3. Don’t use abrasive cleaning pads
Even if you notice a stain on the tile floor, don’t remove it with abrasive and scrubbing objects as they can easily damage the floor or leave unnecessary marks.
How to Prevent Damage to the Tile Floors?
1. Avoid abrasive products on the floor
Whether it’s scrubbing objects or even cleaning solutions, the abrasive products cause the tile floors to lose the originality and color.
Note that the effect may not be noticeable on the first day of using the abrasive product, but regular usage of these products gradually makes the tiles to turn dull and lose the original textures.
2. Don’t forget about the grout
The grouts are the most overlooked areas of tiles as most people focus more on cleaning the tiles forgetting the grout. But a lot of dirt and water tends to get stuck on the grout resulting in the growth of mildew and other contaminants.
If the grouts stay long before cleaning, they may discolor and lead to damage of the tile floors.
So, make sure to clean the grouts when cleaning the tiles regularly. Or rather, seal in grouts using waterproof materials to prevent the water and dirt from settling when cleaning.
3. Clean the tile floor regularly
Cleaning the tiles regularly prevents the dirt build-up, which results in staining of the tiles. So, clean depending on how frequently people go to the room. For commercial places like an office, clean the floor daily.
For homes, you can clean the floors three to four times a week. Sweep the floors before cleaning and use a cleaning mop with the right absorbent pad to dry the tiles fast and easily.
Conclusion
Tiles are the most versatile flooring to install at houses and in commercial places. The tiles are easy to maintain and clean since they don’t require mild or expensive cleaning solutions than other types of floorings.
Well, when installing the tile floors, make sure to hire a professional technician to ensure the tiles are installed well, and the grout is well aligned for easy cleaning. Choose a good quality model of tiles that are easy to maintain and clean.
