How to Quickly Clean Tile: Secrets You Didn't Know

The time-consuming process of washing ceramic tiles can be simplified and shortened by following our tips and life hacks. Did you know about them?

What inventory will you need?

• A soft but flexible brush to clean dried dirt. Too stiff bristles can damage the tile surface.
• A old toothbrush. Useful for cleaning grout lines between tiles.

• A sponge. To apply cleaning solutions to tiles and remove dirt.
• A microfiber cloth. It's convenient to wipe up excess water after cleaning and polish glossy tiles.

Life Hack

To speed things up, consider buying high-tech cleaning equipment — a steam cleaner and an electric brush. Window cleaners with vacuum pumps can also be mounted on any smooth surface, including tiles. These devices are easy to use on large tiled areas.

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What to Clean? Grease and Micro-Food Particles

Light contamination can be removed with dish soap or a baking soda solution: add four tablespoons to a liter of water, apply it to the tiles and leave for several minutes. Clean and rinse with water. More stubborn stains can be removed with a kitchen tile cleaning product.

Life Hack

Before washing the tiles, try steaming them: fill a bathtub, shower or kitchen sink with hot water or pass a hot hair dryer over the surface. The pores in the tiles will open, making it easier to remove dirt.

Calcium and Soap Film in the Bathroom

The best way to deal with bathroom contamination is with bathroom cleaning products. However, tiles can be damaged by acids in their formulas. Also, the bathroom is a humid space with poor air circulation, and it’s easy to inhale fumes from cleaning products during cleaning. Therefore, aggressive acid-containing formulas should not be used here and instead, milder options based on citric, lactic, and other organic acids should be preferred.

Life Hack

Strong acids in a cleaning product will give off a sharp chemical smell from the bottle. These products should only be used with gloves and with windows open in the room.

Pay attention to the content of aggressive cleaning components. The most harmful are anionic surfactants (AOS). Regularly using cleaning products with high levels of AOS is unsafe: they accumulate in the body and can cause disruptions in practically all vital systems. Symptoms include dry skin, dermatitis, and allergies.

Safe AOS content in a cleaning product is up to 5%, as in the universal cleaning milk Meine liebe. This is a concentrated cleaning solution for daily cleaning of any surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom. Its gentle formula based on natural limestone effectively cleans but does not damage surfaces. It quickly removes calcium deposits and soap scum, decontaminates tiles and grout lines, cleans ceramic, enameled and stainless steel fixtures and taps, glass panels, and electric or glass-ceramic cooktops.

Due to its eco-friendly formula, the product is safe for use in homes with autonomous sewage systems — septic tanks.

Water Stains on Glossy Tiles

They appear if the tiles are not dried thoroughly after cleaning. A microfiber cloth can help polish them. It is important to thoroughly wipe glossy tiles after every shower or bath, rinsing them with water first.

It is possible to use glass cleaning solution or try polishing tiles with ammonia spirit (2–3 tablespoons per liter of water). However, it’s better to reserve these methods for emergency cases and avoid frequent use of spirit-based products: their vapors are harmful to health.

Life Hack

Start washing wall tiles from bottom to top, finishing from top to bottom. This will help clean them quickly without unnecessary movements.

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Darkened Grout Lines

Chlorine-based products can disinfect and lighten darkened grout lines. However, chlorine is very harmful to the body and can damage the tiles themselves. This despite the fact that it undergoes several stages of firing at very high temperatures during production.

Design: Anna Akopyan

The plus of such products is that they only address white grout that has darkened. If the grout is colored, after such disinfection, the pigments will lighten and the color will become uneven. This can be corrected with special acrylic grout paint, but applying it neatly takes time and effort.

More gentle methods to combat discoloration and mold on grout lines include using a steam cleaner, applying weak acid-based solutions, or using pencil-like cleaning products.

LIFE HACK

Grout lines usually become moldy, darken, and acquire an uneven color if cost-saving measures were taken and cement-based mixtures were used to fill the joints.

To avoid spending effort and time maintaining grout lines, choose epoxy two-component grout. It costs more but is almost impermeable to moisture, unlike cement-based grouts. Bacteria and fungi don’t thrive on it, and it doesn't change color or fade easily.

Design: Julia Kaufell

6 Tips for Clean Tiles and Grout Lines

Avoid black glossy tiles.

Or cover only a small area with them. This is the most noticeable option among all available.

Avoid overly rough tiles.

It’s almost impossible to slip on such tiles, but it's nearly impossible to clean them too: cloths get caught on the rough surface and leave fabric fragments, and fine dirt gets stuck firmly.

Wipe the kitchen backsplash and floor tiles after cooking at the end of the day.

This daily routine takes very little time, and you won’t have to spend long periods removing stuck-in dirt.

After laying tiles, treat the grout lines with sealant.

This extends the life of the grout, especially if it's cement-based.

Keep tiled surfaces dry.

A reliable prevention of mold and mildew growth is good ventilation in bathrooms and toilets, and always slightly open doors in humid spaces.

Do not use soap solution.

Soap creates a microfilm on tile and grout surfaces, which is an excellent environment for mold and mildew growth.

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