5 Tips You Can Use to Care for Your Ceramic Floor Tiles
For ceramic floor tiles to retain their aesthetic quality for a long period of time, proper maintenance practices have to be put in place and carried out from time to time. The mistake most homeowners make is to wait until their tiles are “obviously” dirty before they start attempting to clean them. By then, however, it may well be too late; your tiles may be so far gone it would take only a miracle to bring them back to life.
There are actually simple, everyday things you can do to clean and care for your ceramic floor tiles. These are not exactly genius ideas but you will be amazed at how often homeowners take them for granted. Some of these tips are covered below.
• Use A Door Mat
This reduces the amount of dirt allowed to come into your home from outside. Your tiles are better off for it in the long run, especially if you remember to shake the mat often.
• Wipe Up Spills As Soon As They Occur
Once in a while, no matter how careful you are, things will inadvertently spill to the floor. If you keep pets, accidents may happen. Problems start when you leave these spills for a long time, until they dry out on your tiles or find their way into the grout, posing a major maintenance challenge.
To keep your tiles like new, wipe up spills with absorbent materials as soon as these accidents occur.
• Always Sweep
Sweeping must be done regularly and sometimes, for no reason at all. Just sweep. Regular sweeping prevents the accumulation of dirt on tiles. You want to ensure, though, that your vacuum cleaner of whatever sweeping device you are using does not have a rough surface. It would be counterproductive if your cleaner ends up scratching the surface of your tiles now, wouldn’t it?
• Mopping
Many people underestimate the power of a soft, damp mop applied weekly on their tile flooring. It is actually so effective that if you do it consistently over time, you may never have to use chemicals on your floor!
Great prospect, isn’t it?
You should be careful, however, of the kind of products you use. Swiffers, which are great stuff by the way, may do little more than push the dirt around the floor in circles and scratch the surface. You want to stay clear from them and choose, rather, soft fluffy mops for your tile cleaning.
• More Serious Stuff
Assuming that you have been neglecting the care and cleaning of your tiles for quite a while so that they have become so dirty you can hardly tell their true colours, it is still not too late to restore the beauty of your tiles.
Before you resort to using harsh chemicals and bleaches, which are not advisable if you want your ceramic tiles to live long, you should try mildly scrubbing them with a soft brush. Remember, using anything hard or rough might scratch the surface of your tiles, so stick with the soft and fluffy. After scrubbing, rinse and mop with water and then clean with a soft, dry towel.
Hopefully, if you employ the above methods of cleaning and caring for your ceramic tiles, you may never have to chemically treat your tiles. You can save yourself a lot of money and your tiles can retain their shine for a much longer period of time.