MAINTAINING YOUR TILE’S GROUT

It is always good to remember why your grout gets dirty in the first place. Most grout is made of sand and is porous, therefore things like dirt, debris, soap scum, and water get ground into the grout. All this can lead to the growth of bacteria, mold, and mildew, which is why your grout looks stained. Even if you seal your grout, that can wear down over time. So here are a few tips to help keep your grout looking its best!

Tile Cleaning

5 PREVENTATIVE MEASURES TO KEEP GROUT CLEAN

The key things to remember are to be aware of high traffic areas and places where water is used.

1. Place walk-off mats at every entrance to your home. Not just for decorations, walk-off mats will lower the amount of dirt tracked into your home!
2. Place mats or rugs in kitchen and dining areas. Look around for areas where food and water collect, such as your sink, stove, under your pets food and water bowls. (Pro Tip: Get a machine washable rug that you can wash with your towels!)
3. When mopping there are 2 main things to keep in mind. First DO NOT over wet your floors. This is even more important when you use the type of mop that you dunk into water, which gets dirtier each time you dunk it. The second is to mop only small areas at a time until they are clean, And switch water as you switch rooms.
4. Keep Magic Erasers handy for removing the surface dirt before it gets out of hand. This is especially important for areas that are constantly wet, such as your sinks and showers.
5. Vacuum or sweep more often! Especially in high traffic areas.
   

   Keeping Your Tile Looking New

1.  Vacuum or Sweep often

To remove any loose dirt and debris from the tiles, start by vacuuming the entire floor with a stick vacuum. It usually comes with a soft-brush roller that works on tile and hardwood floors, and is more effective at picking up crumbs, hair and dust than sweeping with a broom.

2.  Scrub the floor with a brush

Next, spray cleaner directly on the tiles and let it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing it with the brush. Work in small sections at a time, spraying and scrubbing one area, before moving onto the rinsing step, and then spraying and scrubbing the next section.

Rinse the floor with a mop rinse off the cleaner with a spray mob (swiffer wetjet). Simply spray the section with water and mop up all the dirt and cleaner.

3. Sterilize and dry with a steam mop

Now, this last step is optional because steps one through three are enough to thoroughly clean your tile floor.

If you don’t own a steam mop I would suggest looking into buying one as It uses 212-degree Fahrenheit steam to sterilize surfaces, and it’s highly effective at removing any leftover soapy residue or dirt from the tiles that the spray mop didn’t pick up.