Many of us have been around long enough to realize that not every cleaner is as magical as it looks on tv. You send off your $34.95, Then you get this bottle of snake oil in the mail that doesn’t work any better than the stuff on the store shelves. Sadly the answer isn’t to just grab the cheapest bottle at the store either. If you don’t do your research you will just find yourself buying the same snake oil locally. Here at GraniteTile.info we have decided its best not to endorse any specific product for cleaning your tile and grout. Instead we hope to educate people about what makes a good cleaner and let everyone decide for themselves.

When you lay down tile you take a mixture of glue and affix the tiles onto a surface. Later the cracks between the tile get filled with what is known as grout. Grout can be made from several materials and comes in a variety of colors to match your tile. The main thing thats important about grout is whether its a garden variety cement based grout or a high quality epoxy or furan base grout. It is important to understand that at a microscopic level grout is porous. Basically grout is like a form of plaster. Its has tiny microscopic holes in it that contaminents can get stuck in. The porousness of grout is required for it to expand and contract in the gaps between the tiles. The reason the epoxy or furan based grouts are better is that they are less porous at their exposed surface than cement based grout. More expensive grout tends to soak in less contaminents.

Grease, Grime, bacteria and anything else that thinks its got a right to will find its way down between your tile and start to make a home in the tile grout. The first step to maintaining your grout is to seal it. This step has to be done before the dirty grout problem ever begins. Sealer is essentially a clear contaminent that clogs the pores at the surface of the grout to prevent other more visible contaminents from getting down into those pores. A good sealing job and a good selection of grout will greatly reduce the amount of grout cleaning you ever have to do. Still cleaning the grout is a task that will eventually become required regardless of your spectacular sealing job.

Have you ever wondered why we use dish soap to clean our dishes? What does the soap do that water itself doesn’t? It certainly doesn’t eat away the food residue. If it did your dishes would eventually develop holes from being cleaned so often. Soap is a sticky molecule that floats around in the water and when it comes in contact with a smaller contaminent it sticks to it. Soap floats, and when tiny particles are stuck to the soap, they float too. When rinsed the soap helps carry away the contaminents so they don’t sink right back to the surface of what you are cleaning. For a well sealed grout line this is exactly what you need. A gentile non acid cleaner to float away the grime and a pool of water for it to float away in. Of course that means the first step to cleaning your grout and tile is soaking the problem to loosen up any grit. After it soaks You are going to need to use a brush and some elbow grease. (Elbow grease means work for you younger folks.)

At some point mold or bacteria may get into your grout and it quickly finds a path down below the surface that has been sealed. This is when you have to start looking at an acid grout cleaner. The chemistry behind what happens with an acidic grout cleaner is different than with a PH neutral cleaner. The acid etches away the top layers including all contaminents, the sealer, and the grout itself. As it is etched away the soap then grabs onto the particles that have broken free and floats them away. Once you’ve reached the point where you are using an acid to clean the grout you will have to re-seal the grout. Even though it may look pristine, if you don’t reseal it the porous surface is left exposed and it will get damaged faster the next time around.

When selecting an everyday use type grout cleaner look for a chemical that is PH neautral. (that means its not an acid) Do your research on the the chemical and try an internet search to see if anyone has used it with the type of granite tile you are cleaning. Depending on your water you may want to stay away from buying concentrated cleaners that need to be diluted in water. If you have hard water there are salts, minerals, metals, and whatever else dissolved in your water. When you mix the concentrate the soap in the mix loses some of its effectiveness by sticking to the hard spots in your water. By the time chemical reaches your grout a concentrate may be less effective than a premixed chemical. To combat that effect you can purchase distilled water to mix with a concentrate solution.

A few other things to keep in mind. Acid based cleaners may eat away the coloring in your grout. Even if your cleaner is not an acid you should ALWAYS test an inconspicuous area first. Stay away from mixing chemicals together you hear about in old wives tales. Mixing chemicals together just plain aint smart. Vinegar is often mentioned as a good cleaner. Sometimes it works sometimes it donsn’t. It depends on your tile and grout. Sometimes it can have the same damaging effect on your tile as chlorine or acid based cleaners. We won’t say don’t use it, just follow the same precautions you would with other chemicals. If you have any doubts about using any specific cleaner, don’t use it. Do some research and find out what the effects it will have are before trying it. There are some good quality bleaches for cleaning your grout and tile. Its reccomended to stay away from chlorine. Oxegyn based bleaches are less likely to remove the coloring from your tile and grout. Though discoloration is still possible even with an oxy bleach.

You might also think to ask your tile supplier if they reccomend a specific product for cleaning their tile and grout products. Its a good idea, but we reccomend you take what they say with a grain of salt. Its not because they are or are not knowledgeable, but rather because they are just like the guy selling cleaners on tv. They have an incentive to tell you a product is great. They may not be flat out liars, but seldom will you ever get the whole truth from a salesman.