Cleaning ceramic tile floors
 

The house we are purchasing has ceramic tile floors throughout, except for the bedrooms. What is the best way to clean the ceramic tile? Which products are you using? In the past when I've had large areas with ceramic, most of the products left streaking after drying. It must be me.

We use white distilled vinegar in water. Seems to work very well. However we usually do it with a cloth or sponge....not a mop. For the grout, especially if it is light in color, we put a little bleach on it before scrubbing with a toothbrush.

We do this only about once a week unless otherwise warranted...

In the meantime we use a swiffer vaccuum sweeper on it just to get up dust and dirt.

I was astonished at how dirty the floors were when I first cleaned them. I had been spot cleaning them and swiffering them and sweeping them and they LOOKED clean!! BUT the first time I had washed them thoroughly I had to change the water several times. The culprit is the garage floor. It seems to be giving up black dust. I was told early on that the garage floors should be finished. I thought it was just a "Florida style" thing. I was wrong to assume that the same kind of concrete is used here as up north. It really needs to be sealed.

Until we can decide if we do it ourselves or hire it done we are using throw rugs just outside the entry from the garage and inside in the laundry room. They become filthy within days.

I use liquid dishwashing detergent with a sponge mop. It seems like there are acres of tile.

My wife swears by that small steam machine (Shark?).

Cassie - You clean the grout separately? Next time buy dark grout or just let the light grout get dark. That's WAY too much work!

I was using the vinegar and mops etc. Now I have a Shark steam mop and love it. I use the Swiffer vac and a dry mop for dust and then I use the steam mop. No mess with water and mops - in fact, I'm throwing all my mops out. This Shark is wonderful. I guess it's okay for tile. My friend has used hers for a long time and I don't see any problem since I've been using mine. Bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond with the 20% off coupon - ended up costing around $66 with tax.

20% vinegar solution in a spray bottle with a Swiffer. (The Swiffer bottle stuff seems to streak some tiles.) I hand clean the edges with the "wet wipes" for Swiffers, dry wipe/spray where needed for the rest of the floor. This works well if you do it frequently, with an occasional serioius cleaning. However, I've heard great things about the steamers and plan to try that out.

How do the steamers work? Where does the dirt go?

I was told when I had my tile installed to always use the white vinegar and water, not any of the commercial chemicals advertised for tile floor (Great Lakes Carpet & Tile ). I have no trouble with streaks, etc. I would like to know more about the steam cleaner, though. Sounds like it would be much easier. Can you tell me about it? Does it use chemicals or just water?

The Steamer just uses distilled water. The dirt is just sucked up into the pad, I guess. I never really thought about it. I throw the pad in the washing machine after. Using this is so easy, I do my floors more often now. I dreaded mopping them like I used to and would put it off as long as I could. They always look nice now.

My wife uses the Shark steamer. She swears by it. Also, our builder advised that we should not seal the grout until the warranty period is over. He indicated it could void the warranty on the tile.

I use the steamer with distilled water and it is great. Just want you all to know that vinegar does darken all grout. The best thing is to just use water or distilled water in the steam machines.

Just curious how it may void the warranty????:shrug:

Trust me !!!! The SHARK is the only way to go.....drys instantly and throw the pad in the wash,,, They cost about 80 bucks.
We have one down here and one up north......

no more hands and knees fumar

The Shark steamer is the way to go. Mr. mac9 is so fascinated with it that he insists on doing the floors himself!

I don't know but sealing the grout also voids the warrenty.

Thanks for the Shark info. I will definitely purchase one! I, too, dread having to mop, mop, mop!:bowdown:

I am not in TV yet but I do have a lot of tile flooring. I was using the swifter but invested (my son wanted it) in a Hoover floormate. It was astounding the first time he cleaned the floors how dirty the pick up water was. The machine dispenses the clean water and picks up the dirty water. He does the floors for me and he loves it. I tried it in the master bath and was easy to use. Since it picks up the water, dries very quickly and doesn't streak.

I bought a Haan floor steamer/santizer..it is FANTASTIC! It works so well that I ordered one for my daughter in New Jersey..it has 15 steam jets. I use it as much as my wife does because it works so well.

I purchased a Shark from a person here on TOTV a couple of weeks ago and boy was I happy. It works great on tile, but I also have dark cherry hardwood floors which makes the floors look brand new. No more mops, no more knee pads, and no more dreading the floor cleaning duty

We just put in a new tile floor. We used something called Star Quartz grout. I don't know if it will live up to its promises. Time will tell. I asked for the skinniest grout lines possible in this one. I think it's 1/8 of an inch. Here's the link to Star Quartz.

http://www.starquartz.com/about.html

Of course, that's only good if you are starting with a new installation. Our bathrooms have the regular grout and grout lines.

I have been reading this thread today and thinking we need to buy a Shark.

And when Greenerside said the Shark works on hardwood, too, that got me really interested in buying one of these things.

This might sound like a dumb question, but what do you put in the Shark with the water?

And the Hoover Floormate mentioned here sounds interesting, also. Will it work on hardwood?

I've been crawling and scooting around on these floors for way too long.

Thanks for the info.

Boomer

Just what I'm looking for!
 

Wow, Boomer! Star quartz grout sounds just like what I'm looking for. I'm planning to put tile in our CYV -- probably some time this summer. Now all I need to do is be able to find this when I need it. (I appear to have a search impediment.)

Boomer,

I have the Bruce hardwood floors and they recommend not using any type of steam or water cleaner on the floor. I have a product that I spray on and use a big cloth pad on the floor. I throw it in the wash after. It works well and I haven't had any problems with it on the floors. We've built five homes and have always had a combination of wood, tile and carpet. I think this is the first time I can say that the products I am using to clean floors are the best I have used.

Well after reading this entire thread the family has made the decision to try one of these Sharks! My question is "How does it work on the grout?"

Granted I wish we had darker grout....but does this Shark really clean the grout too? Or will the tooth brush and bleach have to stick around?

Mikark,

Thanks. This hardwood has been down for 5 years. It's prefinished 3/4 inch thick, tongue and groove boards. It's amazing the beating it can take. I have been using Murphy Oil Soap and water. It does not have to be rinsed. In the beginning I would not use Murphy because the world "Oil" in its name threw me. I expected it to streak and smear. Not the case at all. But still I end up crawling around.

Good for me -- maybe.

But sometimes I just squeeze out the cloth in the bucket of Murphy soap and water and attach it to the Swiffer handle, to that thing on the bottom where the Swiffer cloth is supposed to be. Ah, laziness, the mother of invention. Crawling around this house is not my idea of a good time. I hope P&G does not sue me for patent infringement.

And Linda,

About that Star Quartz grout -- Mr. Boomer learned all about it from somebody at a big tile distributor in Cincinnati. He was looking into epoxy at the time. This stuff is easier I think. I am not sure how new it is. You might want to keep skinny grout lines in mind if you like that look. My tile in the new room is 18X18 with a straight edge. I don't know if skinny works with an irregular edge tile. When I said skinny, the tile guy asked me about the edge. Mr. Boomer is not my tile guy. He does not like to do tile. Just hardwood in our house and laminate for Boomette, our daughter.

Oh My!

For two days here on TOTV, I have been going on and on about flooring in one thread or another. What is the matter with me???? I am starting to feel like Cliff, that mailman who hung out in the bar on "Cheers" and went on and on about stuff until everyone's eyes rolled back in their heads.

Boomer

Cleaning Tile Floors
 

Our home is completely tiled floors. Just buy a Hoover Floor-Mate and use a vinegar/water solution. Works great. "Good scrubbing".

Wow~!!
 

Well we purchased the shark this morning and what a difference!! the knees and back were saved first of all....

AND the floor looks GREAT!!


However I do wish their were parts available for the shark that would work on the grout a little more directly. We will keep looking for parts or perhaps another brand that has parts....but the steam is wonderful and I would imagine kills germs at the same time!!


Now does anyone have any great tricks up their sleeve for granite....ours is dark and sometimes you can't tell if you have it completely clean! Looks great but can't tell whether it is fully clean! A steam cleaner for granite would be great!

Shark performance over time
 

We are getting ready to purchase a steam tile cleaner as well. In reading reviews on other sites, the one complaint about the Shark is that over time it loses it's abilty to heat and therefor does not clean as well. Anyone have one that they have owned for a while? How long? And does it still work well?

Here's the one we purchased after having tried the Shark. The use that we give it justifies the cost. We use Dyson for what little carpeting we have left.

http://www.save-now.com/steam/new-st...-Home-Unit.htm

This one is great. It's a good size and not heavy. But wow does it hit the grout and do all of our tile well. We use it in both of our homes. It's a work horse.

The Shark was cheap, didn't get the grout well and ran our of steam. Also, the handle broke and we had it replaced. At first it seemed so great, but... With this you get what you pay for.

For light colored grout, liquid dishwasher soap is pretty good. I also recommend sealing once a year......

I agree ..steam is the way to go ...we have a smallish unit with 2 floor attachments and 2 small brushes (great for cleaning grout). Got ours at Big Lots and I think we payed between $75-100. It is a little cumbersome, has enough steam to do the kitchen, laundry and eating area. Half a tank does the 2 bathrooms. Great for the shower , as well.

Bought a Shark last week and will be taking it back this week. Did very little to cleaning the grout, the steam is not forceful enough and no brushing action.
That big puppy that cost $450 looks as if it will do the job.....have to open a business to pay it off!:laugh:

I purposely use dark grout on all my tile jobs. WAY too much effort trying to keep grout looking good!

Thanks But No Thanks
 

Bought the Shark at Kohls Mod S3202 $103 with ol fart discount. Works great on laminate /purgo floors but takes WAY TO LONG compared to the trusty industrial mop bucket. I used it for 5 minutes and said that was enough. I may be satisfied using it on tile but for now nope. I washed the pad, put everything back in the box, and returned it. Once we arrive in TV I'll probably buy one when we get there, when we get there, when...And after I returned it to Kohls I went to Sams and saw a similar Shark including the hand steam bottle for $79. Don't remember the model.

F16

I hear you F16
 

That's it. I am staying with my sponge mop and bucket. I like to see the dirty water go down the drain anyway, instant gratification. The floor gets dirty here quick. Where does it come from? I have "wipe your feet rugs" at all entrances!! I am going to start hosing people down before they enter!

{in Austin Powers voice:} Oh Behave!

Russ. Russ. Russ.:D

I'm sure the Shark heats like a coffee pot with a resistive element. The only thing that would reduce it's heating ability is buildup on the element, just like your coffee pots. You can run vinegar thru them once in a while if you don't mind the smell or use distilled water. You don't get buildup from distilled water.

garage dirt
 

How do you handle the garage dirt? How do you seal a garage floor?
thanks

We had all of the cement at our house color coated (painted), however, we still take our shoes off when we come in the house............GN

I agree with GN we remove our shoes, a habit we acquired in Alaska due to the weather, and one we continue in our home in The Villages.