Complete Guide on How to Deep Clean Tile Floor

If you were a cleanliness geek, one of the first places to check would be the kitchen or bathroom floors. That is the place where all the scrubbing and bubbling comes to test.

Depending on their quality and type, tiles may be easy or difficult to maintain. However, all types of tiles need thorough cleaning every once in a while. So, any time you see dirt, grout gathering, or a hazy film on top of the tiles, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get cleaning.

How to deep clean tile floor? That’s just what we will talk about today in depth!

Table of Contents:

A Complete Guide on How to Deep Clean Tile Floor:

1. Type of Tile Floors
2. Which Type of Cleaner to Get For Your Tiles?
3. How to Deep Clean Floor Tile?
4. How to Deep Clean Tile Floor: Step-by-Step Guide
5. Get Expert Deep Cleaning for Tile Floor Today!

Type of Tile Floors

You can find so many tile flooring options to enhance the appeal of your home or office. While they all make the floor look great, cleaning them is often a difficult task. Whether you regularly clean them or call experts, they need a thorough cleanup once every year. 

Each type of tile requires a different approach to cleaning. The cleaning solution and, at times, the mop and scrubs also differ.

Ceramic and Porcelain Tile Floors

To deep clean ceramic tile floors, use bleach, ammonia, and acidic cleaners like calcium or lime.

Otherwise, use natural alternatives like sodium bicarbonate powder, vinegar, Citric acid, and hydrogen peroxide. Both these types of tiles are low-maintenance.

Here are a few tips to keep them clean:

• Use a sweep or vacuum regularly to clean these floorings.
• Always use mild detergent and clean water.
• Use a chamois-type mop instead of a sponge mop.
• Try to find the real cause of discoloration and then select the right cleaner for stain removal.
• Always dry the tiles using a clean, lint-free cloth after mopping.

Limestone, Slate, Marble, and Granite

These are high-maintenance tiles and need specific cleaning solutions.

Any harsh substances will damage them, reduce their shine, or even cause scratches or aberrations. 

Slate Tiles

Use the mildest detergent on these and ensure they don’t contain any acid. Even lemon or vinegar could damage the tile from the inside.

Make sure to always dry the tiles with a towel after cleaning.

Marble Tiles

Marble tiles look beautiful and uplift the appearance of any place, but they are also hard to maintain.

Don’t use any solution with acidic content. Also, avoid using bristles, brushes, or scouring powders to clean it.

Granite Tiles

Granite tiles can be cleaned with a mild pH-neutral detergent.  Harsh cleaners leave off streaks and often discolor the tiles, so those are a strict no!

You can, however, buff it up to maintain its shine.

Linoleum, Vinyl, Cork, and Rubber

These are excellent options requiring minimum maintenance.

• Vinyl tiles can easily be vacuumed, swept, or mopped with vinyl cleaning solutions or a homemade water and vinegar-based solution.
• Linoleum tile must be washed with linoleum flooring cleaning solutions or borax detergent and water. 

Rinse the floor to clean it and let it air dry. To keep up the shine or increase protection, you can also apply a wax coat every few months.

Cork Tile

Polyurethane tiles need to be cleaned with water and mild detergent. You may also use white vinegar and rinse clean. 

Which Type of Cleaner to Get For Your Tiles?

Before you get down to your knees scrubbing, you need to know which cleaner goes with which tile (or best suits your home and tiles).

No matter which cleaner you opt for, make sure it is:

1. Harmless to the flooring.
2. Enhance the surface of the tile.

The right kind of tile cleaner is the deciding factor of how your tile will come out clean. Tile floors, especially natural stone surfaces, need specific cleaning solutions free of harsh chemicals.

Always buy chemicals free from acid, vinegar, and other ingredients to be safe.

If you’re cleaning the floor yourself, using a homemade mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide is the best for porcelain or ceramic tiles. Apply the mixture to the floor, and then use a steam mop to disinfect and thoroughly clean the area.

But if you have different tile flooring, don’t worry; you won’t have to look far and wide for those tile-specific cleaners. Just a bit of knowledge will help you buy the right product off the shelves. 

Also, you can skip all the hassle and call in expert cleaning services instead. Many professional cleaners do a patch test first before spreading the cleaner all over your floor.

How to Deep Clean Floor Tile?

First, if you hire professional cleaning services like Elite Maids NY once every year, you won’t have to deal with the mess at all!

Whether it’s the dis-colored grout lines, fading shine, or dirt, a deep clean will fix everything and make your tiles look as good as new.

Now, you may think, why not do the job yourself? The truth is, no matter how hard you try, it is not easy to remove grout.

Grout is porous and traps dirt and debris. While mopping can remove all the dust we see, the debris will stay in and make the tiles look dirty over time. So, no toothbrush or mop will do the job. 

Let’s take a look at how our professional experts get the job done.

How to Deep Clean Tile Floor: Step-by-Step Guide

The deep cleaning of tile floors is not a DIY project. But knowing how the company will do the job can help you find the right cleaning service for your needs. 

How to deep clean a tile floor? Here’s a step-by-step breakdown to help you understand how the process works for guaranteed results against grout.

Step 1: Pre-vacuum The tile 

First, we will deal with the dry dust, and nothing works better than a vacuum cleaner to remove all the visible dust accumulated on the floor. It is essential to use the vacuum first, as the dry dust will further dissolve into the grout if you use a mop or cleaner in the first step.

Vacuuming prepares the ground for further deep cleaning. 

Step 2: Drop the Cleaning Solution

The next step is drenching the floor with a floor cleaner. Yes, we need to make it completely wet! It’s like dropping the cleaning solution all over the floor so it covers each and every corner. No spot is left missed out.

A solution is first made using hot water and a cleaning solution. Hot water is more effective at cleaning dirt than cold water. 

Here is the little guide on how much of the solution you need to add in water:

• For filthy areas, we use water and the solution in a 15-to-1 ratio, that is, one part chemical and 15 parts water.
• For slightly dirty floors, a ratio of 30 to one is best, which means you need to put around 500 ml of the chemical in a bucket full of hot water.

Step 3: Swing Machine or Mop

Once the solution is allowed to sit for about fifteen minutes on the floor, the next step is scrubbing it off. Usually, a rotary scrubber or swing machine swaying sideways from left to right and back works slowly across the floor. It has a circular pad or disk with a certain degree of roughness to clean the floor off grout deeply.

Now, this is a commercial machine, and it would make sense not to buy it for something you need done just once a year. That’s why it would be wise to call the experts for a thorough cleaning.

Once the machine has worked through the whole flooring surface, the cleaners use Doodlebug or rectangular scrubbing pads and scrub off the remnants with their hands.

Step 4: Vacuum (Again)

Next, we need to vacuum the whole place again. But wait—we won’t be using the regular vacuum cleaner now. We need a dry and wet vacuum or a commercial vacuum cleaner.

The vacuum removes all the stuck residue and remaining dirt, leaving your floor surface clean and shiny.

Step 5: Get Down Mopping

The last but crucial step is mopping, up to 2-3 times. Repeat the step as many times as possible to ensure there’s no chemical residue left on the surface.

The best way to do it is to use clean water and a microfiber cloth. Mopping will be the final stage of cleaning the tile floor, ensuring no leftover spots or places that would need scrubbing.

Commercial large dryers can also be used to dry the whole place quickly.

Finally, everything will be put back into place, and the cleaning process will be complete.

Get Expert Deep Cleaning for Tile Floor Today!

So, this is how to deep clean tile floors inside out. It’s not a huge task, especially if you let the professionals handle it. At Elite Maids NY, we have the equipment, tools, and everything needed for a thorough, professional cleaning job. 

You don’t need to buy expensive equipment, tools, or supplies yourself. We understand the different types of floors and the kind of cleaning you need. 

Book now to schedule an appointment for an elite deep-cleaning tile floor!