Tile Cleaning

Here's how to get your porcelain and ceramic floor tiles and grout to gleam and sparkle like new. Check out our tile cleaning, grout cleaning service.

Our clients are absolutely astounded when they see this system actually work on their own floors, and you will be too.

This exciting system does not just remove years of built up dirt and grime from tiled floors. It also and removes dirt and detergent residues from the grout lines and restores the grout to its original colour.

Ceramic Tile Cleaning

These ceramic tiles are 12 years old. The client had tried everything to clean the grout over the years. This is what she had to say...

'I know you told me over the phone your system would work on my tiles. I didn't believe you but I thought I'd give you a go anyway. I am absolutely amazed how clean my grout is now, it just looks brand new again!'

If you have a ceramic tiled floor the tile itself tends to stay relatively clean, but often the grout lines become dirty and discoloured, which can spoil the look of your floor.

Regular mopping frees the dirt sitting on the tile surface because the glazed finish of a ceramic tile is usually glossy and non porus. (Some ceramic tiles are textured and/or have a matt finish and dirt collects on these surfaces more easily.)

The grout lines, however, are porus. When you mop your floor the soapy/dirty water absorbs into the gout.

As the floor dries, the water evaporates out of the grout but the dirt and soap remain behind.

To add insult to injury, soaps make porus surfaces more absorbent, thus magnifying the problem.

Occasionally, some people get down on hands and knees to scrub the dirt out of the grout. They use cleaning agents such as sugar soap, bleach, ammonia, or even a specific tile and grout cleaning product purchased from the hardware or tile store.

Whilst they will be able to remove the dirt off the grout surface eventually, the grout lines often still remain patchy. They will have embedded more soap into the grout making it more absorbent and causing it to get dirty again more quickly.
Hard way to clean grout

Concentrations of cleaning residues in the grout will discolour grout, even without the presence of dirt particles. If you have a light coloured grout, you can scrub the grout till it is as clean as a whistle, but the embedded cleaning agents will prevent it returning to its original colour.

Our cleaning process removes both built up dirt as well as detergent residues to restore your tiles and grout, and get them looking brand new again.
Easy way to clean grout

Porcelain Tile Cleaning

These polished porcelain tiles were brand new. The builders' cleaner had mopped the whole floor with soapy water that quickly became dirty. Consequently, the dirt stained the tile and grout, hence we were called in to fix the problem.

Traditionally, porcelain tiles have either a matt finish, or what is commonly referred to as 'glossy' or 'polished' finish. More recently there are other variations the fit somewhere between the two.

Regardless of the finish, porcelain tiles are porus, although some seem to be more so than others.

Penetrating seals can be applied to the tile to reduce its porosity, and some porcelain tiles are even pre sealed, but at the end of the day they are all porus to some degree.

The pores, although microscopic, can trap dirt and detergent particles on the tile surface leaving it dull and discoloured. Sometimes this almost appears like a film or haze has attached itself to the tile.



Before After
Polished porcelain tiles in kitchen area 2 ½ years old. Tile had discoloured slightly and grout lines darkened considerably compared to what they should look like.

When you mop the floor and its damp it looks Ok, but as it dries the haze reappears. This can also be apparent if you have a rug or mat near a high traffic area. If you lift one corner of the mat you can see an outline where it lays.

Apart from being porus most porcelain tiles have sharp right angle edges compared to ceramic tiles that are usually more rounded. This means that when you mop the floor you are likely to 'wring' out more dirty, soapy water into the grout than normal ceramic tiles. This means the grout in a porcelain tiled floor, often soils more rapidly than a ceramic tiled floor.

Our cleaning process removes built up dirt and grime from both the tile surface and grout lines so that your porcelain floors are returned to their original condition.

We then recommend you follow our simple tile cleaning procedure to keep your floors looking great.

Recommended Tile Cleaning Procedure:
Now that the tiled floor has been professionally cleaned, care needs to be taken when cleaning the tiles so that they stay in this condition as long as possible. To assist you in this endeavour here are a few simple tips.

NEVER use detergents or bleaches
Detergents build up on the tile surface and in the grout lines, making the floor 'sticky' which attracts more dirt. Bleach, Domestos and Ammonia have high Ph levels that over time discolour and darken the grout.

Use HOT water and Mentholated Spirits.
Be careful with hot water, but always use the hottest water available in the mop bucket. Hot water breaks down grease and dirt more readily than warm or cold water. Use 2 caps of mentholated sprits per 6 litres of hot water for extra cleaning power. 'Metho' being a spirit will evaporate with the water, rather than build up on the tile like detergents.

Keep the mop bucket water CLEAN!
Its no use trying to clean tiles with dirty water. If you are mopping a large area you may need to replace the water several times, otherwise you just transfer dirt. Often it's best to clean the Kitchen area first and change the water before moving to other areas. Alternatively you can mop a relatively clean, large area first, then move into the dirty area with relatively clean water.

Steam Mops & Microfibre Mops (eg. Enjo)
Steam and Enjo type mops are also helpful as they don't use detergents. If you have a large area you may need to change the pad regularly. Once the micro fibres are full dirt collects in front of the pad and falls into the grout as you pass from tile to tile.