Cleaning Tile Floor and Grout

This used to seem like such a daunting task for me too! At the end of last year I joined this group and www.flylady.com to improve my cleaning/mothering/wivery skills lol! I have learn to deep clean my house by zones. Each week of the month I clean one zone (which is a room or set of rooms)including the tile and grout. Yes I get down there to do the grout, but it's broken down over a month, so it doesn't seem that bad. I use bleach water and a long thin wire brush. It only takes a couple of minutes at a time and it makes the whole room look cleaner. Hoipe this helps!

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Here are a few common household uses for cleaning grout and tile.

• Scrub with baking soda or borax.
• Scrub with a paste of lemon juice or white vinegar and salt.
• mix 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup white vinegar and warm water
• Scrub with toothpaste using an old toothbrush
• sponge with white vinegar

Hi! My house is mostly tile too. I mop once a week as well with a Pine Sol solution. But for grout cleaning, (and I know you said you didn't want to be sitting on your hands and knees) I use the Magic Eraser. It really does clean it. It takes some time, but if you can do little bits at a time and then seal it with some grout sealant (Lowe's or Home Depot will have have it) it will help keep it clean for longer, and easier to clean when you need to.

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Hi K.,
One of the things I love about living in Florida is the tile floors. I don't think I could ever go back to other floors, much less carpet (yeccch!!)

What I use in my floors throughout the house is Spic N Span powder, NOT the liquid stuff they have at the supermarkets. It used to be widely available, but now it is hard to find. I pick it up at an Ace hardware on Dixie Hwy, Miami, FL, or at Cunha's market in Half Moon Bay, California. These are the only two places I know of, but I'm sure doing a Google search for them might reveal other places they are sold.
I would not think that vinegar water would be enough to wipe all the dirt and grime that can be accumulated in floors from daily traffic, but this product leaves your floors really clean looking and feeling.
I would not go as far as saying that it will lighten darkened grout, because only deep steam cleaning can do that, but you would certainly be satisfied after mopping with SPic N SPan in your bucket.

Try the Hoover Floormate. It really works.

Hi, I am having the same problem:( Everytime I clean my floor within a day it looks dirty again. Did you find something that worked? I am dying trying to clean all this tile....Thanks in advance. Oh and I have a two year old...

The only way I know of cleaning the grout, is on your hands and knees. I just wanted to mention a product called Zap! (NOT ZEP) Professional Grout Restorer. Its also hard to find now, so you would have to look it up to see where it is sold, but it works way better than the bleach pen or anything else I have tried. Use an actual grout brush, it makes it easier and go by faster. You can then seal your grout. You can buy both the grout brush and sealer at a hardware store. I think it's Stanley Carpet Cleaning that now does grout, and I hear they do a great job, but you will pay for it of course.

Spray with Kaboom and brush over with a broom ~ works wonders! I normally rinse with water.

my husband is a tile installer. he's been doing it for quite a while now. if it needs deep clean you can go to home depot and by whats called sufamic acid, in the tile section. they have it in liquid form, or in like acid form that you scoop out and mix yourself. but you can put it in a spray bottle for your deep clean. just read the instructions. they do make tile vacs, cost money. but the best way is scrubbing. dont seal your tile, worst thing to do. i'll tell you how i mop my floors, people think i'm crazy but it works the best.i'd try this first before you use the acid. i bought a brush that is used for cleaning cars you can screw a broom handle on it, i dip it in the bucket and scrub. if i need a more deep clean i use a little stiffer brush. i dont have to get on my hands and knees. i use a towel to dry the floor. i like a little more water on the floor, it makes the dirt lift to the top. then you remove the excess with the towel. when people use mops, they end up moping the floor with dirty water. when your water gets dirty get new water. but dont let the floor dry on its own. you need to towel dry it. i keep one towel for the floor only. but when you get done moping the floor and then use the towel, you'll see what gets left behind with the mop. the one response about the degreaser, works good, but if you dont get the degreaser on there evenly you'll get clean spots. and you have to rinse it thoroughly. but to help with getting off your knee's brush on a broomstick. oh yea discount auto has a degreaser called 555 in a black jug. works great and lot cheaper than simple green and greased lightning. hope this helps. i wish they made a machine that would do it all for you too....my husband said murphys oil soap and water works really good too.

my Favorite webisite for cleaning is www.care2.com, its all about nontoxic cleaning and organic everything.

hope this helps.

Hey K.,
I haved used Zep on my floors but it does require scrubing. It can be found at Home Depot. I recomend a open house and no kids for few hours while its being done. I also have used a product called Awesome, you can buy it from the dollar stores. Its a degreaser and does work wonders.. but again i recomend no kids and a well vented house. It may be strong on your floors, depending on what kind of tile you have. Goodluck and please let us know what you use.

K.,

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Clorox Bleach gel works wonders on grout.