Cleaning Porcelain Tile Flooring

Porcelain tile is among the easiest of flooring materials to clean. Porcelain tile can be easily swept or vacuumed twice a week. You can also clean your porcelain tile with a damp sponge mop. Use a solution of 1/4 cup of white vinegar to 2 gallons of water, allowing time for drying.

Although porcelain tile is by definition impervious, it is still possible for its surface to stain. You may choose a cleaner specifically formulated for porcelain tile. However,unglazed surfaces sometimes assume the color of the cleaning solution. For these and other important issues, here is an account of how to clean multiple types of porcelain tile surfaces.

Unpolished porcelain tile

Following is a simple procedure to clean unpolished/unglazed porcelain tile flooring with a moderate soil load.

• Sweep or vacuum the dirt from the floor.
• Saturate the floor with cleaning solutions and hot water, stir and allow it to stand on the floor for 5 � 10 minutes. Do not allow cleaning solutions to dry. Also, for this procedure, do it on small areas at a time.
• For more difficult stains, scrub the cleaning solution with a floor machine equipped with an abrasive pad or stiff nylon-bristle brush. For residential applications and small areas, use a scrub brush.
• Wipe away the dirty cleaning solution and rinse the surface of the porcelain tile with clean, clear water with a mop or a wet vacuum.
• You might have to use a more aggressive cleaning method if the unpolished porcelain tile is heavily stained.

Polished tile

For polished or glazed porcelain tiles, these instructions must be followed for general cleaning:

• Sweep or vacuum loose dirt and dust from the floor. Use an untreated, dry dust mop instead of a broom.
• Mop the floor with a mild cleaning solution. The concentration of the detergent should be 50% less than the amount used on an unpolished porcelain tile floor.
• Rinse the porcelain tile floor with clean and clear water thoroughly.
• Dry carefully to increase the shine and to prevent water spots.

Part 2Textured tile

A textured porcelain tile surface demands for some additional cleaning procedures. Just a standard wet-mopping will not effectively clean such surface. It requires you to clean it more requently and do it in a specified manner. For cleaning textured surfaces, follow these instructions:

• Sweep or vacuum dust and debris from the floor. For sweeping use a soft-bristle broom and sweep in two directions. First follow the direction of the tile, and then sweep diagonally to ensure complete cleaning of all foreign material that might be residing in the texture.
• Saturate the surface with a neutral cleaning solution in hot water and stir. Allow the cleaning solution to remain on the floor for five to ten minutes. Scrub the floor with a brush, again using a two-direction method.
• Rinse the porcelain tile floor with clean, clear water to remove the cleaning solution.
• For high traffic locations, it is recommended to scrub the floor once a day and wet mop at regular intervals.

Preventions and Safety Measures:

• Do not clean porcelain tile flooring with ammonia or with cleaners that contain any bleach and/or acid for cleaning. Acid and ammonia based cleaners may alter grout color.
• Do not use any oil-based detergents, wax cleaners, or sealants.
• Do not use agents that contain any dyes or colors on unglazed porcelain tile.
• Use rugs at outdoor entrances to prevent grit from being tracked onto the tile flooring.
• Do not use steel wool pads, because the loose steel particles may cause rust stains in the grout.