How to clean different types of porcelain tile

The first benefit of porcelain tile is that flooring is one of the easiest materials to clean. For maintenance, porcelain tile should be swept or vacuumed twice a week. Your floor can be also cleaned using a damp sponge mop and a solution of 1/4 cup of white vinegar to 2 gallons of water.

Porcelain tile can be defined as being impervious. It has an absorption rate of 5% or less but it is still possible for its surface to stain. We recommend you using a specific cleaner for porcelain tile. Keep in mind that unglazed surfaces can assume the color of the cleaning solution. We introduce you to important steps for cleaning multiple types of porcelain tile surfaces in order to misfortunes not to happen.

Unpolished porcelain tile

A simple procedure of clean unpolished/unglazed porcelain tile flooring is necessary with a moderate soil load.

• Sweep or vacuum 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 it on small areas at a time and do not allow cleaning solutions to dry.
• Scrub the cleaning solution with a floor machine equipped with an abrasive pad or stiff nylon-bristle brush if you are having trouble with stubborn stains.
• Use a scrub brush for residential applications and small areas.
• 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.
• Allow time for drying.
• If the unpolished porcelain tile is heavily stained, you might have to use a more aggressive cleaning method.

Polished tile

These cleaning instructions should be followed for polished or glazed porcelain tiles:

• Sweep or vacuum loose dirt.
• 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.

Textured tile

A standard wet-mopping will not clean a textured tile surface. Additional cleaning procedures are required for this surface. For cleaning textured surfaces, follow these instructions:

• Sweep or vacuum the floor.
• 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.
• 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.
• Scrub the floor once a day and wet mop at regular intervals in case you own a floor installed in a high traffic location.

Prevention and Safety Measures:

Follow these instruction in order to keep your porcelain tile floors in perfect shape:

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