Unfortunately for us, it is entirely possible for you to clean your own tile and grout. Keep reading and you’ll see how to accomplish this task yourself! With that said, there are tiles that are certainly more difficult to clean than others. For instance, tiles surfaces that are highly textured are much more difficult to clean than tiles with smooth surfaces.
Here is a picture from Jeff’s house in Richmond, TX in the Lakemont subdivision. Jeff started cleaning in his kitchen before calling us to finish what he started!
Probably the biggest reason our customers choose to have us clean rather than doing it themselves is time. We are able to work quickly because we have the right equipment for the job. A job that would take you days can be accomplished in only a few hours with our professional van mounted equipment.
Here is a picture of Jeff’s living room. He had over 200 tiles in this room alone and he had almost 500 tiles throughout the house. While he showed he could do the job himself, it would have taken him a long time on his hands and knees!
If you want to give it a go, here are the instructions. **Follow all label instructions and test in a nondescript area first**
- Get yourself a good high alkaline tile cleaner. ZEP or DuPont offer good choices.
- Get yourself a grout brush for the grout and a deck brush for textured tile.
- Be sure to follow the instructions for properly diluting the cleaner.
- Wet the tile and grout with the solution and give it a few minutes to start working (it is a good idea to only work a few tiles at time).
- Brush the grout (and tile) well and then remove the dirty solution with a clean towel.
- It is a good idea to rinse the area with warm water and dry it well.
That’s it. You’ll be surprised by how well this works.
If you have a ceramic or porcelain tile, you can do a second pass to make the grout look even better. You should NOT do this next step if you a natural stone tile (particularly marble or travertine/limestone).
- Get yourself a good acidic tile cleaner. DuPont makes one that is available at Ace Hardware.
- Be sure to follow the instructions for properly diluting the cleaner.
- Wet the grout with the solution and give it a few minutes to start working.
- Brush the grout well and then remove the dirty solution with a clean towel.
- It is best to neutralize the grout with an alkaline solution (again, follow directions on the label on how to accomplish this).
- It is a good idea to rinse the area with warm water and dry it well.
The science here is that the first cleaning will remove all dirt/grease/etc. The second pass will etch the surface of the grout. The reason you want to etch the grout is to remove any light stains your grout has accumulated over time. We remove the stains by removing a microscopic layer of grout. After the etching, your grout will have a more uniform appearance.
This procedure is basically what we will do you your floor except instead of wiping your tile with a towel to remove the dirty solution, we use hot pressurized water created by the machine in our van to rinse the floor with 200 degree pressurized water. That dirty water is automatically vacuumed back into the van. This allows us to do large areas quickly without leaving any dirt or soapy residue on your floor.
Working on Jeff’s living room, entry, and dining room.
Here’s another example.
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Angela in Cypress started cleaning her kitchen tile before deciding she couldn’t complete the job. Her tile was also in her breakfast, living room, entry, and two bathrooms.
Here, we are looking into Angela’s living room. You can see where we have cleaned and where we haven’t. Imagine doing all this by hand!
