6 Common Tile Cleaning and Maintenance Mistakes

Tiles are one of the most common flooring options that homeowners tend to choose for their bathrooms or their kitchens. After all, they’re touted as durable, easy to clean and aesthetically appealing. However, when maintaining tiles, some homeowners don’t realize that they may be making a few mistakes along the way.

Here are the six tile cleaning and maintenance mistakes that you should always avoid.

1. Using abrasives – When cleaning your tiles, avoid using abrasive cleaning powders or substances, such as steel wool to scrub the tiles. This is because they can easily damage the finish and leave your tiles vulnerable to pitting and staining.

2. Using bleach and ammonia – Like abrasives, the usage of bleach and ammonia is a tile cleaning mistake that you need to avoid since, as time goes by, they can discolor your grout. Instead, consider using a mild all-purpose cleaner or a cleaner recommended by your tile manufacturer to get the job done.

3. Not sweeping enough – On the other hand, if you’re using tile for your kitchen flooring, be thorough with your sweeping. While dirt poses little injury to the floor, the foot traffic in your kitchen can grind those particles into the tile and cause scratches to form in the process. By regularly sweeping the tiles, you can easily avoid this from occurring.

4. Letting spills sit – Tile is a porous material so any spill it sustains can easily cause stains with a finish and sealer. With that in mind, if you spill anything dark or acidic like coffee or red wine on your tile floors, clean it up immediately to prevent staining.

5. Not recaulking – Bathroom tiles are constantly exposed to water so experts recommend that you recaulk it every now and then. By doing so, you can prevent water from getting behind the tiles and loosening them, or causing the grout to crack.

6. Using a beater brush – When sweeping your tile floors, avoid using a beater brush as they can nick or chip your tile’s finish.

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