Tile and Grout Cleaning is a great way to bring that shine back to your home. You can have professionals clean your tile and grout for a lot less than replacing it but it still isn’t cheap. Therefore, I’ve put together some information that can help you preform the task yourself. With the right chemicals, equipment, and research you can make your home beautiful again.
Before and After
Tile and grout cleaning can be a great way to beautify your home. Quite frequently, home owners spend thousands of dollars replacing their grout, when all it really needed was a good cleaning. The most important factor is knowing the difference between when it needs to be replaced and when it needs to be cleaned.
Typically grout is sealed to protect dirt and grime from seeping down to the base of it. If the grout is not sealed correctly or sealed at all, you may want to run a few test before you decide what you are going to spend your money on. Dirt and grim is acidic, therefore it slowly eats away at the grout leaving it recessed and sometimes hollow.
Testing Your Grout
One good way to test your grout is to take the chemicals that you will be using along with a grout brush and briskly brush the grout back and forth to see if the grout starts to easily break away. If the dirt and grim has seeped too far into your grout, the high alkaline chemicals will react with the acid and possibly expose more underlying issues with the grout. If the surface is the only part that is affected, you will see the chemical react with some slight foaming.
Finding the Right Chemical
For some stains, simple household items like vinegar or baking soda can be effective cleaners. Use vinegar diluted with an equal amount of water, or make a paste of baking soda and a bit of water to clean the grout with. Spray or dab the cleaner onto a small length of grout and scrub with a stiff brush. Scrubbing in small circles rather than straight up and down will remove more debris from the grout. Rinse well with water and mop up and remaining moisture with a sponge or paper towels.
If the stains are more serious and you haven’t been trained to handle professional cleaning chemicals, you may want to find your local carpet or tile and grout cleaner. Otherwise, you can usually find the right chemicals at your local professional cleaning supply store. Every store is different and many of them make their own chemicals so be sure you ask detailed questions when you visit the store. Also be specific with the application you are using and the type of area you are cleaning.
Tile and Grout Cleaning Equipment
tile and grout cleaner
One way to clean your grout is by getting down on your hands and knees and scrubbing inch by inch. For the rest of us, however, there are different types of equipment that you can either rent from equipment rental companies or local hardware stores. There are many types of tile and grout cleaners and most of them do the job well. You may want to inquire with the rental department about the application you are using it in and what types of chemicals you are using.
The equipment shown in the picture is a high end tile and grout cleaner hooked up to a high powered portable extractor. The actual cleaning tool the man in the picture is holding sprays (like a pressure washer) and extracts at the same time. This extractor uses a 1200 psi pump to clean tile, but this is not always necessary. There are other less expensive extractors and floor cleaners that work well also with less power.
The tile and grout cleaner that is shown in the picture uses a rotating arm high pressure sprayer to clean the dirt and grime off of the grout. Some other cleaners have brushes on them and require less pressure to clean the grout. A good example is a product like the Rotovac 360.
