How to Clean Ceramic Tile
Ceramic tiles come as glazed and unglazed types.
The glazed ceramic tiles are more popular because of many advantages like ease of cleaning, low or no maintenance and availability of unlimited varieties.
The major problem with ceramic tiles are that they can easily be scratched and crack if the wrong chemicals are used for cleaning.
Once the tile is scratched, it becomes difficult to clean as dirt goes into the scratches and cracks, and it shows.
Ceramic tiles cannot be easily replaced as the replacement tile would not have the same color shade and the replacement tile shows itself as an odd tile.
Soap Scum
Soap scum can make the ceramic tile look bad.
To remove soap scum cover the area with laundry detergent and allow it to stand for several hours.
Rub with sponge and rinse clean with water. Resistant stains can be cleaned by scrubbing with brush.
Tri-sodium phosphate is also a good solution in removing soap scum.
Mold and Mildew
Mildew develops, as the soap scum, high humidity, low air flow and low light conditions are ideal for formation and growth of mold and mildew. A quick application of chlorine bleach and elbow grease will make short work of it.
Mildew is a microorganism. Chlorine based solvents can be used to deal with this effectively.
This will also clean the grout since chlorine is a good oxidizing agent. Microorganisms are also oxidized by chlorine.
Hard Water Stains
A white coat on the ceramic tiles is caused by hard water or minerals dissolved in the water.
The white coat on tiles is just calcium or lime from the water. Acid based tile cleaners are best for cleaning this, but be cautious and take precautions like using gloves and keeping the exhaust fan on. Do not use scouring powders to remove hard water on tiles.
Full strength vinegar (a mild acid) and elbow grease will help dissolve the hard water deposits.
Cleaning Tile Floors
Kitchen and bathroom ceramic floor tile is easily maintained clean by daily vacuuming and frequent washing.
- Wash regularly and remove water as early as possible.
- Rinse with a mild detergent
- Vacuum regularly
- Never wax a ceramic tile flooring
- Do not use ammonia-based cleaners. You will find that the grout will be discolored.
- Clean the spills on floors. This will ensure that grouts are not discolored by the chemicals in the spills.
- Non-epoxy grouts should be sealed twice a year with silicone based grout sealers. This will ensure that the spills do not affect the color of grout. The grout should be cleaned before application of silicone based sealer. If you do not do this, the spills will be sealed with the sealer.