If you’ve ever tried to clean extremely dirty tiling, you may have noticed something happening on your floors. While the tile part can be pretty easy to clean with one or two swipes, the part in between your tiles is a lot harder to get really clean. This area is known as “grout,” and it can be a serious pain to clean, especially if you’ve let it go too long in between scrubbings. Even if you hire a professional tile cleaning brentwood tn to clean your grout, your clean tile floors can soon get dirty again if you’re not staying on top of the job. With such a tiny area in between tiles, it might seem impossible to actually achieve the perfect, spotless clean you’re looking for. But don’t despair: When it comes to really cleaning grout, there are a few ways to make sure your tiles floors stay spotless. If you’re aiming for a perfect clean, here are some tips.
Use a Small, Precise Instrument
Grout is notoriously hard to get into. Because of the small divots created, dirt collects rapidly and quickly stiffens into a very hard to remove, chalky substance. You might not even notice how dirty your grout is until you go to scrub it down and remove a layer of discoloration and dirt. The key when cleaning in between your tiles is to use something small and textured, such as an old toothbrush or back scrubber to get straight to the dirt. Using a cloth or a wipe won’t do as good of a job since you’re dealing with a very small indentation. Before cleaning your tiles, use your toothbrush or scrubbing pad to scrub down each piece of grout thoroughly. Afterward, you’ll be left with dirty tile surfaces that you can simply wipe down or apply cleaning solution to. Your grout will be spotless after wiping down the area. If you need to go over the grout again, try using a finer instrument to get into the dirtier areas.
Use a Vinegar Solution
When it comes to cleaning the home, white vinegar is truly magic. It can clean rug stains, deodorize old pet stains, and deter ants from following their natural trail. If you’re cleaning your tiles, it can also come in handy. To start out, you’ll want to mix together 3 parts baking soda with one part vinegar to create a thick cream cleaning solution. Once your paste is formed, apply it to the grout using a finger or smaller instrument. You can now fill a spray bottle with a half vinegar, half water mixture and spray down the areas where you’ve applied the paste, waiting for a bubbling sensation to begin. Wait for the bubbling to die down before you start scrubbing with a toothbrush or textured pad. After you’ve scrubbed, wipe everything down with a microfiber cloth or paper towel to reveal a sparkling clean floor.
Use Bleach for White Tiles
If you’re working with blinding white floors, you might want to apply something a little more serious to make sure your white floors get their shine back. Using oxygenated bleach, combine 2 tablespoons with two cups of water. If you want to use a patch of your floor as a test run, do so, unless you’ve already treated your floor with bleach previously. If you’re worried about bleach on your floors, do a quick search to see if your tile material will react to it. In general, bleach is safe for white floors that aren’t made of natural stone. If your floors are sealed and treated, you shouldn’t have trouble applying oxygenated bleach to the surface. You can cover your floor with the diluted bleach solution and start scrubbing, wiping the excess away with a Swiffer or dry cloth afterward.
Make a Thick Paste
If you really want to kill every last shred of bacteria on your floor and make sure everything stays sparkling white, you’ll want to bring out all the cleaning products at your disposal to make an impact. Using ¾ of a cup of baking soda, ¼ of a cup of bleach, and a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid mix everything together to create a serious grease-busting paste that can sit on your floor for about 15 minutes to clean, disinfect, and break up old grease stains and spots. After 15 minutes have passed, splash your floor with hot water and wipe everything up with a clean towel. You’ll be left with spotless floors and grout that’s never looked cleaner.