Tile and Grout Cleaning I Importance of Clean Tiles and Grout

Importance of Clean Tiles and Grout When Selling a Home

The cleaning of tiles and grout lines will make a massive difference to the appearance of a home, especially if the homeowner is selling. Don’t forget first impressions last.

Steam Cleaning Tiles to Make them Look New Again

So to clean tiles we first have to know what sort of tiles are to be cleaned. There are many different types these days from, ceramic, stone, polished porcelain, glazed and terracotta.

The best way to clean tiles and grout is with a steam clean, a professional tile and grout cleaning company would use a truck mounted steam cleaning machine to clean tiles. These machine will make the tile look like new again, with a little help from as good cleaning solution.

To start with, a vacuum of the tiled area would be best as with all steam cleaning processes the more of the dirt that can be removes prior to applying any cleaning solutions the better the end results will be. So after the vacuum, a solution will be mixed up and applied to the tiled area covering the tiles and grout lines. This is left to dwell for around 20 minutes. A good grout brush would be used to scrub the grout lines this will give a better end result.

After the dwell time, the cleaning process will start. This is done with a spinning tool usually around 12 inches in diameter. All of the corners would be scrubbed first as the round shaped spinning tool won’t get into the corners.  The spinning tool cleans at 1200 psi and all of the steam is contained within the tool itself, so the tiles are left dry. The dirty water is carried through 2 inch diameter hoses into a holding tank in the back of the van.

Once all of the tiled area has been cleaned, any excess water would be mopped up to leave the tiles dry and ready to walk on.

Application of Sealer

At this stage, a sealer may be used to seal the grout lines or if the tiles are terracotta or polished porcelain then the whole tile and grout line would be sealed.  The sealer will give the tiles and grout a protective coating to help against staining.  The sealer can take up to 24 hours to cure fully.

If the tile cleaning has been done to high standard by a professional tile and grout cleaning company, the next clean could be in 2-5 years, depending on the amount of traffic over the tiled area. A general mopping would be sufficient in the meantime, using a solution for tile cleaning not any house hold cleaner. This is where a lot of people go wrong with tiles they use the wrong cleaning solutions on them. The best thing to do is ask your local cleaning supply company what is best for the particular tile you have.