A little over a year ago, my husband and I bought our first house. The porcelain tile floor in the kitchen area had years of wax buildup with dirt and grime caked on top. We are very frugal and didn't want to spend the money for a professional to come out, so we got down on hands and knees with a non-abrasive scotch-brite pad and scrubbed with every imaginable cleaner we could find; it didn't budge.
Well this past weekend, I was cleaning my stove with EZ Off Oven Cleaner. I took the door off and laid it on the floor and sprayed it too. I noticed I got some of the EZ Off on the floor but I didn't care, what could it hurt. After I got the stove all clean, I wiped up the EZ Off over-spray on the floor and WOW, the tile looked brand new!
Hallelujah, what a great find this was. I sprayed little sections at a time with the EZ Off and let it sit 15 minutes, then wiped it up with a wet rag and now our floor looks like new. Be sure and spot test before using it on your floor. Sorry I didn't think about taking photos, I was too excited to get it all done.
By Donna Lusk from Watauga, TX
This page contains the following solutions.
I have tile floors in my house. I noticed after cleaning them with the recommended cleaners they just didn't looked as nice as when they where brand new. I found that spraying an area with 409 first, then washing made the floor look and feel cleaner.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I'm looking for the most economical, easiest and best method to keep my new tile floors clean.
By Kim from Crawford, CO
I just had a tile floor installed, and my tile guy told me to just use water and vinegar, like a half a cup for a pailful of water. Not only does it clean well, but it can take up any grout residue. You should wait about a week clean your floor using vinegar, as you really want the grout to set.
In Morocco, they used soapy water and a squeegee on their floors. These were glazed tiles. If your tiles are glazed, they are the same sort of surface as dishes. Any soap will do. If they are unglazed, they will be porous, and that is a different matter.
What is the best way to clean porcelain tile flooring?
A very easy online search for "how to clean porcelain floor" produced many good replies. You can try a search yourself and this always very helpful site:
I own a house in Florida and all the floors are tiled. I have been using a steam cleaner, but they are looking a little dingy. Can anyone recommend what cleaner I can safely use on them?
I would try bleach/water, but am uncertain of how much to use with a gallon bucket to do this type of floor. I don't want to disintegrate the grout nor suffer from fumes. Thanks!Hi! Depends on what type of Tile? Find that out bc using certain substances could loosen tile floor. White Vinegar / or possibly baking soda lite scub is prob safest. Not as harsh as bleach, also after you clean you could get bucket squeeze lemon juice and water and go over again the tile for the citrus fresh fragrance plus extra clean.
Washing my kitchen tile floor always leaves it streaky. How can I stop this and make it shiny?
Streaks usually mean residue is remaining.
Try diluted white vinegar in water 1 (vinegar) to 4 (water) ratio on one tile and see how it works. Vinegar will remove residue and leave items shining. If you don't like the vinegar scent don't worry, it goes away after a few minutes.
After cleaning my tiled floors with a steamer, I let them dry before walking on them. However they show shoe prints which I hate. What am I doing wrong?
By Marjorie
I've read that if this occurs, you should use a dry cloth and immediately wipe down the section of floor after you have just steamed it to prevent this .Or it could that the pads on your steamer are getting too dirty during the cleaning process and are spreading the dirt/dust/previous cleaning products etc. around the floor instead of removing them. If your floors are really dirty or may have a waxy build-up, it might be better to try mopping the floor first (yes, more work *sigh*), then steaming the floors to get them really clean.
I have sticky glue on my bathroom tiles that has been there for a long time. It has become very hard in texure. How can I remove it?
By Olive
Try softening it with a hot blow dryer and using the edge of an old credit card to scrape it off.
How do I clean bathroom floor grout?
By Judy W.
I accidentally cleaned part of my grout when cleaning the radiators in my apartment, and discovered that it wasn't supposed to be black in between each tile. Unfortunately, that's the sort of information you can't unknow. So I was forced to go the whole bathroom. Mopping was useless.
The only thing I could find that was effective was dividing into sections and spraying with scrubbing bubbles or vim, letting it soak for a few minutes then going over the cracks with an old toothbrush. I think it took me about an hour and a bit to do the whole bathroom, although I could probably do it again in half the time now that I have the technique down. You will also want a Jay cloth and rinse bucket with hot water to rinse the toothbrush and sop up any extra water.
How do I clean the grouting in my floor tiles? My whole house is tile so I need good advice.
By Beverly S. from Mesa, AZ
It would be incredibly time-consuming considering your whole house is tile, but I've found that my make-up remover towellettes are perfect for cleaning the grout in my tile (which is only in my bathroom!). They are gentle enough for your skin so they are gentle enough for porcelin and they pick up the dirt!
I have black ceramic floor tiles in my bathroom with white marks/stains. I never had these before, but unfortunately my maid cleaned it with cleansers (Ajax) and left unsightly white stains. We used bleach, detergents, vinegar, ceramic floor cleaners, but did not erase the stains.
The tile has slightly embossed design (lepanto), this maybe the reason why the ghastly stains (or whatever caused it) stayed there. Please help! I don't want to spend money on new tiles and labor. Thank you in advance.
By Chris A.
Ok so you are having trouble with your tile leaving white marks after the maid used ajax. Well don't worry here is my solution:
Use oven cleaner on your floors as I have the same floors in my bathroom. Spray a little area to see if it works but let it set for 5 mins. Any longer will leave stains then wipe it off with a damp soft cloth and your floor should be good as new.
How do I clean tile flooring without leaving water marks?
By Sandy
Wash the floor first; rinse the floor by adding white vinegar to a bucket of water.
I have ceramic tile throughout my house which has a very dull finish. Can anyone suggest a product that may help to add any sheen or shine to it.
Call a tile expert or a home improvement store like Lowes and ask to speak to someone in flooring.
They'll be able to give you names of products that will make your tiles shine.
:)
We have beige ceramic tile and Hawaiian punch spilled on it and was left for a while. Now it left a stain on the floor. How can we clean up the stain?
By Tanya from Vegas
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
For grimy, dirty tile floors, I use oven cleaner, it is the perfect degreaser and cleaner. It is best to work in small areas at one time to get the whole job done.
I just put in tile floors in both of our bathrooms. I am having a really hard time finding something to clean them.
